[rusnak]

So many bad YouTube videos out there I wanted to vent, but also see if I can offer some observations to help people make their own amateur video better and more watchable.

1. The first thing is to get to the effing point of the video quickly. By quickly, I mean within the first 10 seconds. Too many videos just blather on and on like a freaking commercial. Get to the point, show the end result. Jump to the conclusion. If it's a How To video, then show the main point at the very beginning. No one really cares to hear your story of War and Peace, how you got it, your painful childhood, and on and on.

2. Use a Tripod. There, I said it. Don't ask why, just do it.

3. Do not use a cellphone unless that is all you have. If it is, then still use a tripod. And don't record video vertically.

4. Practice before you publish. That may mean re-doing the video. For all that is decent, don't publish crap videos. There are way too many out there already. Make sure that it is curt, and to the point.

5. You may think you need titles and music, but you don't. The title of the file will appear in YouTube, or whatever. You can skip the commercial. Everyone else will when they watch it.

6. End with the beginning. If people watched the whole video, that is the time to add your parenthetical comments, your pictures of summer vacation, your boo boo bandaged thumb or what have you.

7. Watch great videos. Note how the presenter knows already what he's going to say in advance. There is a script, believe me. No time is wasted, and it flows. Same with editing. Use copious amounts of fast forward and editing. Don't waste people's time or people like me will just hit the "back" button and move on.