The Art of Teaching: Navigating the Journey of Making an Educational Video Series

Whats up everybody. How you doing? Welcome to another episode of the PW podcast. Or VO cost. If you're watching this on YouTube links in the show notes for both. Now in this episode, I'm going to talk about some interesting learning experiences I've had, making a course. I am actually making a course for teaching people how to make an endless runner, 2d game in the Godot game engine. Don't worry if none of that means anything to you.

If it does, Hey, there's a link in the show notes for that as well. Now the interesting thing here is when you are recording a course. A series of videos in this case for someone or hopefully many people. It becomes a very interesting situation because. I find the courses that work best for me are ones that feel natural as if someone's sitting there teaching them to me. But they also have this feeling of continuity and consistency to them. Which is actually very hard to achieve, especially on something technical, like coding and game, making, and software and all that kind of thing. Now. The part of recording the screen and getting good audio and all those kinds of things.

Very simple, very straightforward. The problem becomes with the consistency of it and also. It's that thing that developers know only too well, that it all goes great until you're going to show somebody else and then it falls apart. Now what I mean by that is. One of the things I noticed a lot and maybe this is just me because I make content or maybe this is other people as well.

But if I watch one video and then the next video starts and the screen, whatever it is on the screen. It looks very different. The screen colors could be different. If it's someone talking, they could be wearing different clothes, but it's meant to be like, continuous speech or something like that. I noticed these things.

And as soon as I noticed them, I'm now focusing on that instead of the content that they're trying to deliver to me. So one of the things I always do is I'm big on consistency with that. And this comes from, this obsession, I guess, maybe an unhealthy unnecessary obsession. I've just trying to get that right.

Because I tried to do everything in one take just like these videos. Because as soon as you start doing multiple takes, you're going to hit this problem. Right? Next thing you know, you've got that thing where people's heads are doing this and jumping around or the curses in a different place and codes jumping around all sorts of things.

Windows have moved, whatever it may be, right? Whatever you're recording. The background has changed. If you're on an outside shot, the lighting has changed. The sky has changed. It's cloudy, then it's clear, whatever. People notice these things. And even if it's just a subconscious thing, And it takes them out of that mindset of receiving the content. And now they're thinking about what does changed, right?

So I'm saying all of this to say that this is what makes making courses like this hard. Because naturally you could not record a series of videos. That could all add up to be, a good few hours in length for the entire course. You really is strictly, realistically, you just can't do the morning one day, right? Because there's going to be retakes.

There's going to be things that come up. You may be recording at home and a truck goes by outside. You. The phone rings, all those kinds of things. For me, it's almost always, I get something notification and you get that little ding, and then the next thing, you know, if you're some watching someone's video, you're like, is that my phone?

Is it their phone? All those kinds of things. So you have to be very disciplined when you're making these videos for courses. Or just a series of videos. I'm no expert. This is just my opinions. I have made a video courses before. But I never published them because they just didn't something about them didn't feel right.

But this time around, because it was requested by some YouTube. Followers and that it was like, I'm going to go through and complete this. And, do that. Now another aspect of this that's important. Is whatever your subject matter is, you're talking about. You have two. I don't want to say be an expert. But you have to come across as an authority because whether it's free or especially if you're doing a paid course, You want people. To feel like they are learning from someone who knows what they're talking about.

This is the same for me when I'm viewing someone's course. I want to feel confident that what they're telling me, they really know this stuff. Okay. You don't have to be an expert. You don't have to know everything, but you do have to know what you're talking about and make it sound. Convincing you cannot fake it and get away with it is what I'm saying. Now for example, if you're doing a technical thing, like I am, you can't read about something and then 10 minutes later, go make a video and make it sound convincing. That you've been doing this awhile, right? It's just not going to work.

People pick up on these things. And you cannot convince people. To believe what you're telling them and trying to teach them and why you're teaching them this and why you're doing it like that. If it doesn't sound convincing and I don't mean try and fake it. That is not what I mean at all. What I mean is know your material. I am not one for prescriptive things. Because I think about things ahead of time. Like this video, for example. And I, in my head, I've got a format on him.

I know how this is going to go, I think. Right. Because as soon as I've said this before, as soon as I do a script, It sounds like I'm reading a script, even if it's just a series of notes to prompt me. And you've seen this with other folks and I'm sure you've picked up on this. I like. Like I say that natural feeling like it's me, one-on-one with someone. Watching the videos, all listening to a podcast or something like that.

I'm talking to you, that one person out there. Okay. Now, these are just some tips for you all. It is interesting and it's very hard because even if you get all of that right. Like I say, there's always those things that just come up to get you. Okay. And for me right now, I'm pretty well into making the videos, which is fantastic.

But part of the thing that comes with that is naturally, I've got to put the course material together.

You don't just put a video up on the screen with no explanation or no notes or anything like that. And that's where it gets tricky because. What I'm trying to do is break down a complicated subject. In this case? My, my goal here, my aim is for folks who don't know anything at all about it, maybe they've never made a game.

They've never written a line of code. Anything like that. And I want them to be able to get into it, understand it and walk away thinking I can go make this now. And taking complex subjects and making them simple. He's very hard. But it's something that I like to do. And it's a goal that I have, and I hope that I achieve it.

People tell me I do I believe them and I try very hard to do that. So thank you to you all for the feedback. Because it's important. No matter what your level of experience is. You don't want to sound like your talking down to people and your, squarely aiming at the audience that you want and helping to pick them up and move them along.

So all of these make courses very difficult, but it's a lot of fun. Because the other side, is it tests you. That, you know what you're talking about, right? That you are a subject matter expert on whatever, as you're talking about. And the. You know it well enough that you can somehow. Convey it to somebody else, which is really exciting because it's validation for all the hard effort and all the learning that you put in. Okay.

There is a lot of fun aspect to it as well. And I like the editing process and all of those kinds of things as well. So I just wanted to put those out there. Some thoughts in this episode to share with you all, if you've ever thought about making a course on something, I really urge you to try.

Okay. You may not succeed, but go try, go and try and do it. I'm sure you can. And even if you try it and you don't put it out there for folks keep going, because everything you do is practice, right. It's all practice and the more you do it. The more natural it's going to feel and the better it's going to be.

So maybe your first course. Won't be the greatest thing in the world, but your second course, your fifth course, whatever it may be. We'll be right. Just like everything else. Writing songs. Um, taking pictures, you know, painting all these things, the more you practice, the better it is.

Okay. Love to 📍 hear your thoughts on this. Reach out to me, PeterWitham.Com. As a link in the show notes. If you want to come on and talk about it. Let's do that too, because I love to hear from other creators. Especially folks who want to teach people. I love trying to share knowledge with other folks.

And I like to find folks who like to do that as well and have conversations with them about it. That's it folks I will speak to you in the next one.