The best way to make videos without breaking the bank or taking tons of your time is to outline your video scripts and then improvise the rest. People often think getting a teleprompter will solve all of their video script problems. But what they don't realize is that their video content determines whether they need a teleprompter or not.
If you are a newbie just going into video, fully written scripts will be your saving grace because of how intimidating and awkward talking on video feels. Fully written scripts read off of a teleprompter will help your video presence flow more naturally.
But–if you feel more confident and have more video experience and know your subject matter really well, all you really need to do is outline your video script and improvise the rest.
If you produce one video per week–outline as soon as possible.
I have tested several tactics for writing, outlining, and straight up winging videos over the last year of producing videos once a week. Through all the unproductive hours of finding what system worked best, here’s what I found:
Writing Your Scripts (Teleprompter Decision)
Delivering in Chunks
Use a Teleprompter if Scripting!
Which Gear to Get
My biggest bottleneck of video production was writing scripts exactly word for word for each video. I thought this was the natural thing to do since I had film production training. But, this system WAS NOT sustainable! It took me 3 to 4 HOURS per script so I had to find another way.
I attended Vid Summit in 2019 to find some answers and hopefully ease some frustration–and it worked!
Vid Summit, a conference for YouTubers, showed me that you actually shouldn’t script your videos, you should outline them, and then wing the material from there.
Let me tell you how I did that.
1. Writing Your Scripts
Writing your script, or deciding what script method to use, really comes down to what you want your video to say.
When you are new to the camera you are going to lose track of what you’re saying since it’s intimidating. In this case, use a script to read from to help you become more comfortable on screen.
When you are comfortable on the camera you are going to feel confident in what you’re saying. Your on-screen presence will be fine, so outline your scripts. Ask yourself: How consistent do I want to publish my videos? If you produce one video per week–outline as soon as possible.
With experience–you will fall under one of these categories.
With farther-reaching purposes for video–you will want to consider this:
When you are comfortable on screen but are filming a batch of videos or only need one video, it is best to script and then read from a teleprompter. It will get you laser-focused on your points and communicate clearly without causing subject overwhelm.
For courses, I’ve found it extremely helpful to script every word and work out the kinks early on. That way when my students watch it, they get a clear, succinct message that is specifically for them and what they need to hear.
2. Delivering in Chunks (both filming and editing)
There are two parts to this section: Telling (filming) and Showing (editing)
Telling is how you say what you need to say. When recording a video, you certainly don’t want to memorize the script! That is TOO much work! Instead, say 1 line at a time (or a couple sentences). Do that over and over again until you feel like you’ve nailed that portion of the script. Then move onto the next section.
Showing is how you edit the video to match the script’s pace. There are a few ways you can stitch together your video. If you are shooting in 4K (which I highly recommend) you can add crop ins and crop outs to hide your transitions between thoughts–and also–pace your video to match the speed of your script (this will come up later when we talk about a remote).
If you have a 1080p DSL camera that isn’t 4K then you will have to have jump cuts. There’s nothing wrong with jump cuts, it’s just a stylistic thing that you’ll need to decide on whether or not they go with your online video presence.
In either form–you can also use b-roll to hide your edits (it’s the footage that goes over an interview). It’s really helpful because it can show what you are talking about while covering up your talking edits.
3. Use a Teleprompter if Scripting!
The hardest part is having your script dialed in–No lie, this series of events will happen until you’re solid:
Step 1: You set it up
Step 2: There's a lot in the script that needs to change.
Reorganizing, deleting, adding–it takes a lot of time!
Especially when that time isn't already allocated for this.
Tip: read video script out loud on the computer before the teleprompter AND IF you don't have to change anything–jump on the teleprompter, it will save you tons of time!
Step 3: It can take some time to get used to naturally reading off the teleprompter. But–You'll be on a roll when you do!
Example: I was able to film 9 VIDEOS in ONE DAY using a teleprompter; it is that efficient!
4. Which Gear to Get
For my weekly routine I use video scripts (so I use a teleprompter). & Here's how you can do it too:
Recommendation 1: The Parrot Teleprompter–absolute favorite–$150 only.
I use it a ton more than this other teleprompter I bought for ~$500
Why is it so good you ask? Because it's TINY and takes no time to set up.
Recommendation 2: The Ikan Elite Remote–you HAVE TO buy a remote for this to TRULY work.
Why a remote? Because you'll want to speed up or slow down your teleprompter script to match the pace of your video.
The Parrot’s Remote = glitchy = it throws off video production process
Ikan Elite Remote = smooth= it speeds up process
So what do YOU think will be best for your videos?
Are you going to use a teleprompter and script them?
Or write your outline and wing it from there?
Let me know in the comments below!
