The Visual Lounge

Thank You for Listening Just a quick end-of-the-year episode to say thank you and to share with you some of the things we have learned. I asked a few of my TechSmith friends and colleagues to share so of their takeaways about visuals and images this year. We'll be back with full episodes in 2022 and look forward to continuing the conversations in The Visual Lounge. Share What You've Learned We'd l...

Your video and workplace media can have a big impact on users, but is it affecting everyone in the same way? Understanding how your media choices represent people and their experiences can help you select more diverse and inclusive images and videos that impact everyone more effectively. Jess Jackson, Racial Equity Strategist, and Megan Torrance, CEO, both of TorranceLearning, join this episode of...

What’s the best budget-friendly microphone to make videos? How do you set up your lighting in a home studio? Do you need a green screen? What’s a stream deck? The TechSmith team has all these answers covered and much more. On this episode of The Visual Lounge, host Matt Pierce, Kara Swanson (Content Marketer), Andy Owen (Video Production), and Anton Bollen (Customer Success) share their top picks...

What can we learn from comic books that we can apply to instructional design or marketing? It may seem like an odd question, but it turns out we can learn a whole lot from comic books. Buddy Scalera, comic book writer, educator, and Founder of Comic Book School, joins The Visual Lounge to share those lessons with us. Whether you’re creating your own comic book or designing instructional videos for...

The digital age has ushered in its fair share of upsides and challenges, especially when it comes to productivity. While there are so many applications and tools that promise to make it a lot easier, sometimes, they do the opposite. That’s probably why people end up getting lost in the maze of keeping up with the times, are overwhelmed while finding information, or are just plain unproductive. The...

Becoming a content creator is a dream that many people have these days. But it’s far from an easy road to follow. It takes a great deal of grit, determination, and a commitment to learning and growing to get your channel off the ground. On top of that, there’s also the big learning process of developing your camera and editing skills. Joining this episode of The Visual Lounge is Sean Cannell, CEO...

What makes a solid explainer video? The kind that gets your point across fast, without confusion, and equips the audience with all they need to know. There are many components that go into a good explainer video. Lee Lefever, Co-Founder of Common Craft, breaks them down in this episode of The Visual Lounge. Common Craft excels in creating simple animated videos to explain concepts suitable for use...

What does it take to be great at learning and development? Is it down to fancy tools, qualifications, or top video creation skills? Not exactly. It’s all about your audience and focusing on what they need to know. The other stuff can come later. In her career, Kati Ryan, Founder of A Positive Adventure, has picked up so many fantastic tips for L&D professionals. She joins this episode of The V...

Did you know that customer education can help to boost both customer adoption and retention? Education is often an overlooked part of the customer experience, but companies that prioritize it see great results. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, Cutler Bleecker, Learning Experience Designer at Skilljar, joins to share his expertise on customer education and creating great training content. Cutl...

Are you ready to take the plunge and become a YouTube content creator? Before you wing it and hope for the best, you need to know the best practices. Luckily, we’ve got you covered. In this episode of The Visual Lounge, we invited Nick Nimmin, a YouTube content creator and educator, who’s seen great success on the platform with over 800,000 subscribers and counting! Nick is passionate about the po...

What does it take to record great audio? A recording studio? A degree in sound engineering? You may be surprised. Justin David Proctor, audio recording master and two-time Grammy Award winner, joined this episode of The Visual Lounge to share his expertise on creating great audio. Justin takes us through his advice on getting the right equipment, pre-production and planning, preparing the room, de...

How do you ensure great learning design? Whether you’re working with video, PDFs, or blog posts to deliver training content, visual elements are key to delivering a clear message to your audience. Mel Milloway, Learning Experience Design Manager at Miro, joined this episode of The Visual Lounge to talk about the importance of visuals and video in learning design. Prior to working at Miro, Mel work...

The future of communication in the workplace is video (and no surprise, it's already here). If you haven't found a way to implement video in your your workplace communication methods yet, there's no time like the present. ju In this episode, Matt Pierce , Andy Owen , and Kara Swanson discuss ways that video has become a part of their internal communication and why they think replacing some communi...

What’s the secret to great visual design? We asked Connie Malamed, The eLearning Coach, to share her eLearning and visual design expertise in this episode of The Visual Lounge. Connie helps people build their instructional design skills. She’s a consultant, an author, and speaker in online learning and visual communication. Connie is the author of ‘Visual Design Solutions: Principles and Creative...

If you're looking to grow your company's YouTube channel, then this video's for you. You know that there are certain strategies to make your videos grow, gain views, subscribers, and get more exposure. But how can it work for your company? In this episode, Matt Pierce , Andy Owen , and Kara Swanson talk through our experiences with YouTube content creation and strategy and what we've learned. Do y...

What’s the best process or framework for creating videos that leave an impact? The truth is that every video creator does things differently. And you’ve got to find whatever works for you. Oz du Soleil is someone who’s found a process that works for him. He’s the host behind Excel on Fire, a YouTube channel that makes Excel tutorials both fun and interesting. As well his YouTube channel, Oz is als...

The main reason that people continue to watch a video is that they’re genuinely interested in the topic. What if there were some key questions that every creator could ask that would help them figure out where their viewers are in their progress and who exactly they should be creating content for? In this episode, Matt Pierce , Andy Owen , and Kara Swanson discuss the seven questions you need to a...

You’re invited to Level Up! On October 5 th , 2021, we’re holding a free, four-hour digital event to help you improve your workplace communications. This explosive interactive event will guide you through evolving your video communication skills, no matter your level. Whether you’re an experienced video communicator or starting from zero, we want you there! Hosted by the incredible Dave Patton, Te...

What is B-Roll? Why does it matter? And how can you record it properly to enhance your video content? Today we dive into all of these questions. In this episode, Matt Pierce and Andy Owen talk through how to use b-roll effectively, and why it's so important to in any future videos you put out. Do you want more tips on creating videos? You can easily watch and search past episodes here . You can al...

If anyone can help you gain the confidence to get behind the camera, press record, and create awesome videos, it’s Andrew Kan. Andrew Kan is a leading YouTube video creator who’s worked with TubeBuddy, Salesforce, and other big brands to create videos that audiences find valuable and enjoy. We sat down with Andrew at Video Marketing World to get his thoughts on what first-time video creators shoul...

Tutorial videos are a fantastic way to connect with your audience through teaching and learning. But is there such a thing as a one-size-fits-all tutorial video workflow? Josh Cavalier has over 25 years of experience in learning and development and is a passionate instructional video creator. He joins this episode of The Visual Lounge to share how he adapts his tutorial video workflow to ensure hi...

Research shows that bad audio is the single most important factor in people stopping watching videos. Simply put, bad audio means no viewers. And, of course, as video creators, we want viewers! So how can you improve the quality of your audio recording to get perfect audio for your videos? As a beginner, it can be overwhelming stepping into the world of video. When you add audio into the mix, it b...

What does it take to make your tutorial videos shine? Jason Valade and Ryan Eash are both Instructional Designers at TechSmith with several years of experience creating high-value instructional videos. Jason is also an ATD Master Trainer and has a background as a classroom teacher. He loves teaching and training people on all things TechSmith-related. Ryan works on the customer education team crea...

Want some video creation and editing tips? Who better to ask than a teacher? In this episode of The Visual Lounge, we invited Jayne Davids, Camtasia Trainer and Video Editor at her company, Raiveon Video Specialists. Jayne shares thoughts on how you can improve your video creation skills by sharing some insights into her own methods. She takes you through processes, how she manages projects, her t...

If you’re producing video after video, you need to know how well they’re doing. Are they effective? Is there room for improvement? Do they cover everything they need to? You won’t know unless you measure and analyze your videos! Elizabeth Pierce, Senior Director of Learning Experience and Consulting at TaskUs, joined The Visual Lounge to share her thoughts behind measuring video engagement. Elizab...