How To Record an Online Lecture (Tutorial + Complete Checklist)

Learn how to record an online lecture with this step-by-step tutorial.
Download the online checklist at: grumo.com/teach-webcam
Get free access to 100+ hours of course creation training at: grumo.com/teach

This tutorial teaches how to record video lectures for an online course using your webcam and a Keynote or PowerPoint presentation.

TOOLS NEEDED TO RECORD YOUR LECTURE
- Screen recording software (Camtasia for Windows: grumo.com/camtasia, or ScreenFlow for Mac: grumo.com/screenflow or OSB for both: obsproject.com/)
- Presentation software (PowerPoint for Windows, Keynote for Mac, Google Slides for both)
External USB microphone (Blue Yeti: amzn.to/2kl3Maq, or Audio Technica AT2020: amzn.to/2l1UxJ4)
- Webcam (Logitech C920 or newer: amzn.to/2lDAljU)
- Basic 3-point lighting kit (amzn.to/2kqsFfX)
- [Optional] seamless paper background (Savage: grumo.com/savage-paper)

PRE-RECORDING: CHECKLIST
- Make sure your slides are in wide format (16:9) so they cover the entire video frame.
- Create your lecture slides. Less is more. Make sure they are not cluttered with information. Use large san-serif fonts. Use royalty free photos from pixabay.com or pexels.com
- Use a Three-Point lighting setup: Key, Fill, Back (Explanation here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_lighting)
- Webcam should be setup at eye level
- Background should be not distracting. Either a solid color or add to the theme of the course without clutter
- Your head should be in the middle of the frame
- Your eyes should be aligned 1/3th from the top of the frame (see rule of thirds: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds)
- Record in a quiet room (no noise from AC, fridge, street, ideally carpeted floor, or get some foam acoustic panels: amzn.to/2kN8iwM)
- Use external USB microphone (Blue Yeti, or Audio Technica AT2020)
- Check your audio levels before recording. When you speak the levels shouldn't be too low or two high
- Adjust the cropping, exposure and white-balance of your webcam (on Mac with iGlasses: ecamm.com/mac/iglasses/ or ManyCam for both: manycam.com/)
- Make sure your appearance and attire are appropriate (avoid bright colors, plaid shirts, reflecting jewelry, bad hair, food in your teeth)

LESSON RECORDING TIPS
- Take a deep breath and make sure you are relaxed and in a happy mood before and during recording
- Rehearse at least once to warm up
- Make sure you look at the camera so your students feel you are looking them in the eye
- Avoid using complex jargon or fancy words. Speak casually like if you were chatting with your best friend who doesn't know anything about your subject
- Speak loud, clear, with confidence and passion
- Make sure your lectures are between 5 and 10 minutes (if they are considerably longer try to break them into more lectures. Remember Udemy doesn't allow lectures over 20mins)
- When you make a mistake, pause, breath and resume from where you left off
- Take a break and stretch often between takes
- Never lose sight of the big picture. ie: why are you doing this? how is your course going to make people's lives better? how is the potential revenue will impact your wealth and freedom?

EDITING YOUR VIDEO LECTURE
- Make sure your canvas is set to 16:9 HD 1080p format (1920x1080). You can also use 720p (1280x720) if you want smaller file sizes at the expense of some resolution loss
- Edit out any mistakes (if possible remove "errs" and "uhms")
- Only show the webcam layer when you are addressing your students and remove it when you want them to pay attention to your presentation slides

LECTURE VIDEO EXPORT SETTINGS
- Set video compression format to H.264 or MPEG-4
- Data Rate/Bit Rate: 3000 kbits/seconds
- Dimensions: 1280x720 or 1920x1080 (16:9 Aspect Ratio)
- Frame rate: 30 Frames Per Second (30 FPS)

For more detailed info check: bit.ly/2kEq2Ii

To learn how to create an online course in 60 mins go to: youtube.com/watch?v=ZMty6R0Bn0I

Thanks for watching!

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