How To Easily Create How-To Videos

How-to videos are a great tool to engage with customers, an easy way to share helpful information with your customer base, position your business as an expert in your field, and promote your brand.

What to consider when shooting a how-to video:

·       Choose your subject

·       Setting up your camera

·       Setting the Stage

·       Additional equipment

·       Shoot for the edit

·       Sharing your videos

Here’s a quick guide on how to create your own how-to videos

Choose Your Subject

Make sure your topic is easy to explain through video. Not all topics lend themselves to how-to videos — you’ll ideally want to choose a topic that’s easily broken down into pieces and remains visually engaging. 

For example, you could, if you chose, make a how-to video on a detailed breakdown of Einstein’s theories, but that’s going to be a challenge for most audiences to absorb regardless of how simple you make it. More straightforward, step-by-step topics are easier for you to explain and easier for your audience to understand.

Setting Up Your Camera

Shooting a how-to video isn’t as complicated as you’d think. You don’t need a fancy, expensive camera to create a quality video — your iPhone will work just fine! They’re surprisingly more advanced than many costly cameras. Of course, if you have the budget and the desire, investing in a high-end video set-up could undoubtedly add to your overall presentation.

Here are some basic steps to follow when you shoot a How-To video with your iPhone:

• Shoot horizontally… or vertically: Shooting horizontally (side to side, not top to bottom) gives your viewers the most familiar view. (Picture your TV or movies people are used to watching.) If your video is for social media, then you probably want a vertical video. Instagram and Facebook Reels are incredibly popular and easy to share.  

• Storage: Make sure you have enough storage on your phone. It’s OK if you don’t know exactly how much storage your how-to video requires, but you should clear space on your phone if its memory is close to full. You can free up memory by deleting duplicate videos, photos, and apps you rarely use. 

• Do-not-disturb: Set your phone to do-not-disturb before you start filming. Let’s say your how-to video is going well and you don’t want to break between shots, or maybe you’re in a time crunch and want to shoot it in one sitting. Can you imagine how frustrating it would be if a notification or call sound popped up in the middle? Setting your phone to do-not-disturb will eliminate any worry of untimely interruptions.

• Clean your lens: you’ll often see videos that look fuzzy or smudged. Take two seconds to clean your camera lens before you start shooting.

Setting The Stage to Shoot Your How-To Video

Background

Make sure your settings are video-ready by carefully examining your shot and removing everything that doesn’t belong. Clean up any clutter or items that aren’t relevant to your how-to video, anything that could be distracting to the viewer. 

Audio 

Audio is equally as important as your actual visual footage. Too much static, echo, or sound impairment can cause viewers to click off your video in seconds. Be sure you’re close enough to your phone or camera, or are speaking loudly enough to be heard.

Lighting

You’re less likely to film in a setting with too much light — it’s more common to have a setting that’s not light enough. Not enough lighting results in grainy and gloomy videos that are usually uninviting. Plus, a dark video makes it harder for the viewer to follow what you’re teaching… if they’re having trouble following, they’ll probably click to something else. 

Here are some lighting options:

• Natural light: Natural light is typically the most flattering, but clouds and other environmental elements can make it tricky to maintain the lighting you want throughout your video. 

• Ring lights: as more people appeared on camera during COVID-19, Ring lights became increasingly popular. They’re great for footage that contains a single person or close-up shots… but they’re not as good for filming large spaces or wide-angled shots. 

• LED lights: LED kits, often small rectangular lights, provide a studio-like setup with lighting that results in crisp, how-to videos.

Composition

The composition of your how-to video footage should follow the standard rule of thirds: picture two vertical lines and two horizontal lines that intersect and create six equal-sized cubes in your shot (picture the Brady Bunch). The most essential elements of your video should occur at the intersections of these lines to create a sense of balance in your footage. This gives your subject space on all sides for appropriate composition.

Additional Equipment for How-To Videos

In addition to your camera, mics, and any lighting equipment you use, you’ll need:

• A tripod: Tripods allow your footage to remain still and steady and enable you to shoot alone. Today, simple tripods for your phone are inexpensive and readily available online or in a nearby electronics store.

• A charger: Videos require much more battery life and storage space than taking photos. Make sure you have a charger handy if you need to charge your phone.

Shoot for the Edit (Get All the Footage You’ll Need)

Keep your editing process in mind when shooting your video – it’ll save you time in editing… and should keep you from having to go back and shoot more footage. Here are some simple filming tips you should follow to ensure efficient editing: 

• Capture “B-roll”: B-roll is extra footage used to enrich your story. When you watch a video, B-roll is all the footage you see that’s not the person talking – close-up details, additional footage of the service or product you’re describing in the video, or anything else that can make your video more interesting for your viewer.  

• Leave a buffer: Buffers are essentially extended footage at the start and end of scenes (also called “handles”). Leaving buffers at the beginning and end of each scene helps connect scenes during the editing process and prevents important shots from being cut too close. 

• Make notes of your best clips: You’ll usually shoot multiple takes of the video, or at least some scenes, to ensure you get a good shot. It also makes the editing process easier if you can choose from a couple of different takes. Creating visual cues at the end of the takes that went well will save an immense amount of editing time. You can skim directly to your visual cues instead of reviewing every second of unusable footage.

Sharing Your How-To Videos

You don’t want to create a great How-To video only to have no one see it. You need to post your videos on your website, on your social media, on YouTube, and elsewhere around the web – you can even email them to customers and prospects as a helpful service.

Don’t wait – get out there and start creating professional-looking videos that show off your expertise and build your brand. There’s no excuse… now that you know how to!