Winning Edge
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Winning Edge
#79 3 Tips to Improve Your Videos
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If you've been doing the video challenge from the last Winning Edge, you've probably watched yourself and felt stiffer and less animated than your normal self. Chris Goor, a YouTuber who spent his career filming thousands of interviews, events, and even a royal wedding for the BBC, has three simple tips to dramatically improve your videos - all while still using just your phone.
Three Tips to Improve Your Videos:
1. One Idea Per Video
- Don't overcomplicate with long videos
- Boil topic down to a single idea
- Goor calls short-form videos "bubble gum for the eyes"
- If struggling, break into short sentences, record each a few times, pick the best
- Rule: one idea in one minute or less
- Example: https://youtube.com/shorts/flHZ6S0gZ8g?si=I-zNMBm90HJYN1Tq
2. Move While You Talk
- If you look stiff, walk or move in your video
- Makes it more visually interesting to watch
- With a microphone, start talking as you enter the frame
- Walk up to the camera while talking
- Hold something (like a coffee cup) so it feels less formal than a campaign commercial
- Examples:
3. Make Sure You Sound Great
- Improving sound quality dramatically improves overall video quality
- People will watch great sound with okay video over perfect video with bad sound
- Get a simple mic that connects to your phone and attaches to your shirt
- Recommendation: DJI Mic Mini (less than $90, easy to use even at noisy events)
- Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsEvCvW4Fto
Bottom Line:
Don't overcomplicate your videos. Keep it to one idea, move while you speak, and add a decent mic.
For more tips on improving your video content, refer to the accompanying one-page PDF.
Winning Edge gives you the tools you need to lead and influence in the political and policy arenas. Every other week, Winning Edge releases short (approximately 5-minute) spots—or “snacks”—focused on one of four areas: fundraising, media, policy, or persuasion.
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