Mo Flanagan uses a 27 second mute screencast to show his WindowTabs.

This was one of the first screencasts I’d seen uploaded to YouTube using HD, even though it is mute and with annotations you still get a lot of information on how the product works:

The Good:

• Short, just 27 seconds long
• High Def so the visuals are crystal-clear
• Easy to follow – the Windows are joined and separated, it all looks very easy
• Easy embedding – YouTube is used so I, as a reviewer, can easily embed the screencast here (great for wider exposure)
• Public statistics – over 1,080 views at YouTube in under 2 months so Mo is obviously getting exposure (the fact that others are paying attention gives me confidence)

The Bad:

• No narration – so no explanation of what’s going on and the benefits to the end user
• No music – music is nice to set the scene on a marketing screencast
• No call to action – I get to the end of screencast and I’m interested…but what should I do next? What if I have a question?

Improvements:

• Add narration! Tell a useful story, explain the benefits, tell the user why this is great for them
• Add a call-to-action – you’ve got their interest, tell them how to get started right now and what to do if they have a question
• Answer any fears – remind the user about the money-back guarantee (this could just be in a text call-out) and the fact that it is both easily tried and easily removed
• Add testimonials into the video – let me see Social Proof that other people are using WindowTabs and that they find it beneficial

Our screencast tutorial series gives tips on all the above points.

If you’d like a private review of your own screencasts and advice on improving their quality, we offer this as a service, just get in Contact.

The Critique of WindowTabs screencast – useful but mute! by ProCasts' Blog about Professional Screencast Production, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England License.

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