If you create digital training content, you know that video is one of the most powerful formats for human learning.

As a sensory-rich medium that stimulates both auditory and visual senses, video is a dynamic and accessible tool to aid in the learning process.

Until virtual reality becomes an affordable solution, video is one of the best formats for self-paced learning on the internet.

This is especially true when you’re teaching customers how to use a software product.

Software training… That’s what I spend a fair chunk of my days thinking about. I’m currently on a team that creates training content and videos at Atlassian University. We train customers how to use software products like Jira, Confluence, and Trello.

Example of Atlassian University training content

From our research, we’ve found that many of our customers prefer to find ‘how to’ information on YouTube, so we’re leaning more heavily into scaling our video content. And we’re using Camtasia as our main tool for video editing and production.

Why use Camtasia for video editing?

TBH my favorite video editing tool is Premiere Pro. It’s professional, robust, and flexible. In Premiere, you can create any customization you wish.

But let’s be real, Adobe’s tools aren’t built for beginners. They don’t have the most intuitive interface and they require a significant ramp to learn.

That’s why Camtasia is the better tool to create software training videos for your customers. The tool provides a simple interface that allows you to create professional-level videos, without all the extra features. A few more reasons why it’s great:

• ✅ Built-in screen recorder, perfect to create software training

• ✅ Super easy to use, no need to be an expert video editor

• ✅ Drag-and-drop animations, making your editing more efficient

• ✅ Unique cursor effects, for cleaner and more accessible videos

If your customer education team is looking for a new tool to build training videos, Camtasia is definitely worth exploring. It’ll help reduce your maintenance and amount of time to build new training content.

11 Camtasia Editing Tips for Customer Training Videos

Before we get into the tips, let’s look at an example. The training video below was created using Camtasia. Watch the 2-minute video to give you an idea of the training output we’ll be discussing in the tips.

Okay, on to the tips. Note that the below is not a tutorial on how to get started using Camtasia for the first time. I assume you already know the basics of the tool. The tips below are to help you make your product training videos better.

1. Record your screen using Camtasia’s built-in tool

Watch videos on how to perform this action here

The built-in screen recorder is one of Camtasia’s best features. It allows you to A) record your screen, and B) edit your final videos, all in one tool. Efficiency plus!

The screen recorder is easy to use. If you’re on a Mac, a recording icon will be added on the right side of your top toolbar. It looks like this:

To start a recording, select the icon, then select ‘Start Recording.’ You can stop the recording by selecting the same toolbar icon. Once the recording is stopped, the newly recorded clip will be automatically added to your media library.

2. Before you record, zoom in to 125% on your browser

Okay, this tip isn’t really about Camtasia itself. But it will significantly improve your final edit.

One typical problem with training videos is that the recorded product UI is so small, that it’s difficult for learners to read and understand.

You can solve this by zooming in to at least 125% on your browser before you hit start recording your screen. Your goal with product training videos is to minimize the amount of wasted space on screen. Zooming in before you record helps learners have an optimal experience and better understand your product.

3. Use the Cursor Smoothing effect

Watch videos on how to perform this action here

When you record your screen to show product features, sometimes the cursor can seem to be moving erratically. Your mouse might jump from side to side very quickly, which can be distracting and overwhelming for your viewers.

Camtasia solves this with its “Cursor Smoothing” effect. This effect magically removes all erratic cursor movements, and instead, creates clean, smooth cursor movements. Cursor Smoothing is one of my favorite features to improve product training videos.

To add this effect, go to the side panel, and select ‘Cursor Effects.’ Then, drag ‘Cursor Smoothing’ on top of the desired clip in the timeline.

4. Add cursor click sounds

Watch videos on how to perform this action here

**This may seem trivial, but adding “clicking sounds” makes your training video more clear and understandable. **These sounds provide an auditory signal to learners about when and where they should be clicking.

Luckily, Camtasia has a built-in feature for this, so you don’t have to add click sounds in yourself.

In the side panel, select ‘Cursor Effects.’ Then, select the Left Click icon at the top of your screen. Drag ‘Sound’ on top of the desired clip in the timeline. This will add an authentic “click” sound to anywhere you clicked in your screen recording.

I typically turn the volume down to about 65%. The standard 100% feels like overkill.

5. Increase cursor size to 175%

Watch videos on how to perform this action here

When you record your screen, the standard cursor size is often small and can be difficult to follow.

**Camtasia allows you to increase the cursor size up to 500%. **To increase your cursor size after you’ve recorded your screen, select your clip in the timeline. Then, navigate to the top right of your screen and select the cursor icon. Adjust the scale to 175% (or your preferred size).

Note: The maximum cursor size I suggest is 175%. Any larger than that and you’ll see heavy pixelation in the cursor. I find this distracting. Hopefully, Camtasia will fix this in the future by improving cursor resolution at scale.

6. “Stitch” clips together for more seamless video

Watch videos on how to perform this action here

You will probably need to slice a screen capture clip to align with the voice over. Camtasia gives you the option to “stitch selected media” together, which makes the cursor movement seamless, even if the clip is sliced up.

7. Freeze and extend your video clips

Watch videos on how to perform this action here

In most video editing, your audio voiceover won’t match up perfectly with your screen recording. That means you’ll need to slice up your screen recording to better fit with the audio instructions.

One feature to help you with this is to freeze and extend your clips. This feature allows you to pause a clip at any specific point and extend that still frame however long in your timeline you desire.

To activate the freeze and extend feature, select the clip, hold ‘Option’ on your keyboard, and drag the end of the clip to your preferred length.

8. Use simple annotations to call attention to specific features

Watch videos on how to perform this action here

Camtasia has loads of built-in annotations. Be careful with these as it’s easy to overdo it, which can make your video more confusing.

My advice on annotations is to keep it simple and stay consistent. Pick one or two annotations that work best for your need and keep those consistent throughout all of your videos. In the example video above, you can see that all annotations are the same style and color. Simple and consistent.

You can access annotations in your sidebar by selecting** ‘Annotations,’** then choosing from the library of options. My go-to annotations are the box and highlight features.

9. Group clips together for easier editing

Watch videos on how to perform this action here

Groups are a great way to keep your video project organized. By grouping clips together, it’ll make it easier to add zooms, transitions, or other effects to multiple clips at one time.

To create a group, select multiple clips in the timeline and right-click. Then, select ‘Group.’

This adds all of the selected clips into a single package (in Premiere Pro, these are called a ‘nested sequence’). Double click on the group and you can edit any of the clips nested inside the group.

10. Use a simple ‘Fade’ for most transitions

Watch videos on how to perform this action

Like annotations, transitions can also make your videos distracting and overwhelming if not selected carefully. And to be honest, most of Camtasia’s built-in transitions are a little cheesy and outdated.

I suggest you keep your transitions simple and go with ‘Fade’ on nearly everything. This will give your video a cleaner, more professional look, plus it’ll be more efficient to build.

To add transitions, go to the sidebar and select ‘Transitions.’ Then, select your transition (Fade!) and drag it on top of your desired clip in the timeline. Remember, you can also add transitions to groups if you’ve nested multiple clips together.

11. Use custom animations to zoom-in on the product UI

Watch videos to learn how to perform this action

Zooming in on important features is a must for software training videos. Remember that your audience is probably watching these videos on a small screen. If you want to call attention to a specific button, you’re probably going to need to zoom in to help your learners better see and understand.

There are a few ways to zoom in with Camtasia, but I’ve found the most effective way is to add a “custom animation” to your clip.

To add a zoom, select ‘Animations’ in the left panel. Then, drag ‘Custom’ on top of your desired clip or group in the timeline. This will add an arrow icon on top of your clip, that looks like this:

Select this arrow. The white circles on the arrow represent the start and end of your animation. To add a zoom, select the end circle so it’s highlighted in red. Then, use the panel in the top right corner to adjust the scale and X/Y position.

Play the video back in the timeline to make sure your zoom looks good. This process of adding a ‘custom animation’ takes a little practice, but you’ll get the hang of it after a few tries. Especially if you’ve built more complex animations in Premiere Pro or After Effects.

My pro tip is to only use the zoom feature when it’s absolutely necessary. You don’t need to zoom in on every single button. Prioritize the most important information for your learners to know, and zoom in on that.

12. Create a template to speed up future videos

When you edit a video from scratch, it’s a lot of work. You need to think about branding, title cards, intro/outro bumpers, transitions, colors.

My advice is to create an excellent video from the start, so you can use that file as a template for future videos. Put in the extra work up front to make sure all the brand-level visuals are sharp and your intro/outro bumpers are polished.

Once you have a solid video template, share the file with your teammates so you’re all building similar style training videos.

I hope you’ve found these tips valuable for creating more effective training videos. If you’re curious to learn more, explore more Camtasia tutorials here and see what other creative solutions you find.

If you find any helpful features I missed here, please share them in a comment. I’d love to learn from you.

Happy creating. 🎉

Bio

I’m Andrew DeBell and I create content that helps sell products and educate customers. My projects span content marketing, video creation, writing, and learning design.

👉 Follow me on Linkedin and Medium to stay up on the latest.

If you’re reading this on the internet, I assume you‘ve heard of Web3 at this point. It was one of the hottest buzzwords of 2021.

Proponents call Web3 the next evolution of the internet, giving freedom and ownership back to individuals. Critics call it an elitist tech trend, misaligned with human behavior and superficially inflated with VC funding.

Either way, it doesn’t really matter for the purpose of this article.

The reason I bring it up is that Web3 has a user adoption problem.

The new internet needs more users. It’s the same problem that every software company faces.

At the start of 2022, Web3 had about 300 million users worldwide. While organic user growth was strong and rapid in 2021, it’s unlikely that trend will continue forever.

Most early adopters are young, highly technical people. With billions of VC money pouring in, it’s an exciting place for them to create and innovate.

But for the regular ol’ User (like you and me), Web3 is complex, confusing, and expensive. It’s overwhelming for us non-technical folks.

“Where do I even start? How do I use this thing? What do I even use it for?”

The Web3 projects are swimming in cash, but its user base is showing signs of stagnation.

Customer Education to the rescue

In software companies, Customer Education teams help customers learn how to use and find value from software products. The goal? Boost product adoption and reduce churn.

The internet is overflowing with “customer education” resources to drive the adoption of Web3.

Do a quick Google search for “what is web3” and you’ll find about 117,000,000 in-depth guides, videos, and courses to help you learn the basics.

These more “traditional” learning mediums like articles, guides, and videos are a great way to get started.

But there are now more interesting, more useful ways to learn Web3.

There is a movement of new, innovative learning tools that offer immersive, hands-on experiences.

By focusing on “learn by doing” practices, these tools help users build skills by performing actual tasks inside the applications they’re trying to learn.

This technology alone has the power to completely transform human learning on the internet.

The most interesting and dynamic Web3 learning tool I’ve found is called Rabbithole.gg.

What is Rabbithole.gg?

Rabbithole.gg is an interactive training website that helps you learn how to use Web3. Built specifically for beginners, the platform makes it easy to get started with the new technology.

But here’s how it’s different.

Instead of watching videos or reading articles on “How To Swap a Token,” you complete real tasks in real applications. Each task you complete is automatically tracked and recorded on the blockchain.

This is an important differentiator. Forget passive learning, Rabbithole.gg is all about active learning. Your knowledge and skill acquisition comes from physically performing a series of actions within each application.

Here’s an example of how it works

On Rabbithole.gg, you can learn a skill called Token Swapping. To acquire the skill, the platform gives you a series of steps to perform.

The first step is that you must go to another app called SushiSwap, and perform the correct steps to successfully swap a token. Once you complete this task, you receive XP points and a stamped credential.

Every credential you earn is recorded on the blockchain, so you can prove to anyone you’ve completed this skill.

Pretty neat.

The core idea behind Rabbithole is that people learn better by doing.

If you want to learn about Web3, don’t take a course. Do the actions. Get a crypto wallet, buy some SOL, and purchase an NFT.

Just like if you want to learn Photoshop, you have to actually use the tool. Download the app, create a new project, and play around with the features.

Building any human skill requires active participation. Rabbithole is an early Web3 attempt at an innovative learning solution, but this technology could completely transform the future of education. Not just for software teams, but for all human learning, everywhere.

Customer training ideas for future-thinking software teams

Rabbithole’s new and experimental tech provides some interesting ideas for the future of education. Below are a few ideas that could benefit software companies in the future.

👉 Note that these are just meant to be fun, futuristic ideas right now. This technology is still new and adoption is low.

1. Scalable hands-on learning experiences, never before seen

Most self-paced training solutions rely on traditional digital media: articles, videos, courses. These are helpful, but they all lack the most important attribute of human learning: hands-on activity.

Humans learn best when they perform actions in the real world.

Sure, labs and simulations help, but nothing is as effective for learning as performing a task in the actual tool.

Imagine if you were trying to learn a new design tool like Figma. You could watch a few step-by-step videos to learn the basics.

Or, you could jump straight into the tool and start learning as you go. Learning tasks could populate within the product. Every task you complete could be tracked. Your speed, number of clicks, and accuracy.

You’d be able to see a dashboard of your learning activities — what you’ve accomplished and suggestions for improvements. Each learning activity is recorded and tracked to document what you’ve completed so far.

This level of complex data collection provides the ultimate hands-on training that could increase training time and provide broader awareness of skill gaps.

2. Skills and achievements can be verified automatically

One of Rabbithole’s value propositions is that you can “Earn on-chain credentials that demonstrate your mastery of core skills and protocols.”

I call this “skill verification.” You master a skill. And that skill can be verified with an on-chain credential.

This is perhaps the most useful application of blockchains for customer education (and human learning, overall).

With the explosion of online learning and MOOCs came “certification overload.” Every piece of learning content you consume has some kind of shareable “badge” or “certification of completion” attached to it.

Learners can gather these badges, add them to their LinkedIn profile, and show their next employer how skilled they are.

The problem? Anyone can add a badge to their profile, even if they didn’t take the course or pass an assessment.

There is no way to verify the credential’s accuracy. And no one really bothers to check.

Rabbithole’s technology aims to solve this by offering on-chain credentials. That means, every credential is permanently logged in the blockchain and can be immediately verified.

Credentials are now earned by completing actual tasks in the tool. It’s no longer about scoring 70% on a loosely connected multiple-choice example. You complete a series of tasks in a specific time period, and you earn a verifiable credential.

Users can bring this official verification with them anywhere online. This makes it easier for users to verify skills when they’re applying for new jobs. It also makes it easier for employers as they have full insight into candidate skill sets before making big hiring decisions.

3. Blockchains provide robust data on product adoption

In today’s world, how do we know for sure that a learning solution had an impact on product adoption?

The short story is we often don’t. Tracking a customer from “completing a course” to “still using the product 6-mo later” is complex, expensive, and challenging.

Blockchains help solve this. As the technology matures and costs drop, blockchains could provide incredibly detailed data about users and usage.

Imagine the ideas described above. Users have in-product tasks and a learning dashboard to track their skill acquisition. Since this is all happening inside the product, data collection now becomes simple.

Users that complete certain tasks and earn credentials already have that data logged in the product. Software companies can easily see how the learning experience correlates with product adoption and can make adjustments to optimize the experience.

Final thoughts

Web3 and blockchain technology are still in the earliest phase of adoption. There is a myriad of creative ideas and projects popping up everywhere in this space.

While Customer Education teams at today’s software companies may not be able to adopt these ideas right away, there’s a lot we begin to think about for the future of customer training.

What do you think? Any ideas sparked for your future customer training teams?

Bio

I’m Andrew DeBell and I make content that helps sell products and educate customers. Most of my work is in content marketing, video creation, writing, and learning design.

👉 Follow me on Linkedin and Medium to stay up on the latest.

Writing is a valuable skill for any human in the digital age.

But can you really make any money doing it?

While you may long to blog from sandy beaches, raking in cash from affiliate links for KitchenAids (affiliate link), this plan often struggles to achieve long-term success.

While you can certainly generate a little side hustle income with your writing on sites like Medium or Mirror.xyz, reaching a sustained livable income requires years of grueling work.

That’s why you may want to explore a different career path with your writing skills. One that is more sustainable and still gives you the flexible, creative, wordsmithery every writer desires.

What career is that? Becoming an instructional designer.

👉 This article explores the craft of instructional design and how strong writers can build a lucrative career in this space.

What is an Instructional Designer?

Instructional designers create content that helps people learn. They may develop a YouTube video, an online course, a How-To article. Any type of content that has a goal to educate the audience and solve a problem.

Designers often know how people learn best. They know how companies operate. And, they know how to organize complex information to make it easy to understand.

You’ve probably seen some instructional design content before. Below are three examples.

👇 Here’s an example of a free beginner course to help users learn Jira Software.

👇 Here’s an example of a training video for retail employees at an apparel company.

https://vimeo.com/394495265/9d787b12dd

👇 Here’s an example of a “How-To Guide” to help writers learn a new writing platform.

https://mirror.xyz/debell.eth/uZwzZvm9uJdKseYPy4FQ1gQi3GQxM9dhleGVUFa5wTc

In the three examples above, writing was key to bringing the learning content to life.

The beginner course took complex information and simplified it in text form. The video required clear, concise scriptwriting. The How-To article organized information in a long-form blogging style.

Without effective writing, learning experiences can’t succeed.

Why Writing is a Must-Have Skill for Instructional Designers

The written word is the primary medium through which you communicate information to learners.

Good writing provides clear, concise instructions that are easy for learners to follow.

When instructional writing is done well, it has the power to reduce cognitive load, improve memory retention, and increase content engagement. It’s a catalyst for learning, not a blocker.

Bad writing is a barrier to the learning process.

• Poorly worded instructions confuse learners

• Disorganized information frustrates learners

• Inconsistent grammar and punctuation destroys your credibility for learners

If you can’t communicate ideas through writing, you‘ll struggle as an instructional designer.

The good news for you?

If you’ve been writing for a while, you’ve already got some of the necessary skills. 🙌

Even if you’ve only published a few Medium articles or written a few guest posts, those writing skills will be important to kickstart your journey to becoming an instructional designer.

How to Become an Instructional Designer

Don’t have any experience in instructional design? That’s okay!

You don’t need a formal background in instructional design.

My background is in marketing. I’ve been writing content and creating instructional videos for years, without the formal title of “instructional designer.”

Over time, my career shifted to focus on developing learning-specific content, only. And I didn’t need an MA in Learning Design to get here.

You too can use the skills you have now, to start your career in instructional design.

Here’s what to do next:

• Keep writing instructional content: The more you write, the sharper your skills will become. Hop on your favorite platform and start creating content. Write How-To guides, video scripts, Twitter threads. Anything that has a goal of educating your audience.

• Understand some learning models and theories: Get familiar with the ADDIE model, Bloom’s Taxonomy, Gagne’s Nine Events, Mayer’s Multimedia Principles, and Merrill’s Principles. These will help make your learning content clear and understandable.

• Practice other skills: Along with writing, you’ll want to develop skills in project management, SME communication, curriculum development, creativity, visual design, video editing, and eLearning development. Any skill that will help you take complex information and make it easy for others to understand.

• Create a portfolio: This is an important one! I’ve helped hire many instructional designers. If you don’t have a strong portfolio, it’s a firm no! Even if you don’t have formal experience in instructional design work, build a portfolio anyway. Create mock projects for yourself and use your skills to create a solution you can showcase to others.

• Learn from the experts: There are tons of great resources out there to help you. When I was first getting started, these people were lifesavers to steer me in the right direction. Follow them on LinkedIn, read/watch their content, and engage with their posts.

Here’s that list of experts you should follow:

• Devlin Peck is the ultimate go-to for new instructional designers! Devlin has incredible articles and videos, meant to help people like you that are brand new to the field. He also has courses like this bootcamp to help you build a powerful portfolio.

• Melissa Milloway is perhaps one of the most notable in the field of learning design, leading teams at companies like Amazon and Miro. Sign up for her newsletter to keep up with tips and lessons in learning design.

• Mike Taylor is a seasoned pro in learning design, sharing content from the intersection of learning, design, and technology. He’s got an amazing newsletter he sends out every Friday. Sign up for it here.

• Christy Tucker is a learning consultant that specializes in e-learning and scenario-based learning. She has some great resources on storytelling and technology. Check out here step-by-step branching scenario course here.

• Ant Pugh is a learning design consultant that focuses on digital and blended learning experiences. He also helps aspiring learning designers (like you) through his daily emails.

• Anna Sabramowicz is a storytelling expert. She helps instructional designers and e-learning developers craft and launch interactive stories and scenarios. Check out her free case study to learn about her process.

• Tim Slade has written books and created videos for new eLearning designers. He’s created some of the most reputable resources to help people grow their eLearning skills and careers.

If you want a career in writing, instructional design can give you the creativity and financial success you desire — it’s a great way to use your skills to others learn.

Now’s the time to get started.

Go get ‘em. ✌️

Bio

I’m Andrew DeBell and I create digital learning content. With 9+ years of experience, I’m skilled at writing, video editing, visual design, and eLearning development. Here on Medium, I mostly write about learning, content, marketing, and tech.

👉 Follow me on Linkedin and Medium to stay up on the latest.

Are you looking to create your own website?

If so, you’re probably wondering which platform is best to build it on.

• WordPress is dynamic and customizable. But it’s clunky and complex.

• Squarespace is easy and great for selling products. But it’s expensive and time-intensive.

Welp, there’s a new player in town. 😎

Carrd is the newest platform for building responsive, one-page websites. Perfect for personal profiles and portfolios, Carrd helps you create a stunning website in just a few clicks.

If you’re interested in having a strong online presence, but don’t want to worry about maintaining a website, I think you’re going to dig it.

👉 TLDR:

• Carrd is a simple website-building platform that allows you to build fully responsive one-page sites.

• It’s mostly used to create a personal profile, portfolio, or landing page.

• While many of its features are free to use, there is a Carrd Pro version that offers more flexibility and customization.

What is Carrd?

Carrd.co is a simple website-building tool that helps you to create fully responsive one-page websites. You can use Carrd to create a website for your business, portfolio, or just showcase your work.

While it may sound similar to other website building tools like Wix or Squarespace, Carrd is for one-page websites only.

That makes the platform intuitive and easy to use. You don’t need to know how to code or have any design experience. Just enter your content and you’re ready to go.

What does a “one-page website” mean?

A one-page website is a website that has only one page. There is no menu or internal links to other pages on the site. All the information you need is on a single page.

One-page websites are becoming more popular as they are easier to maintain, update, and launch. Other building platforms, like WordPress, require significant time and resources to keep up-to-date.

Carrd websites are simpler to build. They are perfect for those who want to keep things clean, simple, modern looking without all that clutter.

What can you use Carrd for?

Carrd is used most frequently to create personal profiles, portfolios, and landing pages. But it’s all up to your imagination! There are many other creative uses for Carrd.

Sites like Zite.design provide exciting new Carrd templates for you to use. They have templates for SaaS businesses, newsletters, product launches, short-form blogs, and a variety of other topics.

Online activists have also used Carrd to raise awareness, spread information, and accept donations.

Why use Carrd?

In today’s world, creating a personal brand online is critical to career success. Before a company hires you, you better bet they’re going to Google you.

Carrd offers a simple solution to establish your online brand and presence, without all the overhead and maintenance of traditional website builders.

Whether you’re building a portfolio or a personal profile, Carrd’s platform is designed specifically to make sure that your content is clear, beautiful, and easy to read.

If you’re seeking a simple approach to get your personal brand up and running, Carrd may be your answer.

Pros and Cons of Carrd

Pros:

• ✅ Simple to use

• ✅ Lots of templates to choose from

• ✅ Supports a wide range of media types

• ✅ Easy to publish

• ✅ Great price

Cons:

• ❌ One-page sites only

• ❌ Limited eCommerce options

• ❌ Not ideal for bloggers

How to get started with Carrd

1. Choose a starting point

The best part about Carrd is that you can start building without creating an account.

From the homepage, “Choose a starting point.” This brings you to a long list of templates to select from.

On this page, there are a lot of different options. Carrd breaks them down into categories so it is easier for you to decide.

• Profile: Best for creating a personal information page to explain your skills and brand to potential employers.

• Landing: Create a landing page to explain a product, service, or app.

• Forms: Best for collecting emails and conducting surveys.

• Portfolio: A great way to show your work to potential employers. It is best for professionals who create visual content.

• Sectioned: These Carrds have different sections for different kinds of information. They are still a one-page website, and are best to share information about more complex topics.

2. Customize your website

Once you’ve selected a template, Carrd walks you through how to use the buttons. Here you can modify, remove, and add as much or as little content as you like.

Start by editing existing elements or adding your own. Carrd supports a wide range of editing options, including images, text, and icons.

If you make a mistake, that’s okay! You can easily undo or redo your work.

You also have the option to use CSS to style text for ultimate customization, but it’s not required.

Another feature you should take advantage of is the ability to switch between desktop and mobile views. That way you can see exactly what your site will look like on a computer and a phone.

3. Publish your website

Now it’s time to get your website live! For this step, you’ll need to create an account.

Then, give your project a name and a description. You’ll also need to choose a domain name for your project.

And that’s it! Once published, your new website is public and available for the entire world to see. Congratulations! 🎉

What does Carrd Pro give you?

As you start using the Carrd platform, you’ll quickly realize that many of the features are available only to Pro users.

Carrd Pro is a paid service that gives you access to more website templates, personalized features, and custom domain names.

Here’s an overview of the Pro features:

• Access to full library of website templates

• Custom domain names

• Contact forms so you can collect information and build mailing lists

• Custom embeds and widgets for more complex sites

• Google Analytics to track and report traffic to your webpage

• Custom branding and higher-resolution images

There are a few Pro plans, depending on the features you’d like to access. There are three different types of plans: Lite, Standard, and Plus. They all have different features, and each one lasts for a year.

Should you try Carrd?

Sure, why not! It’s a simple, efficient website builder and 100% free to try. If you’re looking for an easy option to build your digital presence, Carrd is a low-risk option to explore.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Bio

I’m Andrew DeBell and I create digital learning content. With 9+ years of experience, I’m skilled at writing, video editing, visual design, and eLearning development. I mostly write about learning, content, marketing, and tech.

👉 Follow me on Linkedin and Medium to stay up on the latest.

If you’re an artist, musician, or content creator, the internet is filled with earning potential right now.

Digital art sales, via NFTs, have exploded in popularity, providing cash-strapped creators with millions of dollars overnight.

Now writers can join the fun too, with a new Web3 platform that allows you to generate money by converting your work into NFTs.

Welcome to Mirror, the world’s first decentralized writing platform

This is an introductory guide to the Mirror platform, meant for a non-technical audience. It’ll be most helpful for writers looking to learn about a new technology and make money from their work.

Before you begin, I suggest you review this Web3 Basics Guide to get familiar with terminology and principles. Knowing the basics will be a huge help to get you up and running on Mirror.

In this guide, you will learn:

• What is Mirror?

• What are the benefits of Mirror?

• How to get started on Mirror

• How to turn your writing into an NFT

Let’s get started. 🚀

What is Mirror?

Mirror.xyz is a new publishing platform for writers. It’s a place for online content creators to write articles, earn money, and crowdfund their projects.

Similar to other publishing platforms like Medium and Substack, writers post articles and can earn income from their content.

But here’s how it’s different (Stick with me, it’s about to get jargony):

Mirror is a Web3 application

• It sits on the Ethereum blockchain

• Writers earn money in cryptocurrency

• Article collectors receive NFTs (non-fungible tokens)

• Publishing is 100% free, as Mirror does not have gas fees

🤷…

If you’re not familiar with these terms, that’s okay! Check out the links above to familiarize yourself with the concepts. Then continue reading this article.

Because Mirror uses Web3 technology, it’s described as a “decentralized” writing platform to help creators connect with their target audiences in a more direct and innovative way.

If you write online, Mirror may be a valuable platform to help you grow your audience and generate income.

⚠️ Before you continue, know this…All Web3 applications like Mirror are in very early stages of development and are considered highly experimental. Please do your research across multiple sources and proceed at your own risk.

What are the benefits of Mirror?

Before we get into the benefits, let’s talk about the problems Mirror is trying to solve. Why does a platform like Mirror exist at all?

At the broadest level, Mirror is attempting to solve problems creators have with current writing platforms. Let’s take a look.

Today’s writing platforms:

• ❌ It’s difficult to make money. Publishers take up to 50%+ of revenue. On Medium, only 6.4% of active writers earn over $100/month.

• ❌ Writers don’t own their content and can’t take their fans with them. When you post content, the platform you post on may own most or all of your content (have you read the terms & conditions?). Also, creators can’t take their fans with them. If you have a big following on Instagram, there’s no easy way to reach them outside of Instagram. You can’t export your Instagram following and contact them elsewhere.

• ❌ Publishing platforms make the rules. Today, companies like Meta/Google set all the rules. They choose who can share information on their platform and what can be said. These companies also have the power to change their policy, alter their algorithm, update their rules. The content creators have no say.

Mirror’s writing platform:

• ✅Writers keep 97.5% of profits. It’s completely free to publish articles on Mirror. If you choose your article to be sold as an NFT, Mirror only takes 2.5% for each transaction. You keep the rest. Currently, NFTs are the main way writers can earn money. This is expected to evolve into additional revenue streams in the future, such as advertising.

• ✅ Writers own their content. Have you ever read the Terms and Conditions of other writing platforms? Most likely, the corporation has some (or full!) ownership of your content. Not on Mirror. They make it clear that you own your content. Everything you publish is stored on the permaweb with Arweave (aka stored on a decentralized hard drive). Mirror guarantees personal ownership over your data and content.

• ✅Writers keep their fans. One challenge in the current Web2 publishing space is control over fans. You may have 10K followers on Medium. But what if Medium goes away? You’ve just lost 10K fans with no way to contact them. On Mirror, you know exactly who contributes to your projects and can easily communicate with them again on any other platform on the Ethereum blockchain.

• ✅ Writers are co-owners of the platform. Every contributor is a co-owner of the Mirror platform. Anyone can participate in the ‘project’ and vote on decisions. Their website states that “Mirror is the sum of its contributors, who are co-owners of the platform.”

How to get started on Mirror

As of October 2021, Mirror is open for anyone to write articles and share content. It does take a few steps to get set up, especially if you’re brand new to the Ethereum blockchain.

Once you’re set up and active on Ethereum, writing on Mirror is easy. It operates just like any of your favorite writing platforms. Clean and intuitive interface. Simple to write and share your ideas.

Let’s get you set up on Ethereum so you can activate your Mirror account.

1. Download a crypto wallet like MetaMask

A crypto wallet is a digital browser extension to store your cryptocurrency. Wallets are also how you’ll send and receive transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.

Download a wallet that works with Mirror, such as MetaMask (preferred), Coinbase Wallet, or Rainbow.

To start writing on Mirror, you won’t need to put any money in your wallet yet. But if you want to support other writers or turn your articles into NFTs, you will need to deposit funds into your wallet. You can learn how to do that here.

2. Connect your wallet to Mirror

Once you’ve set up your wallet, you’ll need to connect it to Mirror. Go to mirror.xyz and select Connect Wallet. Then, follow the instructions on screen.

You won’t need to create a login and password, like many traditional websites. Web3 apps like Mirror connect directly to your wallet. Each time you come to the site, you’ll be automatically logged in.

3. Set up your profile

Go to settings, then upload a profile picture. Choose a color, add your name, Write a brief summary of who you are and what you write about.

Mirror doesn’t provide reader stats yet, but you can connect Google Analytics if you care about metrics. And you can also add a subscribe button URL to allow users to subscribe to your newsletter.

4. Start writing your first ‘Entry.’

Now you’re ready to start writing. Articles in Mirror are called ‘Entries.’ You can start a new entry by going to the main dashboard, and selecting Create Entry.

This will open up a blank canvas to start your writing. You can highlight text to change text styles and add links. Or select a Block to create a header, upload an image, or create a code snippet.

When you’re all finished, select Publish at the top right. You can also turn your article into an NFT, which is coming up next.

How to turn your writing into an NFT

What’s an NFT again? It’s basically a digital collectible. NFTs allow you to make money from your writing by readers “collecting” your digital creation.

When your audience “collects” your article as an NFT, they are paying to own a small piece of your work. Your NFT will have its own unique digital code, so collectors can prove they are the original owners. If your article increases in value, owners will benefit from it.

Here’s how you can turn your writing into an NFT:

1. Deposit ETH into your crypto wallet

https://metamask.io/download/

If you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to deposit ETH currency in your crypto wallet.

Why? Well, to perform any function on the Ethereum blockchain, gas fees must be paid for the effort required to verify a transaction. Think of this as a transaction fee.

At time of writing, gas fees on Ethereum are very high. It could cost you between $40-$200 just for a single transaction. The hope is that fees will decrease as the next stages of Ethereum are implemented.

To deposit ETH in your wallet, it requires a few steps. The easiest route is to purchase ETH in Coinbase, then transfer it to MetaMask. Here’s a tutorial to do that.

⚠️ Before you continue, it’s important you know what you’re getting into. Turning your work into NFTs is going to cost you money upfront. Blockchains and NFTs are all experimental technology right now. There is no guarantee you will make money. It’s fully up to you to decide what’s best for you and your financial position.

2. Write a high-quality article

This article is of Mirror’s top performing NFT articles, written by Linda Xie

Not every article you write on Mirror needs to be an NFT. As you’re getting started, you should reserve NFTs for your highest quality work only. That’s because you’ll have to pay gas fees every time you mint a new NFT. So it’s best to start with just 1–2 articles and see how it goes.

Do your research and create a compelling piece of content that provides value to your audience. For an NFT collector to support your content, they need to see the value right away.

3. Publish your article as an NFT

You have ETH in your wallet. You have a compelling article ready for primetime. Now you’re ready to publish and mint!

At the top right corner, next to the Publish button, you’ll see a checkbox for NFT. Select this checkbox. Then click Publish.

On this screen (shown above), make sure to enter your Ethereum public key. This will let Mirror know which wallet to distribute funds to, should anyone collect your article as an NFT.

You can find your public key by opening your wallet and copying your public key to your clipboard. It should start with 0x. Paste your public key into the box.

Before you click submit, know the terms. Mirror takes 2.5% of every transaction. Mirror does not charge you to mint an NFT. But they will take a cut every time someone collects your article. Once it looks good, select Submit.

4. Complete the transaction

You might want to wait to mint your NFT until gas fees are low

You’re not done quite yet. In order for your NFT to mint, you have to complete a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain.

Here’s where it will cost you money. MetaMask pops up and asks you to confirm the transaction. Notice the gas fees. Depending on the network, the gas fees could be anywhere from $30-$200. If the gas fees are super high, this source suggests performing transactions between 1:00am-3:00am UTC or 9:00-11:00 pm UTC.

Once you’ve confirmed your transaction, and it goes through, then boom, you’ve got yourself a freshly minted NFT. Congrats! Share it with your network on your social platform of choice.

Phew. That was a lot of work. Was it worth it?

I‘m honestly not sure! But at least you tried something new and got to explore how a new technology works.

Don’t expect to become a millionaire overnight. Those people you read about are outliers. It will always be difficult to build an audience and make money from your creations, whether you’re in Web2, Web3, or Web467.

As long as you view it as an opportunity to learn more about a new tool and technology, you’ll come away with fresh insight about how to apply it to your own work.

Hope you found this valuable to get started. You can learn more about Mirror and all the platform’s capabilities here at their Mirror guide.

Now, go create something! 📝

After starting 6+ YouTube channels and experimenting with a variety of editing formats, I finally started making money in 2016. Not enough to make a living. But a reasonable side income.

This article is meant to help you understand how much money you can earn with your YouTube content. My goal is to arm you with enough knowledge so you can decide whether YouTube is the best platform to help you meet your revenue goals.

My channel’s performance metrics

Today, we’re focusing on one YouTube channel called Jam Campus. Launched in 2015, this channel contains K-12 educational music videos about history and science.

The channel’s goal is to spark curiosity for learning by providing fun, introductory content for kids.

Here are some high-level channel stats, as of Feb 2022:

• Total Video Uploads: 65

• Subscribers: 64,700

• Total Views: 11,650,885

• Total Watch Hours: 281,900

• Average View Duration: 1-min, 32 seconds

• Total estimate revenue (lifetime): $16,796.88

Also good to know: this channel has been running passively since 2019. AKA, I’ve blatantly ignored it for the past three years. Most of the videos were uploaded between 2017 and 2019. No new videos have been added since then.

This note is important because running a YouTube channel passively is NOT the ideal what to make money. The algorithm favors consistent uploads and frequent follower engagement. If you’re serious about making money, don’t do what I did.

But even with three years of severe neglect, YouTube still provides me with a monthly revenue drip.

How much money does YouTube pay monthly?

On average, I make $570.50 USD per month. Not life-changing money. I’m definitely keeping my day job. But for zero hours of current work, I’ll take it.

Here are some more stats:

• Lifetime revenue: $16,796.88

• Average monthly revenue: $570.50

• RPM (revenue earned per 1,000 views): $1.44

• Playback-based CPM (cost advertisers paid per 1,000 views): $4.67

Note that 100% of my revenue came from advertising dollars. Advertising is typically the biggest cash cow for YouTube creators.

But nowadays, YouTube has a full suite of new revenue levers for creators (like merch, memberships, and super chats). I have not explored these in-depth, so I can’t speak to their efficacy.

A few interesting data points

Looking closer at the Jam Campus revenue data, a few points stuck out to me:

🔵 To make $80K annually, I’d need 55M+ views every year

This channel’s RPM is $1.44. That means I only make about $1.44 for every 1,000 video views.

With this RPM, I’d need over 55 million video views to make $80,000. That doesn’t seem like an achievable number without decades of work poured into YouTube creation.

If I were to continue building this channel, I’d need to either A) increase my RPM, and/or B) increase my video views. If you’re building a YouTube channel, pay attention to these metrics and have a strategy to increase them.

🔵 My highest performing video brings in 23.6% of revenue

With over 2 million views, The Human Bones Song is my top-performing video. This video alone accounts for nearly 1/4 of my total revenue. Whoa.

This is interesting for creators to note. If a video starts getting lots of views, analyze it so you understand why it’s performing well. Then, try to replicate it.

There is certainly value in experimentation and learning. It’s a necessary part of the creator process. But if you hit a grand slam, you should pay close attention to the exact steps and process required, so you can hit another…and another.

🔵 My top 5 videos bring in 57.5% of revenue

Just 7% of my videos (5/65) produce nearly 60% of total revenue. Wow!

From a revenue generation perspective, this is not ideal. It’d be lower risk to have revenue evenly distributed across many videos.

With my current stats, 93% of videos are low performers. If I cared only about revenue, then the time I spent to create the bottom 93% of videos was a complete waste. 100s of hours spent editing videos that produced limited financial returns.

This solidifies the point I made above: pay attention to what content is working and create more of the same.

🔵 Revenue fluctuates based on the season

My month-to-month revenue varies. This is due to the seasonality of US public school schedules, since Jam Campus is built for a K-12 audience.

When school is in session (Fall and Spring), the channel sees record view spikes. When kids are on holiday (Winter and Summer), views drop off dramatically. Makes sense.

If you’re building a channel with the intent to make money, pay attention to the potential seasonality of your viewership. Think about your audience. And run your channel like a business. If your niche is about ‘The Best Flip-Flop Brands’, you probably won’t pull much revenue in December.

Can you build a career as a YouTuber?

Okay, you’ve heard my story. You’ve seen the numbers. Is it possible to make a living as a full-time YouTuber?

My opinion: Yes…but it takes a lot of dedication, consistency, and time.

I logged a ridiculous amount of hours building Jam Campus. And yes, it’s now generating revenue. But I stopped putting in the work. And that’s never a recipe for long-term success.

If you truly want to make a living creating YouTube content, here are some tips and thoughts to keep in mind:

1. Don’t fall for the “passive income” trap

Everyone wants to make money while they sleep. As you’ve seen above, YouTube can provide that.

But it never lasts. Passive income is a lazy, short-term strategy that will always fizzle out to non-existence.

If I continue to ignore Jam Campus, my views and revenue will eventually shrivel to a halt. My videos will age. Fresh content will rank higher in search, stealing market share and destroying all revenue potential.

If you truly want to create sustainable, long-term income on YouTube, you must be dedicated and consistent. Could you imagine yourself creating videos about this topic in 5-years? If the answer is no, go back to the drawing board and think of something else.

2. Experiment until you’ve created a high-performing video

Creating videos is a mix of art and science. When you’re first starting, your creativity is your most valuable tool.

Try new editing techniques, new video formats. All the wildest ideas you can think of. Then, just make it. Put the edit together, upload it, and see what people think.

I promise your videos will perform differently than you expect. Some of my videos I thought were going to be sure winners, have been stuck under 3K views for half a decade. Other videos I was less excited about, ended up being my highest performers.

You never know what combination of your creative genius is going to stick with people and become a high-performing video.

3. Create a standard format based on your high-performers

Once you have a few high-performing videos, you should standardize your edits and process. Customizing a new video every time is a recipe for editing burnout.

This is one reason Jam Campus failed as a long-term project. Too much customization. For a 2-minute video, I’d have to write song lyrics, build an instrumental music track, record audio, edit audio, create custom animations, and complete the video edit. Way too many steps. Way too much time.

Editing video is a long process, no matter what. But you can speed up your process by creating standards for yourself. Use the same template, background, brand, motion for every video.

Not only does this speed up your video editing, but it’s also great for your channel. Subscribers want consistency and familiarity. They expect your new videos to have a similar look and feel as the ones they loved before. Creating standards and processes is essential for your long-term YouTube brand.

4. Use TubeBuddy for topic and keyword research

TubeBuddy has been my favorite research tool since the early days of tubing. It’s an affordable, easy-to-use browser extension to help optimize your video content.

(This is not an ad or affiliate link. I just like the product.)

Why do research? If you want to maximize your content’s reach, you need to be strategic about the topics you choose and keywords you use.

TubeBuddy gives you keyword analytics. It rates the search volume and competition to determine if a keyword is worth targeting. Since it’s a browser extension, all your research can happen inside YouTube.

If you’re just getting started, I’d suggest targeting longer-tail keywords that have reasonably high search volume and low competition. Once you build up an audience and some authority, you can start to take on the more competitive keywords.

5. Upload consistently for at least 5-years

Building a revenue-generating YouTube channel takes time. I was consistent for 2-years. It was a good start. If I had kept going, I may have been able to turn this into a livable income. But I didn’t.

If you’re expecting to build a career on YouTube, you must be in it for the long haul. Think of it as a job and imagine yourself in 5–10 years. Do you still want to create videos for YouTube? It’s going to be a grind for a long time. Stay positive and keep adjusting your approach until you’ve hit the sweet spot.

6. Pay attention to the web3 content creation economy

Today, YouTube is king for video creators. But there are many interesting web3 projects aimed to help creators earn more money and have more control over their content.

If you’re a content creator, it’s worth keeping an eye on the web3 space. There are a lot of smart, creative people building tools that may help you in the future.

Here are a few of the early tools:

• Glass.xyz: Glass is a web3 video platform where videos are owned by the people, not the platform. Videos can be collected and monetized more sustainably than web2 video platforms (like YouTube). The Glass platform is still in early stages of development. Only a handful of test creators can upload videos. Follow them on Twitter to see when it becomes available for all.

• Mirror.xyz: Mirror is a new publishing platform for writers. It’s a place for online content creators to write articles, earn money, and crowdfund their projects. Writers post articles and earn cryptocurrency when their content is supported by readers. Mirror is currently open for anyone to write and is 100% free to post articles.

Making money on YouTube is possible, but it’s not easy. It takes dedication, consistency, and time to build your brand and perfect your craft.

If you’re a passionate creator with the patience to keep going, YouTube is a solid platform to share your work and earn some cash. It’s never too late to get started.

Happy creating. 🎨

This afternoon, I tried listening to an audiobook about blockchains.

I shut it off after 15-minutes. Not because the content was dull (woo, merkle trees). I shut it off because the audiobook format wasn’t working for me. The recording was stiff, over-produced, and the tone felt…forced.

This got me thinking…how can I successfully listen to a 3-hour Tim Ferris podcast no prob, but can’t stomach 15-min of an audiobook?

Since audiobooks and interview podcasts are both used frequently for learning, I decided to do a deeper analysis.

Audiobooks vs. interview podcasts

First, I wanted to understand the core differences between audiobooks and podcasts. Why do I find podcasts more engaging for learning? Here’s a quick breakdown of the differences:

An audiobook is a word-for-word audio recording of a written book. They are:

• Recorded in a studio by a professional voiceover actor

• Spoken with perfect grammar, with zero “um” fillers

• 10-hours in length, on average

• A one-way channel of communication (one human sharing information with no interruptions)

• Originally written for the purpose of reading the text (not speaking/listening)

• Costs about $12-$25 per book

An interview podcast is an unscripted audio recording, typically with two people; an interviewer and an expert. They are:

• Sometimes recorded with professional audio equipment, but other times they’re just lofi Zoom calls

• Spoken with natural language, tons of filler words, and imperfect grammar

• 39-minutes in length, on average

• A two-way channel of communication (one human asking questions, the other human responding with expert answers)

• Unscripted, natural conversation, ideal for listening

• Typically free to listen

The key differences? Podcasts are shorter, informal, and use two-way communication patterns that work well for human brains.

Podcasts are a more natural format for auditory learning

You’ll never hear me say “X is better for learning than Y.” Everyone learns differently. Our understanding of the human brain is far too immature to make such a pointed claim.

But I will claim that podcasts provide a more natural format for human learning. And for me personally, interview podcasts are a more effective medium for learning. Anecdotally, they keep my brain engaged for longer time intervals and are better at helping me retain information.

Here’s why podcasts are effective for learning:

1. The natural, two-way conversational style fits with how the human brain consumes information. Learning through natural speech is a core biological advantage of our species. We’ve been doing it for 1M+ years (far longer than written words). Our brains are still primed to learn from each other, in natural conversations. It may sound counter-intuitive, but informal chatter, laced with filler words and imperfect grammar, can actually be an advantage for auditory learning.

2. Well-timed questions help boost audience learning. This is the key ingredient to a quality learning experience. A good podcaster asks the right questions, at the right time. They understand their audience’s knowledge level, and can artfully guide the expert toward clarification. (Scroll below for more on this point and how you can use this in your learning design)

3. The short length and free cost allow listeners to experiment and find the best resource for them. There are 850,000+ active podcasts right now. This means you can look around to find your favorite podcast format, personalities, guests, etc. If you aren’t vibing with a podcast, you can quickly pivot to another with no cost. In comparison, audiobooks are expensive. Once you commit to buy, you feel stuck and obligated to power through the last 9-hours and 45-minutes.

How podcasters create powerful learning content

Experts aren’t typically good teachers. They’re often so deeply knowledgeable about their topic, they’ve completely forgotten what it’s like to be a n00b.

That’s where the podcaster becomes a learning designer. They magically extract key information from the expert, then simplify the information so any beginner can understand.

Podcasters create powerful learning content by knowing when and how to ask the right questions.

They are highly skilled at creating learning material on-the-fly. They know their audience. They’ve done their research on the expert. And they know how to guide the conversation for optimal clarity and learning.

You’ll hear top-tier podcasters say things like, “Let’s pause for a second and go back to X. Just in case our audience isn’t familiar, can you explain X a bit more?”

This awareness of both the conversation and the audience, is what makes podcasters such effective learning designers. By asking good questions, at the right time, the audience is rewarded with a powerful, organic learning experience.

Learning design tips you can try

What can podcasting best practices teach us about learning design? Here are a few ideas to try for your next learning content project:

1. Make your content sound more organic

Many training videos are stiff and overcalculated (kind of like an audiobook). Video scripts are often written to be read, not spoken.

To make your video feel more organic, write scripts based on natural speech patterns. Try using Loom to record a video of yourself (or your SME). The tool creates a downloadable word-for-word transcript of every recording. From the transcript, analyze the language and sentence structure. This will help you write better video scripts that flow like natural human speech.

2. Know your audience (and your SME)

As a learning designer, you’re the connector between your audience and SME. To know your audience, think like a marketer. Try these strategies to understand what makes your audience tick.

Knowing your SME requires personal research and rapport-building. Podcasters dedicate hours to researching their guests. Before you speak with your SME, know their position in the company, their motivations at work, their role/responsibilities. You can also ask your colleagues for helpful anecdotes or do some light digging online.

The more you know up front, the better you’ll be able to build rapport and extract quality information your audience will connect with.

3. Plan your questions strategically to guide the conversation

This takes practice. Most podcasters have a list of questions they’re going to ask and know how they’re going to guide the conversation.

As you build your learning content, think through your questions strategically. Make sure they flow naturally, as a genuine human-to-human conversation would. Be willing to pivot to more useful topics if they surface on their own.

Not sure which questions to ask? There are plenty of good podcast-related resources online, like this, this, and this.

4. Try recording a podcast as a final learning deliverable

In learning design, we often conduct a SME interview, then translate that information into formal learning content (video, animation, eLearning).

Instead, think of how you can use your SME interview as the learning deliverable. Maybe it’s not a traditional podcast, but a recorded Zoom session you share out with your stakeholders.

Heads up, be careful trying this idea. You’ll need to have top-shelf interviewing skills to make sure your final content is 100% valuable to your audience. You don’t want to bore your audience with a long-winded 60-min interview.

To improve your interviewing skills, start thinking of yourself as a podcaster when you practice. Ask good questions, make it interesting for your audience, and guide the conversation so it’s optimal for learning.

(Admittedly, I haven’t tried this idea yet, so this is more of a ‘theoretical’ suggestion. But it’s on my list!)

Remember, podcasters are great learning designers because they know when and how to ask the right questions. Do your research, keep it natural, and get really good at asking questions. This combination of tactics will help you create powerful learning experiences your audience will love.

Happy building.

While there are many creative, experimental approaches in one's toolkit, Richard Mayer's 12 Principles of Multimedia Learning is a simple framework that serves as a helpful guide.

No matter what you are creating - training videos, eLearning courses, PowerPoint presentations - Mayer's principles can help make your content more engaging and effective.

What is multimedia learning?

Multimedia learning is a form of digital instruction that uses two modalities at the same time. Modalities are visual elements (like images, animations, text, and videos) and audio (music, voiceover). You experience multimedia learning any time you watch a YouTube video or take a Coursera course; both visual and audio happening at the same time.

Researcher Richard Mayer wrote a book called Multimedia Learning where he explains his research on how best to structure content to maximize learner comprehension. Here is a brief overview of the key principles from his book:

1. The Coherence Principle

First up is the Coherence Principle, which states that humans learn best when extraneous, distracting material is not included.

Simply said, cut out the extras. Use only the information that the learner needs. And most often, that means simple text and simple visuals that relate directly to the learning topic. Remove all the fluff.

How to use the Coherence Principle:

You can use the Coherence Principle as you’re planning your visual elements. Ask yourself, “Is this image 100% necessary to help with comprehension? Could I find a better image? Does this message use simple enough language so the audience will understand?"

The Coherence Principle is also helpful when you’re editing a video. As you re-watch your edit, watch with a critical “Coherence Principle” eye. Be actively thinking how you can reduce, simplify, and clarify.

2. The Signaling Principle

Next up is the Signaling Principle, which means humans learn best when they are shown exactly what to pay attention to on screen. If the screen is filled with unnecessary information, how is the learner supposed to know the most important part?

How to use the Signaling Principle:

Use the signaling principle by thoughtfully highlighting important words. Use animated arrows and annotations to call out important information.

Another way you can use the signaling principle is by having slides or scenes that clearly separate sections. This is a quick and easy way to signal to the learner that you’re moving on to the next topic.

3. The Redundancy Principle

Next up? The Redundancy Principle. This principle suggests humans learn best with just narration and graphics, as opposed to narration, graphics, and text. The theory here is that if you already have narration and graphics, then the text on top is just redundant information. And this can be overwhelming for a learner.

How to use the Redundancy Principle:

You can use this principle for videos or eLearning courses that have narrated audio. Create your videos with graphics or text, but not both together. If you do include both, make sure your text is minimal.

Personally, I enjoy reading text on screen. It helps me learn and reinforce the audio. So I suggest, whenever possible, to include optional closed captioning the learner can turn on or off.

4. The Spatial Contiguity Principle

The Spatial Contiguity Principle is about the actual space between your text and visuals on the screen. It states that humans learn best when relevant text and visuals are physically close together.

How to use the Spatial Contiguity Principle:

If you're creating a video, keep all related text and graphics physically close together in your frame. This makes it easier for learners to process the information, using less energy to determine meaning. Make it easy for your audience to know where to look for information.

5. The Temporal Contiguity Principle

The Temporal Contiguity Principle states that humans learn best when corresponding words and visuals are presented together, instead of in consecutive order.

How to use the Temporal Contiguity Principle:

If you’re introducing a new process, the animation (or visual) should be occurring at the same time as the voiceover audio. This is preferred to having the voiceover audio play first, then watching a visual after. You can use this by making sure your voiceover audio is always timed well with your visuals or animations.

6. The Segmenting Principle

The Segmenting Principle states that humans learn best when information is presented in segments, rather than one long continuous stream. Mayer found that when learners can control the pace of their learning, they performed better on recall tests.

How to use the Segmenting Principle:

You can use this principle by providing learners with more control over their learning. Add next buttons. Allow video speed control up to 2x. Provide closed captioning on/off.

This principle also suggests that learning is broken up into smaller, bite-sized chunks. Keep it short and to-the-point. Make sure that no one lesson, slide, or video has too much information packed in it.

7. The Pre-Training Principle

The Pre-Training Principle states that humans learn more efficiently if they already know the basics. If learners are prepared by knowing simple definitions, terms, or concepts, it helps with memory retention and engagement.

This makes sense. If you want to learn something new, the basics are the most important part. You need to know the basics before you learn anything else.

How to use the Pre-Training Principle:

Create an introductory “guide” or “cheat sheet” for learners to use before they take your course. Or create an entire "pre-training" lesson dedicated to understanding the basics, before the learner moves into the actual course.

8. The Modality Principle

The Modality Principle states that humans learn best from visuals and spoken words, opposed to visuals and printed words. This means you should use text on screen sparingly, and only if there are visuals to accompany it. If there is too much text, learners will be overwhelmed.

How to use the Modality Principle:

Use less text on the screen. Use more visuals. If you need to, use text minimally to define key terms, list steps, or provide directions.

9. The Multimedia Principle

The Multimedia Principle states that humans learn best from words and visuals together, opposed to just words alone. This principle is the main idea behind Mayer's principles. Images and words work better together than either one on its own.

How to use the Multimedia Principle:

Think about the images you choose carefully. Each visual should help your audience understand the information better.

10. The Personalization Principle

The Personalization Principle states that humans learn better from a casual voice than a formal voice. A genuine human tone makes the experience more natural and therefore, easier to learn from.

How to use the Personalization Principle:

Keep your language simple and easy to understand. Avoid using jargon or overly professional text, and try to use the first person (you, I, we, our). You can also match the tone of your voiceover to enhance personalization.

11. The Voice Principle

The Voice Principle states that humans learn better from a human voice than a computer voice. Similar to the prior principle, people learn best when the tone is human-like.

How to use the Voice Principle:

Use a human for audio narration and voiceovers. Record your own or hire a professional. To ensure that your audio sounds high quality, use a professional microphone and master the audio in editing software.

AI-generated voiceover has come a long way. Companies like WellSaid Labs convert text to voice in real time. You can create human-sounding voiceovers in just a few clicks. Their software is pretty impressive! I highly recommend you check them out.

12. The Image Principle

The Image Principle suggests that humans may not learn better from videos with instructors on screen (also called 'talking head' videos). This type of video is very common in eLearning courses and MOOCs. Note that the research on this topic is still in its early stages, so it's best to take this suggestion with a grain of salt.

The argument for this principle is that if there is important information to be learned, it will be more effective if you show relevant visuals on the screen instead of a talking head. It's a more productive use of visual real estate.

How to use the Image Principle:

I believe talking heads do provide some value for the learner by building credibility and trust with the instructor. Once established, you can limit your talking head video as the course dives deeper into the content. Animations and visuals are helpful tools to reinforce the audio voiceover.

And there you have it, Mayer's 12 Principles of Multimedia. Try out these simple principles and see if it helps you create learning content your audience remembers and engages with.

Got a question or suggestion about this article? Drop a comment and I'll get back to you.

Happy creating! 🎨