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[Matthew Teuschel Contribution Level: 2]

Hey guys, if you have a quick second, would you mind checking out the video I just posted? I would just like some constructive criticism and see if there's anything I can do to make it better. I think it's a good start, but I'm going to remake it and add some more value to it, so just let me know what you think.Thanks for your help. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrj3UI5fZU4

[Warren Veach Company: State Continuing Education Contribution Level: 4]

Matthew,

Good job! You came across as sincere and wanting to help.

However, there are a couple of things that I did notice.

Although you spoke slow enough for people like me to follow along, IMHO, 6 minutes is too long. If you look at the "Related Videos" to the right, the videos that ran in the 2-4 minute range got considerably more traffic than the longer ones. If you are going to narrate the script, remember that people can listen faster than they can read, so you might go a bit quicker.

Also, the link on screen doesn't work (at least it wouldn't for me). It acted as a "pause" button.

And even though at the link on screen doesn't work, at the 4:38 mark, you make a point to prompt everyone to "Click one of the links in the video" and have a large arrow pointing to the non-working link.

Also, since it is a hyper-link and hidden, it can't even be copied/pasted if someone did want to click it.

It was helpful that you put the link in the (more info) section, but I almost completely missed it because you kept telling me to "Click one of the links in the video".

I only noticed it when I decided to see what else you might have posted.

I did follow the link and found your blog, and although you didn't ask for feedback on your blog, I would suggest moving your opt-in to the top of the page.

It seemed to me that unless a person were entranced by your articles and kept reading 6-7 screens of writing, that they would lose interest and click away before ever seeing your opt-in box at the very bottom.

Additionally, it felt like you could have taken that one long page and broken it into 4-5 smaller articles and provided yourself (and your readers) with more pages of content, and allowed yourself more "space" for links (billboard space).

[Gary A. Bowles Contribution Level: 1]

Hey Matthew,

I agree with everything that Warren said especially the Link comments...

One thing of note is that I think you should appear in the video. For branding purposes YOU need to be seen as a real person. You can still do it as a slide presentation, just appear at the end where you are doing the appeals to action.

But overall I think the information was definitely of "value".

Keep up the good work

Gary B.

[Dianne Bohr Contribution Level: 2]

I agree with all the above. I would also like to add that there were too many okays in your speech. Having the words in the video was a good idea as it addresses 2 different learning styles, visual and auditory. As already stated, seeing your face would also be a big plus.

[Peter Grimes Company: SendOutCards Contribution Level: 3]

Hey Matthew,

Buddy 1st and foremost, good on you for creating the video! As to redoing the video, naah, leave it stand for itself. Just add more content around your niche market and build on what you already have created. i too try for shorter videos but then again, some leaders have lengthier ones than 6 mins too! Bottom-line, continue to be yourself and YOU will shine through

[suzi mcleod Contribution Level: 1]

Nice Job Matt, you sound really good. The only suggestion I would have is to quicken the intro and maybe hint at a free gift at the end to engage people from the start. I would like to see your face too but the slides are very professional.
Best of luck with all your endeavors,
Suzi

[David Johnson Contribution Level: 3]

I would suggest add your picture and name during the intro when you are doing using presentation slides. You can also do a short intro of a video of you, then go into the presentation.

[Steven Downward Contribution Level: 2]

Hey Matthew
I would not worry about re-doing the video. Just go out there and make another.

In the way of having it as a powerpoint presintation, I would suggest maybe only doing that for a bit of the video. People will not stay on the video if all you are doing is reading off the words for this kind of a video. If you got infront of the camera yourself, you will be branding you and people will see your passion as well as hear it. Has a lot more impact.

That's what I noticed.

And GOOD JOB for doing a video. I know when I did my first, I was freaked so keep it up.

Steve

[Richard Bravo Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 9]

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Hi Matthew,
Great job ... kudos for gettin' it done!
I only have a couple of comments for you.

1. Audio
Right off the bat the first thing for me was the volume level.
I'm a stickler for good audio, so I would recommend increasing your input levels.
Just be careful to monitor your for peaking so the audio doesn't distort.

2. Narration
I would strongly suggest that you have a set of notes to read from that mimic the current presentation, and make the slides bulleted points of the conversation. This has been discussed several times in other conversations and the consensus is that you shouldn't narrate verbatim from your slides. What winds up happening is your audience starts reading along and quickly sees that you aren't doing anything other than reading from the screen. It's not engaging and boring.

So I would recommend that you only highlight the key aspects of each slide by using bullet points, then read from your script (offscreen) to help you stay on track with what you want to say. Doing this will help keep your viewer more engaged with your voice and what you are saying, rather than reading the screen and possibly losing interest.

3. Background
It's pretty boring and kind of reminds me of the Looney Toons backdrop.
I keep waiting for porky pig or bugs bunny to pop out. But maybe that's just my oldschool childhood.
In either case I would look at maybe doing something with a plain white background, vibrant colored text and sprinkling a few images on the screen for each slide to support the topic.

This will add just enough eye candy to keep your viewer engaged visually but not distracted. And if you use supportive images you then tap into a subconscious level of the presentation with visual affirmations of the words you are speaking.

Andy Jenkins recently released a product called Video Boss where he talked about alot of these elements. When I was growing up in California I worked in Hollywood after high school in the film and stage industry and these are some of the concepts you learn about. Supporting the dialogue visually but in a way that does not distract from the dialogue itself. The combination keeps your audience attentive and expectant of what you have to say next.

4. Call to Action
Considering you talked about providing training to the viewer, your call to action is very week.
I learned something from Frank Kern (which he learned from John Carlton); a simple little formula that has helped me tremendously. This is how it goes:

• Here's What I've Got
• Here's What It Will Do For You
• Here's What I want You To Do Next

It's so simple and once you use it a few times it starts to flow naturally.
So considering point #3 is "Here's What I want You To Do Next" your presentation pretty much falls apart at that point. It should be bold and precise.

If you want them to click on a link or optin to a web form, tell the viewer exactly what to do next. Without that step you leave the door wide open for them to begin browsing other videos (if they're on Youtube) or other websites. The point is, if you don't control their next move the odds are you're gonna lose them and all that work was for nothing.

Another Kernism I've learned is to drop hints leading up to the Call to Action during your presentation. If you have a free bootcamp series for instance that you giveaway as your optin bribe, reference it during your presentation several times. Pick a few key benefits from within your slides and when you get to that point in your presentation mention your bootcamp. You can say something like ...

One of the aspects to starting a home business that trips people up the most is time management. Creating a schedule to help you stay focused will increase your odds of success 100x more than if you just wing it. In my bootcamp series you're going to learn some really cool techniques to XYZ ....

See what I mean. There's even a little NLP sprinkled in there by telling the viewer "you are going to learn this in my bootcamp" assuming they are going to signup. There's no question if they want to signup - they are signing up.

In my bootcamp series you're going to learn some really cool techniques to XYZ ....

This goes back to telling them what to do. Dropping these type of lines in your content begins programming them for the next step. So when you tell them to signup (not ask) they should be more than half way there if you have a qualified lead viewing the presentation.

Make sense?

Now you have some great feedback from everyone and as Steve suggested, move on, putting what you learned to use on the next one.
Cheers!
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[Matthew Teuschel Contribution Level: 2]

Thanks for all of your great insight guys. I really appreciate it. This is exactly why I love this forum.