Tips for creating quality screen recordings

Screen recordings can help people retain information and make your educational content more engaging. They can also help deliver information more clearly which can make learning more effective. It is a simple and visual way to explain a process, teach a skill, record a presentation, give feedback, communicate ideas to colleagues and create content for your course, website or social media. Here's a screen recording example.

We have a few different tools available for creating screen recordings such as ScreenPal, WeVideo, PowerPoint and Kaltura Capture. 

Tips for creating quality screen recordings

1. Create one key learning objective 

Answer the question: What should your audience know by the end of the video? Having one key learning objective helps you keep the content short.

2. Outline the steps

Creating an outline forces you to create a roadmap of where they should start, what path they should follow and where they should end up.

3. Write a script

A script will help you be more concise and avoid making mistakes. You don’t need to read the script,  just know what you plan to say.

4. Shorter is better

Screencast videos should be less than 3 minutes. If you have more content to share, chunk it into more than one video.

5. Clean up your computer desktop

If you are showing your computer desktop, clean up your icons and wallpaper and be sure you do not show any sensitive information in your recording.

6. Find a quiet place to record

Try to eliminate unwanted noise as much as possible.

7. Use a good microphone

Nothing fancy is needed. A basic USB headset with a built-in mic is much better than using your computer’s internal microphone.

8. Record only what you need on your screen

The software allows you to record your entire desktop or just a portion of the screen. You don't need to record your entire desktop if you are showing just part of a website or application. Also, use Ctrl + to increase the size of your screen if you need to zoom in.

9. Record your screen first, audio second

Recording your screen without audio first allows you to focus on clicking through without having to worry about saying the right thing. When you are done, you can watch the screencast as you record your audio to get the timing right. Move through the steps at a slower pace so you are able to speak at a good pace. You can always cut extra time in the video if needed.

10. Use the Pause recording button 

If you are recording your screen and narration together, moving to different websites, windows, apps or slides you can pause the recording to give yourself a break as needed.

11. Practice

Whether you record your screen without audio or if you record and talk at the same time, practice a few times to go through the steps. When recording audio, try not to read your script word for word and speak more slowly than you regularly do! 

12. Don’t worry if you make a mistake

If you make a mistake, keep recording, redo and cut it out later. Minor mistakes make you seem like a real human. Don't try to cut every single "um" and "ah" out of the video. Perfection is not necessary.

13. Move your cursor slower and more deliberately than normal

Avoid extra mouse clicks and take your time inputting text. You can speed it up in the editor.

14. Cut out dead moments

Trim the beginning and end of the video so it starts and ends promptly. If you have segments of typing or are waiting for a website to load, you can cut it out of the video. 

15. Edit to pace your video

In the editor you can slow down or speed up footage, add or remove silence and hold a frame to explain something,

16. Add text and other graphics

If you need to emphasize or spotlight something in the video, most editors have annotation tools you can use to add text or graphics.

Article by Karen Matthes, Extension Learning Technologies, klm@umn.edu