SkillCasting, LLC

I attended the New Landings weekly meeting back on August 11th because the topic was Blogging for Career Success by Deb Sturgess. It was a great discussion. Elizabeth Allen from MarketSmartz.com validated it even more during her discussion on The Code for Free Agents last weekend.

The bottom line is that we need to put ourselves out there. We have to increase our “Social Credit Score” and I believe, video is a great way to do that.

In this video I explain why we need to incorporate video, how to do it, and then where to share your videos. I know this is just scratching the surface, but it’s a start.

You don’t have to use a video of yourself though. You could start just by doing some online presentations. And if there is just one book you must get on presenting, it should be Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte [Affiliate link from Amazon]. This is truly the first step in improving your physical and online presentations. However, I think if you combine these concepts with an actual video of yourself demonstrating your passion, your enthusiasm, and your subject matter expertise, you’ll go a lot further.

Either way, it’s a start.

Do me a favor though. Embed and share this video with friends that you know are looking; it may really help them. Let me know what questions you have on making videos or sharing your knowledge; I’ll help where I can. And finally, join my email list so I can make you aware of future videos I do on this subject.

If you’re looking for a job these days, and I know so many people are, video is a great way to showcase yourself and the value you bring to the table. Good luck.

I’ve been asked how I make some of my videos where I’m walking or moving around. When I’m not using a tripod for a rock solid video, I’m using the xShot camera extender. I learned about this tool from Steve Garfield in his book Get Seen.

It’s a great way to create videos when you’re by yourself because you can hold the camera out in front without extending your entire arm. This is a great tool for creating how-to videos or even interviews in the field. You can make your videos more natural and more conversational because you’re just walking & talking.

When you use the xShot, try to hold it as steady as possible. And take a couple of practice videos so you know how to frame yourself. Unless you’re using a video camera with a flip out LCD screen, you can’t see yourself. This makes it hard to know how you’re framing yourself. If you’re not careful, you can cut the top of your head off. It just takes a little practice so you know where the camera lens should be pointing.

The xShot is a great addition to your tool kit.

I think the iPhone 4 is a great device because it makes it so easy to create compelling content right in the field. I still find it amazing that you can shoot and edit video right on the device. But how’s the audio?

It’s no secret I like the Kodak Zi8 because it has a mic-in jack. This allows you to capture great video AND audio when using an external microphone. I’ve tried plugging my current Audio Technica mics into my iPhone but haven’t had much luck getting them to work with it. I did have a couple of other mics in my office and thought I would try these while recording video.

The first mic is the Griffen SmartTalk Headphone Adapter. This is really designed as a lapel mic when using your headphones while making calls. But you can also use it as an external microphone while shooting your videos.

The second is the VeriCorder Mini-Mic. This is a small, directional microphone you can plug into your iPhone. I think it provides a pretty good gain to the audio too.

Watch and listen to the video below. Tell me which microphone you prefer. Either way, I think the iPhone 4 sets the bar for in the field video creation.

The people behind An Inconvenient Truth have turned their sights on the educational challenges in America. Definitely not a small undertaking. Now I won’t get into all the politics on this or their previous effort. But what is aparent though is the fact that training and education aren’t going anywhere. Yes, it’s morphing. But there is more of a need now than ever to coach, train, and educate.

Here’s their promo video:

TakePart: Participant Media – Waiting For ‘Superman’ – Infographic from Jr.canest on Vimeo.

What do you want to teach? How are you going to do it?

[via Lars Hyland]

Creating video can be a little intimidating. This is particularly true as we get older. But video is easier than you think.

So many of us have left Corporate America. We’re starting small businesses, joining network marketing groups, and consulting in mass. And since video is so powerful, it needs to be part of your marketing. But a lot of clients ask me how to get started.

In this video, I go over 5 keys to creating video. I discuss your strategy, equipment, shooting, editing, and distribution.

See video really is easier than you think.

Learn more about an upcoming video e-learning course I’m working on. And if you have specific questions about video, let me know. I’d love to be able to answer them here or in the course.

I love getting away from the office and my computer. I want to go outside and get some fresh air but I still need to be productive. Most of my work requires written communications and I would NEVER think to write long passages with my iPhone. However with MacSpeech Scribe and my iPhone, I get a tremendous amount of written work done.

MacSpeech Scribe takes audio files and transcribes them into written text. It’s amazingly accurate and can be trained for even greater accuracy. It’s simple to use too.

There are several voice recorders available for the iPhone including the free Voice Memos app by Apple. You can use any app that allows you to export AIFF, MP4, or WAV files. I like the FiRe Field Recorder app because I can see the actual audio file. The key while dictating is to use basic punctuation by saying comma, period, or new paragraph and they’ll magically appear in your transcription file. Other than that, just speak your thoughts into your iPhone.

When you return to your office, transfer your audio file to your Mac. Open MacSpeech Scribe, select your recording, and it’s transcribed right before your eyes. When it’s complete, copy & paste it into your word processor for additional editing. It’s really quite simple.

I like to use Scribe and my iPhone for writing first drafts of articles, scripts, and training materials. It allows me to do a “brain dump” out of my head and have it written up for me. I can then go back and fine-tune the edits and craft it into a finished product. But for a rough draft, nothing’s better than speaking off the top of your head.

Scribe and my iPhone are an awesome combination. Together, they allow me to get out of the office but still really crank out the prose. If you write a lot, I highly recommend it.

Here’s a quick video recommending Dave Navarro’s Launch Coach site. I have 2 key reasons why I recommend Dave.

Why do you?

Learn more and get Dave’s workbooks at http://www.thelaunchcoach.com/thelibrary

There are a lot of great screen capture & screencasting tools out there. There’s one that has a permanent place in my toolbox though. It’s Jing.

Jing makes it simple to capture and share both screen capture images and screen casting videos. It’s not meant to replace a more full featured application like ScreenFlow because it’s limited to only 5 minutes of recording time and there isn’t a way to edit your video. I consider Jing to be one of those quick down & dirty tools that just gets the job done.

What makes Jing so useful is it’s tight integration with Screencast.com for hosting. This combination makes it easy to share images and movies without having to know a thing about FTP settings. And from a workflow standpoint, when uploading to Screencast.com, Jing will automatically copy the URL to your clipboard so it’s easy to share in an email, text message, or on Twitter.

Jing is free, but for $15 a year you can upgrade to the Pro version that includes the ability to record MP4 videos in addition to the standard Flash video. And, you can post to YouTube.

A basic Screencast.com account is free too and maybe more than sufficient for casual users. If you’re providing a lot of screencasts, a paid account offers much more storage and bandwidth. It’s only $10/mo. and offers 25Gb of storage and 200Gb of transfer. And it doesn’t limit commercial videos like the terms of service of some other hosting platforms.

This video introduces you to Jing. In the movie, I do the following:

• Share 5 real world Jing examples.
• Show you how to create screen captures & screencasts.
• Share 5 tips for you to get the most out of Jing.

Jing and Screencast.com are from TechSmith. They’re the developers of SnagIt and Camtasia. They’re a solid company and have great support too. Jing works on both Mac’s & PC’s too.

I encourage you to take a look at Jing. Let me know if it’s earned a place in your toolbox too.

[Update: By the way, the video on this page inserted using HTML5. In modern browsers it should play just fine. In Firefox and a few others, it should drop down to a Flash player version. If you have problems, please let me know. Thanks.]

I’ve been working with a client who needs to update a couple of hundred screencasts. In addition, they need to make Spanish and Chinese versions. This is no small undertaking by any means!

The original versions were narrated Camtasia videos. If we were going to localize these for different audiences, we had to develop a better process. We needed to make sure we could translate the video narration and easily swap out the language track. I put together a simple 5-step process to bring consistency to our development efforts.

I was reminded of this by what Mozilla faces with their screencasts. In a post, they talked about having to provide support in 70 languages. I commented on my process for my customer and realize this process isn’t feasible for 70 different markets. But if you need to customize your business screencasts into a couple of different languages, this works well.

If you’re developing screencasts, you’ll find this process standardizes your workflow.

I get lots of questions regarding which camcorders I recommend. I’ve found that for the money, the Kodak Zi8 [aff link] can’t be beat.

In this video I share with you the 3 reasons I give to my clients on why I prefer the Kodak–even over the more popular Flip Mino HD.

And by the way, this video was shot in front of a green screen using the Zi8. The audio sounds good because I use a lav microphone. That leads us into reason number one but watch the video for the other two reasons too.

If you’re looking to create customer testimonials, interview people, or create your own how-to videos, I can’t recommend the Kodak Zi8 highly enough.