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Jeff Bullas
KeymasterThat is a topic surrounded by a lot of curiosity, especially for creators looking to establish a sense of credibility quickly.
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Cheers,
Jeff
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Neil Anthony.
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Neil Anthony.
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Neil Anthony.
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This reply was modified 3 months ago by
Neil Anthony.
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This reply was modified 3 months ago by
Neil Anthony.
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This reply was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by
Neil Anthony.
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This reply was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by
Neil Anthony.
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This reply was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by
Neil Anthony.
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This reply was modified 3 weeks, 3 days ago by
Neil Anthony.
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This reply was modified 3 weeks, 3 days ago by
Neil Anthony.
Jun 25, 2025 at 12:56 am in reply to: LinkedIn Live: What’s Required & What Are the Best Practices? #110174Jeff Bullas
KeymasterLinkedIn Live is a powerful feature for real-time engagement, but access is granted based on meeting certain platform criteria, and a successful broadcast relies on good planning and execution.
First, let us cover the requirements for gaining access. While the specific thresholds can be adjusted by LinkedIn, access to LinkedIn Live is typically based on a few key factors. You generally need to have a sufficiently large audience, which usually means a minimum of 150 followers or connections. Your profile must also have a history of abiding by LinkedIn’s Professional Community Policies, meaning you have not had recent violations. And you must have a complete profile and a pattern of creating original content. For many, having Creator Mode turned on can also be a factor in being granted access. The approval process is often automatic once you meet the criteria.
Once you have access, there are several best practices for conducting a successful live stream. The first is to promote your live event well in advance. You should create a LinkedIn Event page for your stream and then create several posts in the days leading up to it to build awareness and encourage people to register their interest.
Second, you need a clear plan and structure for your session. Do not just go live without a clear topic. Have an outline of the key points you want to discuss, or a set of prepared questions if you are hosting an interview. This ensures the broadcast stays focused and provides value.
Third, it is crucial to test your technical setup before you go live. Check your camera, your microphone, your lighting, and, most importantly, your internet connection to ensure it is stable. You can stream directly from your Page or Profile, but for a more professional broadcast with multiple speakers or screen sharing, you will need to use a third-party streaming tool that integrates with LinkedIn.
Fourth, during the live stream itself, you must actively engage with your audience. Acknowledge people as they join, make time to read and respond to comments and questions from the audience in real-time, and ask direct questions to encourage participation. This two-way interaction is what makes a live session compelling.
And fifth, your work is not done when the broadcast ends. The video of your live session will remain on your profile or page as a standard video post. You should continue to engage with any new comments that come in after the event. It is also a very effective strategy to repurpose the video content by creating short highlight clips, writing an article based on the discussion, or sharing key takeaways in subsequent posts.
In summary, access to LinkedIn Live is based on meeting audience and policy criteria. A successful event relies on pre-promotion, a clear plan, active engagement during the stream, and repurposing the content afterwards.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 25, 2025 at 12:53 am in reply to: What’s the most effective way to use video on my LinkedIn profile? #110170Jeff Bullas
KeymasterUsing video on your LinkedIn profile is an excellent way to make it more dynamic, showcase your personality, and provide deeper insight into your work than text alone can. The key is to be strategic about what type of video you create and where you place it on your profile.
First, the most prominent and effective placement for a primary video is in your “Featured” section. This section sits near the top of your profile, just below your “About” summary, making it highly visible to visitors. The best type of video for this spot is often a short introduction or “brand” video, typically between 30 and 90 seconds long. This video should serve as your professional elevator pitch. You can use it to introduce yourself, explain what you do, who you help, and what you are passionate about. It adds a human element that is very difficult to convey with text.
Second, you can and should add videos to your individual “Experience” sections. For each job role you have listed on your profile, LinkedIn allows you to add rich media, including video. This is the ideal place to feature videos that are specific to your accomplishments in that role. Examples include a recording of a presentation you gave, a demo of a product you helped launch, a case study video, or even a customer testimonial related to your work at that company. This provides tangible proof of your skills and achievements.
Third, you should regularly post native video content to your feed. While these videos are not a permanent fixture on your profile in the same way as the Featured section, your recent activity is visible to profile visitors. Posting valuable video content, such as sharing industry tips, insights, or commentary, keeps your profile active and demonstrates your current expertise. You can also “pin” your most important or representative video post to the top of your profile feed.
Regardless of where you place the video, you must ensure it appears professional. This means having good lighting, clear audio, and a clean, non-distracting background. Always add accurate captions, as many users on LinkedIn watch videos with the sound off. Keep your videos concise and focused on a single, clear message.
In summary, the most effective ways to use video on your profile are to create a strong introduction video for your Featured section and to add specific project or accomplishment videos to your individual Experience sections. This combination showcases both your personality and your proven track record.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 25, 2025 at 12:45 am in reply to: How do I add captions to LinkedIn videos for better engagement? #110166Jeff Bullas
KeymasterAdding accurate captions to your native LinkedIn videos is a critical step for improving both accessibility and engagement.
First, it is important to understand why they are so effective. A very large percentage of users on social media platforms, particularly in a professional context like an office, watch videos with the sound off. Without captions, your message is completely lost to this significant portion of your audience. Captions also make your content accessible to viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing. Furthermore, they can improve comprehension for everyone, especially for viewers watching in a noisy environment or for those for whom your language or accent is not their first. This all leads to longer watch times and better overall engagement.
Now, let us discuss how to add them. The most professional and reliable method is to upload a SubRip Subtitle file, which is commonly known as an SRT file. This is a simple text file that contains the transcribed text of your video, formatted with the precise start and end times for each line of dialogue.
The process for adding it is straightforward. First, after you have uploaded your video to a new LinkedIn post, but before you publish it, you will see an option to edit your video settings. This is usually represented by a pencil icon on the video thumbnail.
Second, when you click to edit your video, you will see an option to “Select file” or “Upload caption file” under a “Captions” tab. You would then select the SRT file you have prepared for that video from your computer.
Third, regarding how to create an SRT file, you do not need to do this manually by typing out all the timestamps. The most efficient way is to use an online transcription service. Many of these services are AI-powered and can quickly transcribe your video audio for a low cost, after which you can review the text for accuracy and export it in the SRT format. Many modern video editing software programs also have built-in features to help you create and export caption files.
An alternative method is to “burn” the captions directly into your video file during the editing process. This ensures they are always visible. However, uploading a separate SRT file on LinkedIn is often preferred as it gives the viewer the choice to turn captions on or off and can be better for accessibility and platform SEO.
In summary, captions are essential because a large part of your audience watches without sound. The best way to add them on LinkedIn is to upload a clean and accurate SRT file through the video settings before you publish your post. This simple step makes your content more accessible and dramatically increases its potential to engage your viewers.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 25, 2025 at 12:41 am in reply to: What are the ideal video specifications for a native post on LinkedIn? #110162Jeff Bullas
KeymasterUploading a video to LinkedIn with the correct specifications is important for ensuring it displays at the highest quality and provides a good viewing experience for your professional network.
Here are the key video specifications to keep in mind. First, regarding the aspect ratio, while LinkedIn supports traditional horizontal video (16:9), it is highly recommended to use either a square (1:1) or a vertical (4:5) aspect ratio for your feed posts. These formats take up more vertical space on a mobile screen as users scroll, which helps to capture more attention.
Second, for resolution, you should always aim to upload a high-quality file. A resolution of 1080p is a reliable standard. For a square (1:1) video, this would be 1080×1080 pixels, and for a vertical (4:5) video, this would be 1080×1350 pixels.
Third, for the file format, LinkedIn supports several common types, but MP4 using the H.264 video codec is the most widely recommended format for its excellent balance of quality, file size, and compatibility.
Fourth, when it comes to video length, for a standard native video post in the feed, the maximum allowed duration is typically 10 minutes. However, it is critical to note that most successful videos on LinkedIn are much shorter than this. The best engagement is often seen on videos that are between 30 seconds and 3 minutes long.
Fifth, for file size, the maximum for an upload is quite generous, usually up to 5 gigabytes. For practical purposes and faster upload times, it is always a good practice to compress your video to a more manageable size without a significant loss in visual quality.
And sixth, for your audio and frame rate, a standard frame rate of 24 to 30 frames per second (fps) is perfectly acceptable, and an audio bitrate of at least 128 kbps will ensure your sound is clear.
In summary, for the best results on LinkedIn, it is recommended to use a square or vertical aspect ratio, a resolution of at least 1080p, and the MP4 file format. And while the platform allows for long videos, remember that shorter, more concise content typically performs best in the professional feed.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 25, 2025 at 12:33 am in reply to: What are the best practices for creating a LinkedIn carousel post from a PDF? #110158Jeff Bullas
KeymasterLinkedIn carousel posts, which are created by uploading a PDF document, are a highly effective format for sharing in-depth information and telling a compelling story on the platform. To make them engaging, you need to design the document specifically for the “swipe-through” experience of a social media feed.
First, you must format your document correctly before you even start adding content. For the best viewing experience, especially on mobile, you should use either a square aspect ratio (like 1080×1080 pixels) or a vertical aspect ratio (like 1080×1350 pixels) for your pages. It is best to create your slides in a design tool like Canva, Google Slides, or PowerPoint and then export the final document as a PDF.
Second, you need to create a strong, attention-grabbing first slide. This slide functions as the hook for your entire post. It must have a bold, clear headline and an engaging visual that makes someone stop scrolling and feel compelled to swipe to see what is next.
Third, keep the text on each slide minimal and highly readable. This is a critical point. Do not simply paste large blocks of text from a word document onto a slide. Use a large, clean font and plenty of white space. Each slide should ideally convey one single, simple idea. Think of each page of your PDF as an individual social media graphic, not a page in a document.
Fourth, you should actively encourage the swipe. Use visual cues to prompt the user to continue. This can be done with small arrows, by numbering your slides (e.g., “Tip 1 of 5”), or by using design elements that span across the slide break to create curiosity about what is on the next page.
Fifth, use the format to tell a cohesive story or provide step-by-step value. Your carousel should have a logical flow that takes the viewer on a journey. This could be guiding them through a list of valuable tips, explaining a process, or telling a short story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
And sixth, your final slide must include a clear Call to Action (CTA). Do not let your carousel be a dead end. The last slide is your opportunity to drive engagement. You can ask a question to spark a discussion in the comments, encourage people to save or share the post, or direct them to the link in your bio for more information.
In the main text of your LinkedIn post that accompanies the PDF, you should provide context, summarise the value contained in the carousel, and use three to five relevant hashtags to aid discoverability.
The key to an effective LinkedIn PDF carousel is to design it as a series of connected, visual social media slides, not as a traditional text document.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 25, 2025 at 12:26 am in reply to: What are the best practices for making email images mobile-responsive? #110154Jeff Bullas
KeymasterEnsuring your email images are mobile-responsive is absolutely critical, as a majority of emails are now opened on mobile devices. A poor mobile experience can cause a subscriber to immediately delete your email or even unsubscribe.
There are several key best practices to follow. First, and most importantly, you should always start with a responsive email template. Most modern email service providers, like Mailchimp or ConvertKit, provide templates that are designed from the ground up to be responsive. Their code automatically adjusts the layout and image sizes to fit different screen widths. This is your foundation.
Second, you should employ the “fluid image” technique. This is a core principle of responsive email design. In the code, this means setting the width of your images to 100 percent of their container, but also setting a max-width to the image’s actual pixel width. This simple instruction allows the image to scale down proportionally to fit smaller screens perfectly without becoming distorted or breaking the email’s layout. Most good drag-and-drop email editors will handle this for you automatically.
Third, you must avoid putting critical text inside your images. Text that is part of an image file becomes very small and is often completely unreadable on a mobile screen. It also presents a major accessibility problem, as screen readers for visually impaired subscribers cannot read text that is embedded in an image. Your main headline and your call to action must always be plain HTML text, not part of a graphic.
Fourth, you need to optimise your image file sizes. As we have discussed before, mobile users are often on slower network connections. Large image files will cause your email to load very slowly. You must compress your images to keep the file size small while maintaining acceptable quality.
Fifth, you should consider the composition of your images for small screens. Before you even choose an image, think about how it will look when it is scaled down. An image that is very detailed with many small elements might become an unrecognisable smudge on a phone. It is better to opt for images with a clear, single focal point that remains understandable at a small size.
And sixth, you must always test your emails. Before you send your campaign to your full list, send test emails to yourself and view them on different mobile devices (both iPhones and Android phones) and in different email clients, such as the Gmail app and Apple Mail. Most email marketing platforms also offer built-in testing tools that show you previews of how your email will render on various devices.
In summary, the key to mobile-responsive images is to start with a responsive template that handles the technical side. Your job is then to design images that are clear even at a small size, keep your file sizes small, avoid putting essential text in your images, and always test how your email looks on a real phone before sending.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 25, 2025 at 12:23 am in reply to: Are animated GIFs still effective for increasing engagement in emails? #110150Jeff Bullas
KeymasterYes, animated GIFs can still be a very effective tool for increasing engagement and adding personality to your email campaigns, provided they are used thoughtfully and with a clear purpose.
First, let us look at why they are effective. The primary advantage of a GIF is that it captures attention with motion in a way that a static image cannot. This can be used to quickly demonstrate a simple product feature in action, showcase a rapid sequence of different products, add a touch of appropriate humour, or simply draw the viewer’s eye towards your main call to action.
Second, there are some best practices for using them. You should always ensure the GIF has a clear purpose and adds value to the email, rather than just being a distracting animation for the sake of it. The GIF should also be high-quality and on-brand; a low-resolution, pixelated GIF can make your email look unprofessional. It is also important to not overdo it. One or two well-placed and impactful GIFs in an email are far more effective than filling it with constant, flashing animations.
Third, you must consider the technical aspects, with the biggest one being file size. Large GIF files can significantly increase the loading time of your email, which can be frustrating for subscribers, particularly those on mobile devices or with slower internet connections. It is crucial that you optimise your GIFs to keep the file size as small as possible, ideally under 1 megabyte. You can do this by limiting the number of frames in the animation, reducing the colour palette, and using online GIF compression tools before you add it to your email.
Fourth, you need to be aware of email client support. While most modern web and mobile email clients like Gmail and Apple Mail fully support animated GIFs, some older desktop versions of Microsoft Outlook will only display the first frame of the GIF as a static image. Because of this, it is an essential best practice to ensure that the very first frame of your GIF is a complete, comprehensible image that conveys the core message on its own.
In summary, animated GIFs remain an effective tool for engagement when used strategically. The keys to success are to use them with a clear purpose, to ensure they are highly optimised to keep the file size small, and to design them so that the first frame works as a standalone image for those email clients that do not support animation.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 25, 2025 at 12:21 am in reply to: What are the best image file formats and sizes for fast-loading emails? #110146Jeff Bullas
KeymasterChoosing the right file format and properly optimising the size of your images is crucial for ensuring your emails load quickly, which is essential for subscriber engagement and the overall user experience.
First, let us discuss the file formats. For most situations in email, you will be choosing between JPG, PNG, and GIF. A JPG is almost always the best option for photographs and complex images that contain many colours and gradients. It provides an excellent balance between image quality and a small file size. A PNG is the ideal choice for images that require a transparent background, such as your company logo, or for simple graphics with sharp lines and a limited number of colours, like icons. A GIF should only be used for creating simple, short animations. While modern formats like WebP offer superior compression, their support across all major email clients can still be inconsistent, so JPG and PNG remain the safest choices for maximum compatibility.
Second, you need to consider the image dimensions. You should always resize your images to the actual width they will be displayed at within your email template before you upload them. For a typical single-column email, this is often around 600 to 700 pixels wide. Uploading a very large, high-resolution image and then scaling it down with code makes the email unnecessarily heavy and slows down loading time.
Third, and this is critical, is the file size. You must compress your images to keep the file size as low as possible without a major loss in visual quality. For individual images within an email, you should aim to keep each one under 200 kilobytes (KB) if possible. For the total weight of all images in a single email, a common best practice is to try and keep it under 1 megabyte (MB).
To achieve these smaller file sizes, you need to use an image compression tool. If you use software like Adobe Photoshop, you can use its “Save for Web (Legacy)” feature, which gives you precise control over quality and file size. There are also many excellent and free online tools that can do this for you, such as TinyPNG, Squoosh, or ImageOptim. These tools can significantly reduce an image’s file size often without any noticeable drop in quality.
In summary, for fast-loading emails, you should use JPGs for your photos and PNGs for graphics needing transparency. Always resize your images to the correct display width first, and then compress them to be as small as possible, aiming for under 200 KB per image and under 1 MB for the total email.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 24, 2025 at 11:40 pm in reply to: How do you write effective alt text for images in emails for accessibility? #110142Jeff Bullas
KeymasterWriting effective alt text is a fundamental aspect of creating accessible and user-friendly emails. Its primary purpose is to convey the meaning and function of an image to someone who cannot see it, which includes people using screen readers due to a visual impairment, as well as users who have images blocked by default in their email client.
There are several key best practices to follow. First, you need to be specific and descriptive. Your alt text should concisely describe the important content of the image. For example, instead of a generic alt text like “Person with laptop,” a more effective version would be, “A person smiling while typing on a laptop in a brightly lit cafe.”
Second, you should keep it concise. While the text needs to be descriptive, it is important to be direct and to the point. A good guideline is to try to keep it under about 125 characters. Screen readers will read the entire text aloud, so overly long descriptions can become tedious.
Third, it is crucial to convey the function of the image, not just its appearance. This is especially important for images that are also links. If you have an image of a red button with the words “Read More,” the alt text should be “Read More,” not “Red button.” The alt text should describe the destination or action of the link.
Fourth, you should avoid starting with phrases like “Image of…” or “Picture of…”. This is redundant information, as a screen reader will already announce that the element is an image before reading the alt text. You can just begin with the description itself.
And fifth, you need to handle purely decorative images correctly. If an image provides no useful information and is only there for aesthetic purposes, such as a background pattern or a simple divider line, it should have empty alt text. This is written in the HTML as alt=””. This signals to screen readers that the image is decorative and can be safely ignored, which provides a much better user experience than having it read out a confusing file name.
The context of the email is key. Before writing your alt text, ask yourself, “If I could not see this image, what is the most critical information I would need to understand its purpose in this email?”. By focusing on providing a concise and accurate description of the image’s content and function, you make your emails more accessible and effective for your entire audience.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 24, 2025 at 11:36 pm in reply to: What is the best text-to-image ratio to avoid email spam filters? #110138Jeff Bullas
KeymasterThe concept of a text-to-image ratio is a long-standing one in email marketing. While modern spam filters are far more sophisticated now and look at many other signals, the balance between text and images in your emails still matters for deliverability and the overall user experience.
First, it is important to understand that there is no official, magic ratio that guarantees your email will land in the inbox. Inbox providers do not publish a rule stating an email must be, for instance, 80 percent text and 20 percent image. Modern spam filters place a much heavier emphasis on your sender reputation, subscriber engagement, and whether your email is properly authenticated.
However, a commonly cited best practice is to aim for a healthy balance, often suggested as being around 60% text to 40% image area. The key principle behind this guideline is that your email should still be understandable and provide value even if the images are turned off or blocked by the recipient’s email client, which is a common default setting.
Second, you are correct to be concerned about an email that is just one single, large image. This is a major red flag for spam filters and should be avoided at all costs. Spammers have historically used this tactic to hide suspicious phrases and links within an image, thereby attempting to bypass text-based spam filters. As a result, emails that contain very little or no plain text content are highly likely to be flagged as spam.
Third, beyond deliverability, there is the crucial matter of user experience and accessibility. Many of your subscribers may have images turned off by default in their email client. If your entire message, including your call to action, is contained within an image, these subscribers will see absolutely nothing. Furthermore, screen readers used by visually impaired subscribers cannot read text that is embedded within an image. This makes it essential to have your core message in plain text and to use alt text for your images.
In summary, instead of focusing on a precise ratio, focus on creating a well-balanced email. The most important rule is to never send an image-only email. Always ensure your primary message and call to action are presented as plain text so that your communication is effective and accessible for everyone, which in turn is a strong positive signal for deliverability.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 24, 2025 at 11:28 pm in reply to: What is the rule of thirds and why does it improve video composition? #110134Jeff Bullas
KeymasterThe rule of thirds is one of the most fundamental principles in visual composition, used across photography, art, and filmmaking. It is a simple guideline that helps you create more balanced, dynamic, and visually appealing shots.
First, let us explain what the rule is. The concept is to imagine that your video frame is divided into nine equal rectangles by two evenly spaced horizontal lines and two evenly spaced vertical lines, much like a tic-tac-toe grid. The rule of thirds suggests that you should place the most important elements of your shot along these lines, or at the points where these lines intersect.
Second, the reason this improves your composition is that placing a subject off-centre is generally more interesting and natural to the human eye than placing it directly in the middle of the frame. It creates a more dynamic composition and a better sense of balance. This use of “negative space” can also be used to imply direction or provide context for the subject.
Third, here are some practical examples for video. For a standard talking-head video, instead of placing yourself in the dead centre of the shot, you would position yourself so that your body aligns with either the left or the right vertical line. Your eyes should be roughly level with the top horizontal line. This is a much more standard and professional look than being perfectly centred. When filming a landscape, you would typically place the horizon on either the bottom or top horizontal line, not directly in the middle of the frame.
Fourth, the four points where the vertical and horizontal lines intersect are considered natural focal points. Placing a key subject of interest, such as a person’s eye or a small object, on one of these “power points” can create a very strong and pleasing composition.
It is important to remember that it is called the “rule” of thirds, but it is really a guideline, not a law that can never be broken. Deliberately breaking the rule by perfectly centring a subject can also be a powerful creative choice, often used to create a sense of symmetry, formality, or direct confrontation. However, it is always best to understand the rule before you choose to break it.
Most modern cameras and even smartphone camera apps have an option to display a grid overlay on the screen, which makes it very easy to apply the rule of thirds as you are filming.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 24, 2025 at 11:25 pm in reply to: What are the best practices for choosing a background for a talking-head video? #110130Jeff Bullas
KeymasterThe background of your video plays a crucial role in establishing your professionalism, reinforcing your brand, and, most importantly, ensuring the viewer’s focus remains on you and your message.
There are several key best practices to consider when choosing your background. First, and this is the most important rule, ensure the background is clean and uncluttered. A messy or distracting background with random objects, piles of washing, or disorganised shelves can immediately make your video look unprofessional and will pull the viewer’s focus away from you as the speaker.
Second, you should aim to create a sense of depth. You can achieve this by having some physical distance between where you are sitting or standing and the wall or objects behind you. This allows for a more natural depth of field, where the background can be slightly out of focus, which helps you to stand out as the subject. You should try to avoid sitting right up against a flat wall.
Third, your background should be relevant to your brand or topic, or at the very least, not contradict it. The setting should align with the tone and subject matter of your content. For a channel about business or technology, a clean, organised office setting or a simple, modern backdrop often works well. For a channel about a creative hobby, a more artistic or personal setting might be more appropriate.
Fourth, consider your colour palette and wardrobe. The colours in your background should complement you, not clash with what you are wearing or blend in with your clothing or skin tone. Solid, neutral colours for the background often work well and are a safe choice. Avoid very busy patterns behind you.
And fifth, it is good practice to use lighting on your background. Even a simple, inexpensive lamp placed out of shot and aimed at the wall behind you can add depth and visual interest. This helps to separate you from the background and prevents your video from looking flat.
When deciding between a real, curated setting, like a well-designed bookshelf or office space, and a simple backdrop, like a solid colour paper roll or fabric, there are pros and cons to both. A real setting can feel more authentic and personal. A simple backdrop can be excellent for consistency and for minimising all distractions, especially if your real-world environment is not suitable for filming.
In summary, the best background is one that is clean, uncluttered, and relevant to your brand, with a sense of depth between you and the back wall. It should always complement you as the subject, not compete with you for the viewer’s attention.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 24, 2025 at 11:17 pm in reply to: J-Cuts & L-Cuts: How to Make Video Dialogue More Professional? #110126Jeff Bullas
KeymasterJ-cuts and L-cuts are fundamental editing techniques that create a much smoother and more natural flow in dialogue scenes by separating the point at which the audio and the video transition. They are a key differentiator between amateur and professional-looking video editing.
First, let us define an L-cut. An L-cut is when the audio from the current shot continues to play over the vision of the next shot. If you imagine the clips on an editing timeline, the shape resembles the letter ‘L’ because the audio track extends out under the next video clip. A common example is when we see a person finish speaking, but we continue to look at their reaction for a moment while the audio of the other person’s reply begins. This is very effective for showing a listener’s non-verbal reaction to what is being said.
Second, a J-cut is the opposite of an L-cut. This is when the audio from the next shot begins playing before you cut to the vision of that shot. On an editing timeline, this forms a ‘J’ shape, with the audio track starting before its corresponding video clip. For instance, we might be watching someone listening intently, and then we hear the beginning of the other person’s response before the vision cuts to show them speaking. This is a very effective way to smoothly introduce a new speaker or a new thought.
These techniques make dialogue more professional and engaging for one primary reason: they mimic how we experience conversations in real life. We often hear things just before we turn to look at them, and we continue to see someone’s reaction after they have finished speaking. Standard “hard cuts,” where the audio and video switch at the exact same moment, can feel abrupt, jarring, and robotic.
J-cuts and L-cuts create a more seamless and cinematic flow. They guide the viewer’s attention more effectively and help to make the editing feel invisible, which is often the goal. By allowing you to show both the speaker and the listener’s reactions within the flow of the dialogue, you add significant depth and emotional context to the conversation.
In summary, J-cuts and L-cuts are about letting the audio and video transition at different times. Mastering these two simple cuts is one of the most effective ways to make your dialogue scenes feel more professional, natural, and immersive for your audience.
Cheers,
Jeff
Jun 24, 2025 at 11:14 pm in reply to: How do you properly script a video to improve audience retention? #110122Jeff Bullas
KeymasterScripting a video with audience retention in mind is one of the most effective ways to improve your channel’s performance. It is not just about what you say, but about how you structure your information to keep a viewer engaged.
There are several key parts to a retention-focused script. First, and most critically, you must craft a powerful hook. You have only a few seconds, typically the first 5 to 15, to convince a viewer that your video is worth their time. Your hook needs to grab their attention immediately. You can do this by clearly stating the value they will receive, by posing an intriguing question that the video will answer, or by presenting a surprising or controversial statement.
Second, immediately after the hook, you should briefly set expectations. You can give a quick summary of the main points you are going to cover. This reassures the viewer that they have clicked on the right video and tells them that the content they are looking for is coming up, which encourages them to keep watching.
Third, you need to deliver the core content in an engaging manner. Instead of just listing facts, try to structure your main points as a story or a series of clear, digestible steps. A very effective technique is to use “open loops,” which means you mention something interesting that you will explain in more detail later in the video. This creates curiosity and gives the viewer a reason to stick around.
Fourth, you must maintain momentum throughout the video. Avoid long, slow, or rambling segments, as these are the points where viewers are most likely to become bored and leave. Keep your energy level up and your language concise. From a production standpoint, it is also important to use visual changes, such as B-roll footage, on-screen text, or graphics, to frequently reset the viewer’s attention.
And fifth, your conclusion should be clear and concise. Summarise the key takeaways of the video very quickly. Do not have a long, drawn-out outro where your energy drops, as this is another common point where viewers will click away before you have had a chance to present your end screen or calls to action. Once you have delivered your summary, you can then ask them to subscribe or direct them to another relevant video.
When writing your script, always read it out loud to ensure it sounds natural and conversational, not like you are reading from a textbook. For many creators, a detailed dot-point outline works better than a word-for-word script to achieve a more authentic delivery. By structuring your videos this way, you are constantly giving the viewer a reason to keep watching.
Cheers,
Jeff
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