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16 Jun 2009

The Critical First 10 Seconds

Author: admin | Filed under: Ideas, Strategy, Techniques, Tips

The First 10 Seconds. VideoIsKey.com

The first five to ten seconds of your web videos are the most important. If a viewer makes it past those first few seconds they are much more likely to finish watching the entire video. Therefore it’s critically important to engage your viewers as quickly as possible.

How do you do that? The first major factor is quality lighting, good audio and a clear visual image. I’ll cover those topics in several other posts, today I want to focus on video content that will peak interest and suck a viewer into watching the rest of your video. Below are a few ideas to help you get started.

  • Tease whatever the most interesting, fascinating, or cool part of your video is. “In a minute I’m going to tell you my secret Twitter strategy but first…”

  • Use a dynamic visual opener. A quality motion graphic of your logo or screen grabs of your site, goes long way in communicating that you have something of value to say and should be watched.

  • Begin telling compelling story. “When I was 5 my mom took me to Chuckee Cheese, and I learned one of my most important lessons in life.” What happened at Chuckee Cheese? Aren’t you curious now and want to keep watching.

  • Use a prop or a visual. “See this penny (showing the penny to the camera), you can’t buy anything with these anymore but…”

    • The rest of your video is worthless, if people are turned off by the first few seconds. Always spend a few minutes brainstorming an opener that will capture the viewer. Feel free to get a little goofy, weird, insane, passionate or intense, as long as it fits with your brand and doesn’t come of as cheesy (unless cheesy is what you are going for).

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    This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 12:29 am and is filed under Ideas, Strategy, Techniques, Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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