Documentation:Annotated Presentations/DIY Media/Script

Every minute you spend planning your project is worth two or three minutes of designing, recording, and editing. Before you do anything else, download and fill out this worksheet. Here's the completed worksheet for the example presentation. Try to be as detailed as possible: it'll make life easier later on.

Chunk content

One of the most important features in the planning worksheet is the 'Generate Concepts' section. This will help you break your content down into easily digestible sections, a technique also known as chunking content. Chunking content involves breaking down large themes into manageable chunks or concepts: for example, if you intend to cover 4 concepts in a single video of 20 minutes, breaking the long video into four five-minute chunks will make it likelier that the material will be watched and effectively absorbed. Recent research indicates that the optimal length for student engagement is 6 minutes or less. (Guo, 2013).

Review principles

UBC's Design Principles for Multimedia provides an overview and basic framework for considering evidence based principles when designing multimedia for learning.

For more depth, Carnegie-Mellon's principles for learning, Merrill's First Principles of Instruction, Gagne's 9 events of instruction and Mayer's principles for multimedia development are useful references for helping you think about how to approach your presentation as a learning resource.

Storyboarding

After you've selected one chunk to start with, you can fill out this storyboarding worksheet. Here's the completed storyboard for the example project. You can fill this out however you want to: for more traditional video projects, storyboards usually include sketches of each scene with notes attached, but you can feel free to use text, draft your script, draw each slide, sketch diagrams you might use, or some combination of those and other techniques.

Storyboard template (from Penn State Media Commons) along with storyboarding tips and examples.
For storyboard pointers check out storyboarding for explainer videos by Common Craft.

Create a script

Writing a script will save you time in the longs run. Include what you want to say, and when you want to say it, with respect to the slides you plan on using. Note transitions between slides, and animations. Once your script is complete, you'll get a sense of the flow of your project and can make decisions about editing more easily.

Make sure to rehearse your script(s), to avoid unnecessary pauses or verbal stumbles when you're recording.
Note which slide will be on-screen while you're speaking. Some people find it useful to include pictures of the slides in the script, to remind them of what the viewer will see while they're speaking.
Time your script to ensure it fits within the 3-6 minute timeframe you should be aiming for.
Try to write naturally: not only will people learn better (Mayer's 10^th principle) but it'll be easier to read from: encountering the words it is when you'd usually say 'it's is distracting, and can throw you off.
Review your presentation for extraneous material, and remove it: the occasional anecdote or tangentially related point is fine, but the shorter your video is, the likelier it'll be watched to completion, and staying focused on your topic is important. (Mayer's 1^st principle.)

For scripting pointers look at Scripting for explainer videos by Lee Lefever at Common Craft.

Slide design

Even if you already have slides, you'll want to look over this section: there are differences between making slides for a lecture, and slides for a presentation.

Include a title slide, and an overview slide. When recording, use these slides to take a few seconds and provide some general information about the presentation, and preview what will be covered. (Mayer's 7^th principle).
Make sure the aspect ratio of your slides is 16:9, instead of the standard 4:3. This will alter the spacing of your content, but it'll prevent your video from being surrounded by black bars, or letterboxed, on modern devices.
Use animations and transitions sparingly. Anything that unnecessarily slows down your presentation should be eliminated, as should anything that distracts from your content. When you use transitions and animations, keep them simple: fade in, fade out, and simple wipes. (Mayer's 1^st principle).
Use images with text to clarify, as opposed to the other way around. You're going to be speaking over the slides: removing text encourages listeners to focus on what you're saying. Highlight and explain key words, and keep text physically close to relevant images. (Mayer's 3^rd and 4^th principles).
Include an ending/review slide to help underscore important points.
Always keep in mind that you'll be speaking over your slides. Give yourself room to talk, and pace any transitions/animations so they fit with the flow of what you're saying.
Leave room on your slides for annotations (if you'll be drawing on them) and your face (if you're going to use a talking head). The slides that work in lectures will need modifying if you want to use them in an annotated presentation.

Pre-Production Resources

Storyboarding/Scripting

Storyboard template (from Penn State Media Commons) along with storyboarding tips and examples.
For storyboard pointers check out storyboarding for explainer videos by Common Craft.
For scripting pointers look at Scripting for explainer videos by Lee Lefever at Common Craft.