Thoughts on what makes a good tutorial
I admire teachers that can hold my interest while staying focused on teaching and learning. I don’t care how old, young, professional, or popular you are. I’m more interested in how well you can teach me. These are the things that impress me and a few things that I’ve loathed in hooping tutorials, but I'd apply most of these to tutorials in general:
Elements of a good video tutorial:
1) Avoid long title sequence / intro - GET TO THE POINT IMMEDIATELY. 10-20 seconds might seem like a short time to you, but it’s not.
2) Save any credits and info about yourself until the end. Your visitors came to learn tricks. If you did a good job, then they’ll want to know more about you.
3) Briefly name the trick or display the name of the trick at the beginning.
4) Speak clearly and a little more slowly than usual. There’s no reason to rush unless your hair is on fire, but don’t put us to sleep, either.
5) Short demonstration of the trick full speed.
6) Spend plenty of time showing the trick in S-L-O-W motion.
7) Slow step-by-step description.
8) Give the tips you wish someone had told you when you were trying to learn the trick. Explain the insights that helped you to master it.
9) More slow and full speed demos / descriptions at different angles.
10) For multi-hoop tricks, it’s helpful if the hoops are different colours.
Some nice touches:
1) Watch other tutorials.
2) Make a list of things that annoy you about other tutorials and make sure that you’re not doing those things.
3) Make a list of nice touches that you’ve appreciated in other tutorials and keep them in mind when making yours.
4) For some tricks, it can also be helpful to film the trick from above, if you can manage it.
5) Make copies of the uncut video and edit only the copies. Let the video sit for a day - resist the urge to edit immediately. Then show the first draft to a few friends and ask for - and graciously accept - their HONEST feedback. Look at feedback as a valuable tool, not a personal attack. I always learn from it.
6) Share the credit. At the end of the video, list the names of anyone who helped make the video. Credit the artist for any music that you use, and give a link to the artist’s website. It’s also nice to list where you got your hoop - and your flow clothes, etc. if they’re specially made.
Elements of tutorials that annoy me:
1) Excessively long intro (music with nothing happening / talking about yourself): Save the bio / credits for the end - get to the lesson! It’s fine to use intro music as long as you’re using the time to demonstrate the moves.
2) Excessive cuteness / mugging / duckfacing for the camera: I pulled up your video to learn something, not to watch your modeling / porn debut. Knock it off. (Extremely temping to name some examples, but I’ll restrain myself.)
3) “Hey gang!” (spunky peptalk / babytalk) etc: I don’t need a cheerleader. I’m not a toddler. Get to the lesson.
4) Vocal Fry: Here are some examples… and and here are some more. Mostly women, but I've seen guys do this too. It's hard for me to take anyone seriously who does this. Just. Stop it.
5) "Like....um....uhhhhhh..." No.
6) Excessive time spent showing off at full speed: I do want to see a good sample of what the trick looks like at full speed, but don’t spend half of the video showing off your blazing speed.
7) Apologies for your appearance, clothing, housekeeping, lack of skill, etc: Don’t draw more attention to it. It’s tempting to preemptively self-deprecate. (Trashing yourself before someone does it for you.) Trolls are gonna troll. Sure, it’s a nice touch to make a polished presentation, but as a viewer, I'm more interested in learning.
Elements of a good video tutorial:
1) Avoid long title sequence / intro - GET TO THE POINT IMMEDIATELY. 10-20 seconds might seem like a short time to you, but it’s not.
2) Save any credits and info about yourself until the end. Your visitors came to learn tricks. If you did a good job, then they’ll want to know more about you.
3) Briefly name the trick or display the name of the trick at the beginning.
4) Speak clearly and a little more slowly than usual. There’s no reason to rush unless your hair is on fire, but don’t put us to sleep, either.
5) Short demonstration of the trick full speed.
6) Spend plenty of time showing the trick in S-L-O-W motion.
7) Slow step-by-step description.
8) Give the tips you wish someone had told you when you were trying to learn the trick. Explain the insights that helped you to master it.
9) More slow and full speed demos / descriptions at different angles.
10) For multi-hoop tricks, it’s helpful if the hoops are different colours.
Some nice touches:
1) Watch other tutorials.
2) Make a list of things that annoy you about other tutorials and make sure that you’re not doing those things.
3) Make a list of nice touches that you’ve appreciated in other tutorials and keep them in mind when making yours.
4) For some tricks, it can also be helpful to film the trick from above, if you can manage it.
5) Make copies of the uncut video and edit only the copies. Let the video sit for a day - resist the urge to edit immediately. Then show the first draft to a few friends and ask for - and graciously accept - their HONEST feedback. Look at feedback as a valuable tool, not a personal attack. I always learn from it.
6) Share the credit. At the end of the video, list the names of anyone who helped make the video. Credit the artist for any music that you use, and give a link to the artist’s website. It’s also nice to list where you got your hoop - and your flow clothes, etc. if they’re specially made.
Elements of tutorials that annoy me:
1) Excessively long intro (music with nothing happening / talking about yourself): Save the bio / credits for the end - get to the lesson! It’s fine to use intro music as long as you’re using the time to demonstrate the moves.
2) Excessive cuteness / mugging / duckfacing for the camera: I pulled up your video to learn something, not to watch your modeling / porn debut. Knock it off. (Extremely temping to name some examples, but I’ll restrain myself.)
3) “Hey gang!” (spunky peptalk / babytalk) etc: I don’t need a cheerleader. I’m not a toddler. Get to the lesson.
4) Vocal Fry: Here are some examples… and and here are some more. Mostly women, but I've seen guys do this too. It's hard for me to take anyone seriously who does this. Just. Stop it.
5) "Like....um....uhhhhhh..." No.
6) Excessive time spent showing off at full speed: I do want to see a good sample of what the trick looks like at full speed, but don’t spend half of the video showing off your blazing speed.
7) Apologies for your appearance, clothing, housekeeping, lack of skill, etc: Don’t draw more attention to it. It’s tempting to preemptively self-deprecate. (Trashing yourself before someone does it for you.) Trolls are gonna troll. Sure, it’s a nice touch to make a polished presentation, but as a viewer, I'm more interested in learning.