How to Craft a Great Storytime Video for YouTube

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So, you have a story that you think is worth sharing with the world. As someone who makes a living telling stories over the internet, here’s what you need to know if you want to make a good storytime video.

Nail Down This to Create An Unforgettable Video

  1. Choose an Interesting Story: Select a story that captivates your target audience. It could be a personal experience, a funny anecdote, a life lesson, or even a fictional story. Make sure it has a clear beginning, middle, and end.
  2. Add Personal Touch: Inject your personality into the storytelling. Share your emotions, reactions, and reflections on the events. This personal touch helps build a connection with your audience.
  3. Get the story straight in your head: We’ll get to writing a script later, but if don’t want to use one, at least memorize the key events so that you don’t scramble when the camera’s already rolling.
  4. Try to look presentable: Clear any clutter visible in the frame, apply light makeup, or wear nice clothes, whatever you feel most comfortable in. Your story will come across clearer if you’re confident and not feeling self-conscious while you recount it.
  5. Make sure that the lighting is not too dark or too bright: Figure out the right amount of shade to complement your features.
  6. Start filming: If the story requires a bit of background info or context to understand, address them briefly. Don’t be afraid to be expressive and throw in details that would make the story more entertaining.
  7. Review the footage: You can always retake some segments if you’re not happy with them!
  8. Create a Catchy Title and Thumbnail: Craft a title that is both intriguing and relevant to your story. Design an eye-catching thumbnail that encourages viewers to click on your video. Thumbnails are often the first thing people notice.

A good idea if you’re not too good at improvising is to write a script. Here are some tips:

How Do You Write a Storytime Script?

The subject of writing a good script is too deep and out of the scope of this article. But the general idea is to keep the best part for the end. You don’t want to start by letting them know the end of the story! You want to keep your viewers engaged, and the best way is to develop your story step by step up to the big finale.

Here are some guidelines to help you out:

  1. Use a double space to separate each line: This will give your words room to breathe and be easier to read while recording.
  2. Build Suspense or Interest: Create intrigue or interest early on to keep viewers engaged. Pose a question, introduce a problem, or share a teaser that encourages people to keep watching.
  3. Highlight the parts you want to give extra attention or emphasis: These are key moments in the story that will impact the viewer.
  4. Don’t use deep words or vocabulary: Your story will be more relatable if people don’t have to whip out their thesaurus while watching.
  5. Paint a clear picture for your audience: Don’t be afraid to add details that will enhance the story and make the viewers feel like they’re there with you.
  6. Use Descriptive Language: Enrich your script with descriptive language. Help your audience visualize the scenes and feel connected to the story by appealing to their senses.

Should You Animate Your Storytime Video?

Animated storytime YouTube videos are popular, but they are significantly more difficult to make. They can be more unique and fun to watch, however, it’s not something you should do unless the animation helps to tell a better story, which is the most important part.

If you decide to do so, the most convenient way to animate videos is to use animation software you can download to your computer. There, you can draw and create your scenes and characters.

To do this, you’ll need a drawing tablet compatible with your computer. The ones specifically for animation are a bit pricier though.

Alternatively, you can use websites that allow you to drag and drop ready-made assets into a scene that will tell your story, like VidToon.

From there, you can edit the narration and or voice acting onto the animation, but don’t neglect the power of audio! Sound effects and background music can take your video to the next level.

What Kind of Software Do You Need to Animate it?

Ideally, you need an app where you can have a lot of creative freedom. The program should allow you to create your own drawings and animate them in a smooth and fluid way. Some even allow you to create storyboards for your project, a useful tool that will allow you to visualize and plan out your video more effectively. There are plenty of good options that professional animators and newbies alike find useful.

Do You Need to Be Good at Drawing to Animate a Storytime Video?

No, you only need to know the basics of both drawing and animation to animate a storytime that isn’t too ambitious. What is considered good or not is very subjective. But if you don’t feel confident in your drawing skills some options allow you to use templates!

Again, animating your storytime video is something you should do only if you think it’s vital for your video. It can take a lot more work, especially if you want to make it different. Forst most of you, just pressing record and talking to the camera should be good enough.

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