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g-xix · 8 months

Note

favourite sidemen videos?

AGHHH I LOVE ASKS LIKE THIS!! Ty for asking this :)

In order of oldest to newest...

Sidemen Fear Pong - Featuring Harrry's doggo Herb and the iconic "DRIVERS OF LONDON!"

Sidemen Yoga - Featuring "PHIL!", prime sexiness JJ and zesty Harry... This video gave me sm ideas of making smutshots for Phil (but i thought nobody rly wants to see hardcore Phil smut and decided against 💀💀)

The Sidemen Show Ep4 - Haunted House - Literally just a Sam and Colby vid filmed by British idiots also featuring my fave JME

Hide and Seek at Wireless - Genuinely SO GOOD, like, Wroetostar combo goes SO HARD, Hide and Seeks were at their peak when they filmed this, they had sm energy and clearly were enjoying this shit so much... Plus all their charity match hairstyles are such a throwback to see

Sidemen Bowling - So goofy, loved this era where they were all just enjoying making budget ass content together which they somehow always found a way to violate

Sidemen Olympics - Tbh i just loved comparing my sporting ability to them + knowing i can throw a discus farther than all of these mf's and their highest scores

Christmas Football Challenges - Pervy Santa!JJ will also never be topped

Try not to Laugh: w Jack Whitehall / Shocking edition / Bad jokes edition

One word Interview - Shoutout Simon, one of the best YouTube series imo... He's got way more on his channel w each member + these answers are j so iconic

James Charles Makeup Challenge - featuring Click house, KSImon, and Harry's gay panic era

£10,000 vs £10: first holiday / roadtrip / Europe holiday / song

Sidemen Go Back to School - Literally the video that first introduced me to them. Absolutely iconic. Featuring Phil, Stephen Tries and Babatunde, this and the Sidemen Bake Off are their 2 vids that go hand in hand for most iconic atl imo

Worst Outfit Wins - not the exact title but summarises it better. Didn't like this thumbnail initially and put off watching it for a looong time but honestly it's too jokes to skip

Sidemen Become Parents - Literally the way that they descend to chaos and slowly become worse and worse parents is something special that everyone needs to see, full fuckin stop.

24 Hours Handcuffed - trust me.

Make a Christmas Song - Love these songs sm, literally have them on my acc Xmas playlist

Sidemen Dragon's Den - Featuring Niko, Max Fosh (Bosh), BambinoBecky, Chi With A C, Cal² and more

Hot Wings Challenge - Lol, love seeing their pain in this + JJ's Reddit absolutely peaked when this video came out

Sidemen Pub Golf + Europe edition- Just iconic, first post!lockdown pint with the boys where absolutely everyone got involved... and it ended badly for everyone except Harry and Ethan. Europe edition features Harry's birthday and just a lot more chaos i suppose.

Sidemen Gogglebox - Harry and Ethan are fresh off of a night out and cba, KSImon is released once more, and Josh, Vik and Tobi are just fulfilling their duty of watching the programs 🤷‍♀️ Thrilling post!lockdown entertainment imo

Sidemen Silent Library (1) and (2) - super new n unconventionial concept which was just really enjoyable to watch

The Cube - They're missing half the Sidemen but have Big Randy and Stephen Tries instead. They just get drunk to cope with the depression and it turns out for a pretty good vid.

Sidemen Hole in The Wall - solely for Waterman tbh

Forfeit Blind Dates - Ethan's pervy clown character, Deji's sheer energy (litr made me girl-crush on him) and that leng last lady, whole vid was a rare Sidemen banger

Japanese Gameshow - Loved the style with JJ as the host tbh he really fit it, and ofc the Deji feature was an added bonus

Weirdest Hotels - Featuring the Chrismd on a team w Harry n Vik, this rly was an absolute banger honestly

Mystery Box Challenge - idk something j felt very authentic excitement and interest about this vid

Sidemen Become Farmers - brought out the most wholesome and sexy side of the Sidemen all around

SMALLEST VS BIGGEST CAR - Hands down SUCH a banger, the chemistry between all these TERRIFIED mfs and the surprise guest (ᴉɾǝp upside down) ik the sidemen often feel overproduced, but this felt like such a genuine shiggles vid. Oh, and that kiss between Ethan and mystery guest was err... yeah.

Lol that took an hour of my life.

Anyways, if you're ever bored and wanna binge the unanimously decided best vids of the sidemen- I've collated these vids (and a few more) into a YouTube PLAYLIST which u can add to your libraries n watch whenever - or just check out to see whether you've watched all of these or missed any

anyways, hope you've enjoyed that bc that was LONG

And those are j main channel SDMN vids, but there's sooo many good vids on the moresdmn channel on top of these... MoreSidemen has sm mf hidden gems man, one day you'll see 🙏🙏

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dvp95 · 5 years

Text

can’t breathe when you touch my sleeve - chapter 3

pairing: dan howell/phil lester

rating: e (eventually)

warnings: none

tags: alternate universe, slow burn, fluff & humour, tiny bit of inner turmoil wrt sexuality but trust me it’s not that deep, eventual smut, idiots in love

word count: 3,385 for this chapter (12,653 total)

summary: Dan keeps making a fool of himself in interviews, to the point where it’s basically a meme. Now he’s got to sit down for the better part of an hour and sell his show to the YouTuber he’d had a massive crush on when he was a teenager.

read from the beginning on ao3 or on tumblr!

read this chapter on ao3 or here!

Dan has been dreading the seemingly-inevitable call from his family, now that filmed interviews are being uploaded and live interviews are starting in the next few days, so he’s almost disappointed when it never comes.

Surely his parents know he’s in London. There’s promotion for his show on a couple different channels they watch, and his dad has always been fairly good at keeping up with entertainment news. Adrian follows him on Instagram, but - and Dan isn’t proud of this - he can’t remember if Adrian still lives in Wokingham or not. He can’t even remember how old Adrian is without doing the math.

So maybe they haven’t been keeping up with Netflix shit, maybe Adrian isn’t home to tell their parents that he’s in town, but surely, surely some well-meaning friend of the family will say something? That’s always been the case when he comes to town.

After almost a whole week, though, Dan cracks. He calls his mum. It goes to voicemail.

That makes him panic a little, but she texts him an, at work … call you when I’m home x. So, questionable ellipses usage aside, Dan is comfortably reassured that his entire family isn’t dead.

Dan busies himself with catching up on the Heatwave cast interviews he hasn’t watched yet. Patrick doesn’t like to watch them and Jaime couldn’t give a shit one way or the other, but Dan is unable to allow a video of him to exist without knowing exactly what it contains. That’s a control thing, mostly, but he also doesn’t want to be blindsided by a new Daniel Interview Meme that he doesn’t understand.

He types his own name into the YouTube search bar and feels his heartrate pick up when he sees a thumbnail from BBC Radio One.

Thinking about Phil makes his heart race like he’s a teenager with a crush, and he presses play just so he can listen to Phil talk. He can barely remember what he said in the interview, so completely caught up in Phil’s eyes and grin as he’d been.

The interview itself is good. Nothing special, in terms of the actual things they talk about, but Dan can feel the difference in the way he speaks to Phil versus the way he’s spoken to anyone else - comfort. He had been so immediately comfortable with their back-and-forth, only awkward because he’d been trying so hard not to think about what Phil looked like under his nice clothes.

Dan wonders if anyone else can see the difference or if he only notices because he’s so attuned to his own body language, has the advantage of knowing the whole context.

He scrolls idly through the comments and feels heat rise to his face.

Yeah. People noticed.

Lots of comments are just about Dan or the show or the lack of Patrick or Jaime, but there’s more than a few that are about Dan and Phil’s apparent chemistry. Phil, being an out gay man with no partner and a fanbase, probably has to deal with these types of comments all the time, but it’s new for Dan.

Dan shakes his head to try and clear it. He doesn’t want to get stuck in YouTube comments and feel impotent irritation every time someone replies, ‘uh, Daniel Howell is straight’, like they know him. Like he’s ever said that.

He’s been photographed with women, because he’s casually dated them over the past decade, but he’s never said he’s straight. And it never works out with them anyway.

Dating girls is fine - they’re all softness and little sighs and hands that look so extremely small wrapped in his own - but he doesn’t think he can ever be with one for a significant amount of time. That thought is one he usually keeps locked in his mental box, but. He doesn’t shy away from it this time.

Even if he could admit it to himself proper, it’s easier for Dan to just not talk about it publicly. He hasn’t dated anyone seriously enough for it to be an issue in ten years. Nobody needs to know that every time he’s inside a woman he remembers why it never progresses past that.

It’s fine. It’s always fine. It’s just, if he’s completely honest with himself, 'fine’ isn’t what he wants to settle for.

“Moot point anyway,” Dan mumbles to himself, clicking over to Phil’s channel for a distraction. “Not like you’re gonna do anything about it, you big fucking coward.”

Phil has uploaded the video he told Dan about when Dan was busy trying not to stare at his mouth. It’s such a welcome distraction that Dan almost doesn’t clock the title and thumbnail for the buffoonery they are.

IS MY DOG PSYCHIC?

The title doesn’t change when Dan blinks. Neither does the image of Thor, edited to be wearing round glasses in front of a crystal ball.

“What,” Dan says, clicking on the video before any of it really sinks in.

“Hi guys,” says Phil. He already looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “I know you read the title and you’re like, what, but I promise it is not clickbait! As I’m sure many of you know, my grandma had 'the gift’, and sometimes I think she passed it on to me. The question is, did I pass it on to my son?”

Phil pulls an over-exaggerated thoughtful expression and then breaks, giggling and shaking his head at himself.

“I know it’s stupid, but, I also figured it might be funny? I dunno, you tell me.”

It’s exactly as silly as Dan expects it to be. Phil sits on his floor with Thor while the dog 'reads’ his tarot cards. Dan can see why this video gave Phil a hard time in editing. There are a lot of close ups of Thor and the cards, filmed more like a comedy skit than a vlog.

He finds himself laughing along and getting way too invested in what the tarot cards mean, and he knows first hand how much work Phil put into this, so Dan clicks the share button before he can overthink it.

tbh watching amazingthorgi do anything could make a believer out of me, he tweets alongside the link.

Most of America is asleep still, but that doesn’t stop hundreds of people replying. Dan’s really got nothing better to do while he waits for his mum to call, so he settles in to respond to some of them. He makes a couple bad jokes, commiserates with some of them over not being able to have a dog yet, and ignores any mention of Phil.

Maybe that’s childish of him. He is sharing Phil’s work, after all. He sighs and replies to an innocuous question about how he knows Phil. met during this and then he let me meet his dog so now he’s not getting rid of me, Dan says with a link to the BBC Radio One interview.

His phone chirps with a Twitter notification and he taps it warily, still scrolling through replies on his laptop.

@AmazingPhil @danielhowell You saw his face now you’re a believer? He’ll tell your fortune anytime! It’s accompanied with dog and sparkle and crystal ball and, inexplicably, sock emojis.

Dan laughs, the sound of it almost surprising him. It’s impossible not to feel some kind of way when Phil is the way he is, so cheerful and dorky and fun.

He likes the tweet, but responds by messaging Phil - do you have me on notif or are you just always online - because he doesn’t want to add any more fuel to the fire that is Twitter stans. He can already imagine the argument threads about his sexuality that he usually tries so hard to avoid.

The thought of strangers picking apart something he’s not even comfortable with himself is abhorrent, makes him itch, and he puts on some older AmazingPhil videos to calm himself back down.

That depends

on?

Which one is lamer lmao

Phil’s voice filling the lonely hotel room and his words taking up space on Dan’s screen where something anxiety-inducing might have otherwise been is almost enough to make Dan as comfortable as Phil’s physical presence does.

Almost. It’s unreal how much Dan wants to reach through both of his screens to pull Phil closer.

Dan hides his smile in his hand, even though nobody is around to see it, and replies, tbh those are equally lame so you might as well go with the truth

I was on Twitter anyway. I really shouldn’t be, I’m supposed to be responding to emails. Phil keeps typing, then stops, then repeats that process a few times before he finally adds, I should go do that, but you can call or facetime me if you want to keep talking or whatever? It’s easier not to type/text while I’m doing emails lol

And, in a third message, a string of numbers. Phil’s phone number.

Well, that sounds better than using Phil’s videos as background noise. Dan shuts his laptop and gets out of bed to fuss with his hair.

“You’re such an idiot,” he tells his judgemental reflection. It, thankfully, does not respond.

Once he’s gotten his hair into some semblance of order - it’s mostly still straight from yesterday, but it got all sleep-mussed and a bit wavy in the front overnight - Dan tosses on a shirt and video calls the number Phil gave him.

Phil picks up with a big grin and sleepy eyes, and Dan almost hangs up on him to stop the heart palpitations in their tracks. “Hi!”

“Hey, you just wake up?” Dan asks, getting comfortable in the hotel room armchair. It feels weird to lie back down in bed while they’re chatting. Phil is at his desk, phone propped up so he can use both hands to type. His glasses are a little crooked and his shirt is too big on him, exposing his collarbones whenever he leans forward. Unfortunately, he looks like serious wank material right now.

“Yeah, had my first coffee already, though,” says Phil. “You would not like me before my coffee.”

“Barely like you now, mate,” Dan says to try and hide his blush at the idea of seeing Phil first thing in the morning. Phil just laughs. It’s tinny through Dan’s phone speaker, but it still makes Dan feel warm.

“You’re awfully chatty for someone who doesn’t like me,” says Phil.

“I’m only bored, don’t flatter yourself,” says Dan. “My mum’s supposed to call me in a few hours, so I’m just kind of waiting around til then.”

“Oh, yeah, you haven’t had the chance to go home yet, have you?” Phil’s tongue pokes out between his teeth as he concentrates on whatever he’s reading. “My mum would be going out of her gourd. When was the last time you went home?”

Dan doesn’t really like the way that Phil keeps calling it 'home.’ Wokingham hasn’t been home in a very long time.

He doesn’t want to get into that, though, so he just shrugs. “Uh, Christmas?”

“Dan,” Phil says, looking appalled. “It’s August.”

“I don’t live here,” says Dan. “And I’m busy. My family gets it.”

Phil hums, a little disapproving still. Dan has to bite his tongue so he doesn’t say anything scathing, reminding himself that some people actually like their parents.

It’s not that Dan doesn’t love them, because he does, it’s just. Complicated.

“Do you get to see your family often?” Dan asks, desperate to get the attention off of how shit a son he is.

“Not as often as I’d like,” says Phil. He sounds so genuinely sad about it, like he really would like nothing more than to go visit his parents every weekend. “My brother lives in town, so I see him a lot.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Yeah, he’s -” Phil cuts himself off, then, and gives Dan an apologetic sort of look through his screen. “You don’t want to hear about my family.”

“I do,” Dan says, and he’s surprised by how much he means it. He shifts in the armchair. It isn’t that comfortable. “Dude, I already know every song on your iTunes, what’s so weird about telling me stuff about your family? They clearly mean a lot to you.”

He has no idea how to interpret the expression on Phil’s face, but whatever it is shifts into a smile as he turns back to his computer. “Okay, his name’s Martyn, he’s older than me, we work together -”

This time, Dan cuts him off. “You do? I haven’t seen him on your channel.”

“He’s not really interested in being on camera. We actually run IRL Merch together, although honestly it’s mostly Martyn.”

Phil explains the business to Dan, who feels himself getting more and more awed by the amount of stuff Phil does on any given day. It isn’t just sitting in front of his camera and then in front of his computer for a handful of hours.

Granted, Dan never thought that being a YouTuber was easy, or everyone would do it, but Phil seems to add things onto his plate that he doesn’t really need to do.

Dan listens for a little while, changing positions in the armchair a few times before he gives up and flops back onto the bed.

“Phil,” he says, holding his phone high above his head and making a face at the angle. It’s fine, really, Phil has barely been glancing at him this whole time. Now that Dan has some kind of idea about the number of people Phil works with, he gets the hours of emails thing. “Do you ever take a break? Hang out with your friends?”

“What friends?” Phil jokes, but Dan senses there’s some truth behind it.

“Okay, first of all,” says Dan, “big mood.”

Phil’s laugh seems like it’s surprised out of him, and his eyes flick to his phone again. They linger on Dan for a long moment before turning away again. Although, to be fair, that may be lag from shitty hotel wifi. “Is it?”

“Yeah, man, like I’ve got any fucking friends. Second of all, you need to take some breaks or you’re going to burn the fuck out.”

“Trust me, I know,” says Phil.

“I know Thor already reminds you to take breaks,” says Dan. “But he can’t force you to. I can.”

“You’re gonna force me to take breaks?” Phil hums, his eyebrows raising. “How exactly are you going to manage that when you’re back in Atlanta?”

“I can be very annoying with nothing but an internet connection,” Dan promises. “You wanna see?”

“No, no, I believe you, and I need to get this done, please don’t.”

They both laugh, quiet, and Dan curls up on his side to just watch Phil work for a little while. Phil runs his fingers through his hair every so often and mouths along to whatever he types. Dan has no idea how one person can simultaneously be the hottest and the most adorable thing ever.

“I have a brother too,” Dan offers.

“Do you?” Phil asks, more surprised than Dan expects him to be. “That’s not on your Wikipedia.”

“He doesn’t like the attention,” says Dan. It’s a half-truth. Most of what he says about his family are half-truths. “But you’re not, like, a stan account or the media or whatever.”

“Technically, I am both,” Phil jokes. “I’ll keep it to myself, though, don’t worry.”

Dan isn’t worried. He trusts Phil not to go blabbing about him on the radio, even with something as small as Adrian’s existence.

It feels a little strange to trust someone so immediately, and part of Dan wants to pull back, put some distance between them, because the combination of trust and a deepening crush can only spell disaster. He’s not going to do that. He’s only got Phil nearby for another two weeks.

After they’ve finished their media circus in London, then Edinburgh, then Dublin, Dan is off to France with Patrick and Jaime. They’re only hitting a handful of international media press, but that’s more than they were asked to do last year. It’s exciting to be expanding this way, to have something to point to and say, 'I did that before I was 30’.

And when they’re done with the press tour, Dan… goes home. Back to Atlanta, where his apartment is being sublet during his summer travelling.

They don’t even know yet if Heatwave will get a fourth season. It’s a bit of an industry joke that Netflix shows rarely make it past the third. Dan doesn’t even want to consider how Atlanta will feel without a steady filming job down the street.

Probably not much like home. Nowhere feels all that much like home, if Dan’s honest.

“Hey, you still with me?”

Dan blinks away the doom and gloom of his uncertain future and refocuses on the conversation he’s supposed to be a part of. Phil is looking at him now, the sort of undivided attention that makes Dan’s cheeks burn.

“Yeah, sorry,” says Dan. “I’m still here. Have you made a dent in those emails?”

Not the most graceful change of subject, but Phil allows it with a small snort. “No, for I am Sisyphus, doomed to answer a dozen emails only for another dozen to arrive.”

“Maybe if you didn’t have, like, three jobs, this wouldn’t be a problem,” Dan points out. “I get maybe two important emails a day. It’s great.”

“Maybe,” says Phil. He’s still just looking at Dan, his chin resting on an open palm.

“What?” Dan asks, feeling a smile tug at his lips.

Phil smiles back, brighter. “Nothing.”

There’s a warmth in his face, visible even through the mediocre FaceTime quality, that makes Dan’s stomach twist all up in knots. He doesn’t know how to handle that at all. “My mum’s calling I gotta go bye,” he says in one breath, hanging up before Phil can even react.

While he waits for his heart to stop pounding, Dan stares at the hotel ceiling and wonders what the fuck is wrong with him.

–

Dan’s mum does call, eventually. He’s been fucking around on Guild Wars and cursing the wifi for god only knows how long, refusing to check his phone so he doesn’t have to be faced with another message - or the lack of one - from Phil. Dan finishes the raid and then calls his mum back.

“Daniel, hi,” she says, sounding frazzled in the way she always seems to.

“Hey, mum.” It feels weird, now that he’s got her on the phone, but he pushes past that discomfort. “I was just calling to let you know that I’m in London.”

The sound of a door slamming comes through before his mum says, “Well, yes, dear. I know that.”

She doesn’t sound upset with him. More than anything, she sounds confused. Like she doesn’t know why he’s even telling her this. Like it hasn’t even occurred to her to nag her son for a visit. Dan has to swallow past a lump in his throat, not sure why he wishes she was angry.

“Oh,” he says. Allows a long moment of quiet to pass, just in case she wants to explain herself. She doesn’t. “Well. Okay. Do you - are you busy weekend after next? I could come see you before we leave for the continent.”

“That’s quite short notice, dear,” his mum says, and Dan experiences a dizzying rush of relief and distress before she continues. “But I’m sure I can make some time for dinner.”

Dan exhales. Dinner. He can do dinner.

“That sounds good,” he says. Another half-truth. “I’ll text you?”

“Yes, yes,” his mum says, already sounding distracted. “Text me and we’ll make a proper plan. Work hard til then, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too. Bye.”

The call ends almost as abruptly as his call with Phil, but Dan is okay with that.

im going to see my fam before i leave england jsyk, Dan texts to Phil. Phil sends him celebratory emojis in response. And maybe dinner with his family will be horrible, maybe it will be great, most likely it will be slightly uncomfortable, but at least he isn’t disappointing Phil on top of everyone else he’s let down.

#phanfiction #phanfic #phan #dnp fic #can't breathe when you touch my sleeve #words words words

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marrincostello · 4 years

Text

How to Make Videos People Will Watch on Social Media : Social Media Examiner

Want your videos to make a bigger impact on social platforms? Wondering how to create videos that grab and hold people’s attention?

In this article, you’ll discover three techniques to produce video people will watch on social media.

Note: This article assumes you have the basics in place for filming and producing social media video. To learn more about looking better on camera, improving production quality, and more, click here.

#1: Hook Social Media Video Viewers and Incite a Shopper’s Pivot

There are all kinds of stats online about how long viewers will stick around to watch a video on social media. Some claim 15 seconds, some claim 3 seconds, and others 5 seconds.

I don’t like these stats. They fill video creators with fear and dread. Viewers won’t sit with a stopwatch in hand waiting for you to impress them and then leave after 5 seconds if you haven’t.

What’s important is to hook them as quickly as you can and then unpack that hook. This introduction could take 60 seconds, but if you get the hook right at the very start, it’ll be impossible for them to look away.

Script Social Media Videos for a Shopper’s Pivot

Imagine you’re walking through a busy shopping center exhausted from a long day, and as you push through the crowd of people in your way, you notice something out of the corner of your eye inside a shop. You walk past it, stop, do a double-take, and then walk back toward it and check it out.

That’s a shopper’s pivot.

In video, you can achieve a similar effect to pull people into your content.

The majority of films you’ve seen start like this: You begin watching and think to yourself, “What’s going on here?” Then a few minutes into the film, things start to make sense. The very fact that you’re thinking about the point of the intro makes the content more engaging and leads you to want to know more. The rest of the film unfolds from there.

It’s almost like you missed the first part of the story so you scramble to keep up and try to work out what’s going on. This in turn creates the engagement required to keep viewers engrossed.

The good news is that several techniques will help you mimic this effect in your social media videos.

To start, you need to give people context. This happens in the thumbnail image and the written post. People don’t tend to click play on a video if they have no idea what it’s about so this is where you set up your video’s content.

Tell a story. Stories create engagement and pull people in. People can’t help but picture what’s being described. In my earlier story about walking past a shop window, you probably pictured the shopping center in your mind, which made you pay attention. Then I unpacked the point I was trying to make. Intros like this are attention gold.

Use metaphors. A metaphor is a figure of speech that implies a comparison. You take information someone might not understand and relate it to something they’ve likely experienced. Again, this forces people to engage. I used this technique earlier when talking about the shop window.

Get straight to it. Lots of videos start with introductions. The person on the screen says who they are and what they plan to talk about. But viewers are selfish; they only want the information they came for—what was promised to them in the post.

If your video is called “5 Tips to Sell More Shoes” and you start with, “Number one: Price” and then hit viewers with your best point to start with, they’ll be shocked by your efficiency and hang on longer. You might even get comments thanking you for not wasting their time.

Remember, people don’t want to get to know you online at first; that comes over time and through multiple videos.

Share a surprising stat. Stats get thrown around all the time but if you have one that will surprise people, lead with it and let the rest of the video go on from there.

The key to all of this is to remember you’re not just competing against other people in your niche for attention on social media; you’re competing with everyone. A creative and well-planned intro is a must.

When you’ve hooked your viewer, the battle isn’t won, although you’ve made a better start than most. There’s one thing that can (even with an amazing shopper’s pivot) destroy your engagement, and that’s delivery.

#2: Captivate Social Media Video Viewers With Panto Mode and Chunking

You could have the best video content in the world but if it’s delivered in a dull, nervous, monotonous tone, you’ll lose the viewer’s attention, and worse, damage your credibility. People are attracted to confidence and charisma. Even if you don’t have either (although I’m sure you do), here’s how you can fake it.

How to Use Panto Mode for a More Engaging Presentation

The moment you stand in front of a camera, something strange will happen to you. Even if you’re a professional who’s used to public speaking, you’ll struggle to think, let alone talk, and you’ll lose a ton of energy. This means the social connection you need on camera will sink.

In fact, the camera alone will suck out about 20% of your energy. This means you need to overcompensate and put it back. Here’s how.

Start by filming a line or two as a test; 20 seconds or so should work.

Then watch it back. You won’t like the sound of your voice and you’ll probably think you look awkward and wonder what you should be doing with your hands. Don’t worry; that’s normal.

Now film the same section again, but this time, use an over-the-top delivery like a pantomime performer. (In the UK, these are theatrical events for children and the performers in them are always very over the top.) Your delivery needs to be ridiculous. Remember, no one is going to see it so have fun!

That’s panto mode.

When you’re done, watch it back and compare it to your original take. You should find that the version of you with 120% energy works!

If you think your delivery is too over the top, dial it down and try again. Not enough energy? Add some.

It will feel uncomfortable to start. However, once you see how confident and credible you appear on camera when you find the right level of energy, presenting on camera will become an enjoyable experience for you and your viewers.

How to Shoot and Edit With Video Chunks

Trying to create a video in one long take is difficult and you want to make the process as easy as possible to ensure your content works. This is where chunking comes in. It’s a technique that makes presenting easier and video content more visually stimulating. It involves recording your video in segments (or chunks) and then piecing those segments together.

Start by filming a few sentences. Stop when there’s a natural pause or change in information. You might want to do a few versions of this take. Or if you think you nailed it, move on to the next chunk.

Before you start recording the next section of content, zoom in or move the camera a little closer so you appear about 20% larger on the screen. Film the next few sentences and stop. Then move the camera back and shoot again.

Become the Social Media Marketing Rockstar for Your Business

Meet your secret team that makes you look like a social media genius and empowers you to embrace change! We’re a genuine community of marketers from your friends at Social Media Examiner. And we’re here to support you. Think of us as your career insurance policy. We keep you focused on what matters. We make sure you won’t be left behind as the changes keep coming. Join the Social Media Marketing Society. Get access to monthly online training, expert support, and a thriving community of marketers who will empower you to succeed.

Pro Tip: Make sure you move the camera rather than yourself; otherwise, the background will stay the same size and it’ll look odd. It would take another article to explain why so you’ll have to trust me on this one.

See how the frame size changes in these images each time we cut and move the camera?

When you finish filming your video, put each chunk into your editing timeline and piece them together.

Every time the viewer sees one of these cuts, it’s another visual prod that keeps their attention focused on you. It also gives your video more energy and instills confidence. The viewer won’t even notice it’s happening.

#3: Publish Social Media Video With a Scroll-Stopping Thumbnail

If you film a video and nobody hits play on it, did you even make a video? Getting your video noticed and clicked is the initial battle on social media. Forget the content right now; this is all about first impressions and sticking out on timelines.

No matter what social media platform you’re using, the written post with your video plays an important role in persuading your audience to watch (as we discussed earlier). But the image or thumbnail that comes with that post is what people will notice and it needs to grab their attention.

This is an example of a bad thumbnail image:

Here’s why it doesn’t work:

Now let’s look at an example of a good thumbnail image:

Here’s why it works:

Prada doesn’t cover their store windows with cheap stickers. Instead, their window displays convey pure quality to potential shoppers. Your video thumbnail needs to do the same.

If you can include a person’s face (preferably conveying emotion) and some text in your thumbnail, you’re more likely to get clicks (based on findings from YouTube). It makes sense—people love interacting with human beings, especially on social media.

If you’re not able to include an image of a person on your thumbnail, make sure you use quality stock images. Tell a story that hints at what the video is about.

Once you have an eye-catching image, here’s how to share it when posting your video.

Load Thumbnail Images to LinkedIn, Facebook, and IGTV

To choose the thumbnail for your LinkedIn video post, click Start a Post and select the Video icon.

Navigate to the video you want to share and then click Edit.

Now click Select File and choose your image.

To upload a thumbnail with your Facebook video post, click Create Post and select Photo/Video.

Click Thumbnail on the right side of the screen and then click Add Image on the left. Now select the image you want to use.

To select a thumbnail for an IGTV post, upload your video to Instagram and select IGTV.

Then tap Add From Gallery and choose your image.

Embed a Thumbnail Image in Your Video

Alternatively, you can add the thumbnail image you want to show up on social feeds as the first frame in your video. It will then display as the video starts to autoplay.

When someone hits play, they won’t notice it flash for a split second if the video starts from the beginning again.

Note: For Instagram videos, this is the best way to show a thumbnail image because you can only choose a frame from the video.

Video Thumbnails for Paid Ads on Social Media

If you’re creating thumbnails for paid ads on Facebook and Instagram, avoid using too much text in them to ensure optimum reach and results. The text should not take up more than 20% of your image. Otherwise, it will either be rejected or the reach will be impacted significantly.

Here’s an example of a thumbnail for a YouTube video that contains too much text for Facebook.

To reuse this thumbnail in a Facebook ad, you’d have to simplify it with less text, as in the example below.

Pro Tip: If you’re not a designer, Canva has some high-quality free and paid templates you can use to create thumbnails for your social media videos or you can turn to a platform like Fiverr or OnlineJobs.Ph to hire a designer to do it for you.

For too long, video has been touted as the answer to all of a marketer’s problems. It’s not. While video once had a novelty factor, now it’s expected as part of your regular communication.

But it’s not something you’ll be good at right away. You’ll often hear people say “done is better than perfect.” While that’s generally correct, “done” still needs to be good. If you review your video and don’t think it’s any good, you’ll need to put in some more work.

I’ve used all of the techniques above on thousands of occasions and I’m confident that if you trust in the system, you’ll make highly engaging videos you’ll be proud of.

What do you think? Are you inspired to try any of these techniques to improve your next video? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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This content was originally published here.

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