So you want to have perfect edits in your online course and you don’t want to fall into the common mistakes when editing. That’s why you’re here!
In this blog post, I will share with you the most common mistakes to avoid when editing your online course videos.
1. Give Yourself Some Time Between Your Last Edits and Final Approval
After hours of editing, it’s easy to feel like your video is finally done. Your eyes and brain need a break! I have already talked about this in the 12 Must Know Tips for Editing Your Online Course Videos Easily. However, I wanted to emphasize it more, as it’s a very common mistake people make when they edit their course.
Giving yourself a break between your last round of edits and final approval lets you catch details you might’ve missed earlier. It could be a tiny audio glitch or a missed transition.
2. Bad Audio Quality
You could have the most amazing content, perfect editing style, but if your audio quality is off, your viewers are going to be distracted and frustrated by it. The audio quality matters way more than the video quality. Keep that in mind!
Bad audio can happen for so many reasons: background noise, echoey spaces, low-quality microphones, or mouth sounds. You may consider investing in a good mic.
You could also edit the audio separately first. I sometimes just use Adobe Premiere Pro for the small audio edits like reducing background noise or adjusting volume levels.
3. Over Designed Slides with Too Much Text
We’ve all seen those over designed slides! They feel more like reading a novel than just going through key points of information. Over designed slides with tons of wording can overwhelm your viewers and take away from your teaching message.
Try keeping your slides clean, simple, and visually engaging. A few bullet points and relevant images go a long way in making sure your content is digestible and doesn’t cause info overload.
4. Not Creating Any Hooks
Hooks are the secret to keeping your audience engaged. Without one, you risk losing them right at the start!
Your students can get easily distracted by anything and everything. Remember we have an attention span of a goldfish? So creating hooks at the beginning of each video is the way to go.
A hook that grabs attention and makes your students want to keep watching. It could be an interesting question, a bold statement, or a sneak peek of what’s to come.
5. Unedited Videos
Raw footage is never the final product. Repeat after me please, raw footage is NEVER the final product.
Skipping the editing process or doing it halfway leaves in unnecessary pauses, awkward moments, or long stretches of silence that can lose your viewer’s attention. Even a basic edit like trimming the video, adding transitions, or fixing minor audio issues like we mentioned earlier, helps your video flow better and feel more professional.
If you don’t want to edit your videos, you can outsource it! Check this blog article on how to outsource video editing for your online course.
6. Making the Videos Too Long
We all know attention spans aren’t what they used to be! Yes I keep writing about attention spans because it’s very important for your video.
If your video drags on and on, even your most dedicated and loyal students will struggle to stay focused. Try to get straight to the point (just like this blog post :P), cover the essentials, and break longer lessons into shorter, more digestible segments. That way, your audience stays engaged, and your content becomes easier to watch.
7. Distracting Background Noise
Nothing pulls people out of the learning experience more than distracting noises like your kids playing in the background (No offense I love kids). However, even with the best quality microphone, it will be picked up.
Go ahead and film in a quiet room. The early mornings and late evenings are best because there is no background noise like cars. If you still can’t control it, don’t worry bit of background sound is inevitable, you can minimize it during editing.
