Microlearning Mistakes: Three Tips for Creating a Bad Narration

Bad video narrations are easier to make than you think. Here are three tips to get you started.

• Make the script hard to read. Use a stiff, formal style, words that show off your vast vocabulary, and long sentences. Don’t bother with phonetic spellings of unusual terms or proper names. AND OF COURSE, MAKE IT ALL UPPERCASE.
• Pick an employee with a deep voice to be your narrator. Experience doesn’t matter. Jerry, the HR guy who talks like a deejay, should be fine. After all, people are always telling him he should be in radio.
• Have Jerry work the mic like a karaoke singer. The closer the better. Don’t worry about the crackling and thumping sounds. Software can fix anything.

Just remember, your goal with a bad narration is to draw attention away from the message of the video. Nail the writing, performance, and recording quality and you won’t need to brag about the money you saved. It will be obvious! 

Next time: how to absolutely destroy your video with music.

Rick Lamb is a writer, educator, and media producer who specializes in microlearning video. He makes none of these mistakes. 

Microlearning Mistakes: How to Absolutely Destroy your Video with Music

Music is far more interesting than messaging. Here’s how to make sure your music is the star of the show.

• Pick music without regard to the pacing, tone, or purpose of the spoken message.
• Avoid licensing fees. Any music you can download or rip from a CD is cool to use.
• Save money on editing. Nobody really cares if the music track sounds chopped up.
• Turn it up and leave it there. Don’t let that boring speaker hog the spotlight!

Be sure to check out my earlier article, “Three Tips for Creating a Bad Narration.” Bad narration and intrusive music go hand in hand when you’re throwing together a video on a shoestring budget to meet an unrealistic deadline.

Next time: How to Make a Training Video that Cures Insomnia

Rick Lamb is a writer, educator, and media producer who specializes in microlearning video. He makes none of these mistakes.

Microlearning Mistakes: How to Make a Training Video that Cures Insomnia

Many people have trouble sleeping. Follow these production tips and your training video can give these unfortunates the relief they seek!

• Make it long. This isn’t hard. Any training video longer than two minutes will probably do the trick.
• Use a lot of talking heads. Professorial types with bushy eyebrows that go up and down when they talk are golden.
• Include extraneous content. Make the intro long and self-serving, go off on tangents, and belabor the main points. Easy peasy.
• Avoid text. Never, ever display keywords or use concise phrases to tie ideas together or summarize takeaways.
• Chop chop … NOT. Cool it with all the editing. Real people stumbling around trying to explain something is so painful to watch that sleep will be an automatic defense mechanism.

Remember, your job is not to foster learning or deliver a message. Your job is to help these poor folks catch a few winks.  A poorly designed and produced training video is just the ticket!

Next time: How to Utterly Defile a Microlearning Video

Rick Lamb is a writer, educator, and media producer who specializes in microlearning video. He makes none of these mistakes.

Microlearning Mistakes: How to Utterly Defile a Microlearning Video

Microlearning video is the most effective way to present content to modern audiences. It’s a bit tricky to undermine the power of this format, but you can do it! Here’s how.  

• Dive in without learning objectives or a script.
• Cover more than one topic.
• Include artsy asides that show off your creativity.
• Make text and graphics difficult to read on a mobile device.
• Be unclear about what is important to remember.

It’s especially important to ignore the science of multimedia learning and the decade-plus research supporting it.  Learning about learning … how silly is that?

Rick Lamb is a writer, educator, and media producer who specializes in microlearning video. He makes none of these mistakes.

Five Tips for Better Microlearning Narration

You can give your microlearning video a bit more pizazz with these simple suggestions:

1. Style. Refer to the viewer as “you.” Use everyday words and short sentences. Read the script out loud. If it feels awkward, change it!
2. Emphasis. If a word is new or extra important, italicize it in the script.
3. Pronunciation. Include phonetic spellings for unfamiliar words. Capitalize the syllable to be emphasized and spell the rest as they sound (e.g., CAP ih tull eyes).
4. Font and case. Use a common font such as Times New Roman 12 point and the normal mix of upper and lower case. NEVER USE ALL CAPS!
5. Performance. Go for a friendly, upbeat performance. Smiling while speaking helps.

If these suggestions sound like common sense, good! Remember, microlearning video is most effective when the learning is easy and natural. A good narration can make all the difference.

Rick Lamb has produced 270 microlearning videos. His experience with narration come from 31 years operating Lambchops Studios in Phoenix. Contact him at ricklambphd@gmail.com.