Have you ever heard the phrase you don’t know what you don’t know? How do you discover what you don’t know?

You constantly have to immerse yourself into situations where you will learn new things.

I have wanted to add videos to this blog to have more variety and perhaps even to do a video review of books, but I really didn’t know much about video recording. I thought about taking a course but wondered if I really needed to do so since I only needed to know the basics.

I heard that Toronto Net Tuesday, a Meetup Group was having an event, Online Storytelling — How to Plan & Produce a Compelling Video at the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto. I immediately signed up for the event which cost only $5. At that price I had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The event exceeded my expectations. There were three presenters: Jamie Woo, Brad Dworkin and Billie Mintz, who dealt with the Why, What and How respectively of using online videos. At the end of the formal presentations, the nearly 60 attendees went into three groups depending on their interests and the reason they attended the event. I was interested in the How so I went into the group with Billie Mintz.

Before attending events, I prepare myself so that I will gain as much as possible. This also decreases the chances of me being disappointed about the event. I also align my expectations with the cost of the event. At $5, my thinking was that if I got one idea from the event I would be happy. I highly recommend preparing for events, and managing expectations based on what the event costs and what is promised.

What I didn’t know that I didn’t know

Billie explained that the most important thing in selecting a device to video record is the sound. I am supposed to know that except I really didn’t. I am a visual person so I am always interested in the way things look. The picture is important yes, but Billy explained that people will forgive you if you have a crappy picture if they can hear the video clearly. Because I was prepared for the event I knew what questions to ask to get the information that I needed.

How do you prepare for events? What techniques can you recommend? Are there Meetup Groups in your backyard that you can attend?

Take time everyday to discover what you don’t know that you don’t know!

Highlights from Online Storytelling — How to Plan & Produce a Compelling Video

• You can purchase a good quality high definition video camera for under $1,000
• Become familiar with your camera and how it works
• Learn about white balance
• Get a stick microphone or a wireless lav to feed into camera
• Create your videos inside whenever possible to eliminate noises
• Always wear a headphone so that you can pick up sounds that you would usually miss such as the wind blowing
• Think about how pictures go with words for maximum impact when presenting your stories
• What is your visual story? Who is your audience? (Be as specific as possible)
• The power of videos allow you to be “relatable” because viewers can see facial expressions
• Using videos allow you to be more targeted since you customize your message and target to only the people who will listen
• If the video you want to produce is more than you can manage, you have the option to outsource your project to video producers or crowdsource it (an open call to a large number of people to bid on the project)

These are only a few snippets of what I learned at the event. In the future, I would like to attend an event that delves a bit more into creating a compelling story in three to five minutes.

In case you are wondering how to prepare before you attend an event, here are a few things to do before hand:

1. Look at the event agenda if there is one to learn about what will be presented
2. Why are you attending the event? What are you hoping to accomplish?
3. Is there a skill gap that you are trying to fill? What specific pieces of new information are you lacking? Who at the event will have the information you require to fill the gap?
4. Make a list of questions that you would like answered
5. Are there people at the event that you would like to meet? Find out from the event organizers if they can introduce you to those people
6. Manage your expectations and align your expectations with the cost of the event
7. Be open and flexible and expect the unexpected

Photo Credit: Avil Beckford

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