Tag Archives: Screencasting

Building on Past Successes for Future Directions

I have a lot of flexibility and freedom in my job. That’s part of the appeal. The other day I was reflecting on the best route to take, the most fruitful path I should follow. There are quite a few directions I could go. I could become meticulously detailed about style, knowing the ins and Continue Reading »

The Perfect Voice — Professional or Authentic?

One trend I think we’ll see more and more is the decrease of professional voiceover actors in screencasts when those voiceover actors are merely reading a script they don’t understand. As an example, watch some of the tutorials at lynda.com. The narrators may not be professional voiceover actors, but they are subject matter experts. You can tell Continue Reading »

Why Tech Comm Professors Don’t Teach Video

The other week, by invitation, I was at a Missouri State University Workshop for Teachers of Technical Writing. I presented about trends in technical communication and highlighted multimedia, particularly video, as an important trend. Near the end of my presentation, I asked the academic audience why so many teachers don’t require students to create video Continue Reading »

My STC Summit Proceedings Paper on Voiceover Techniques

When you present at the STC Summit, you’re supposed to submit a proceedings paper describing your presentation. Given that only a fraction of my followers are members of the STC, and an even smaller fraction are attending the Summit, I’m providing my proceedings paper here: “Developing a Personal Voiceover in Audio” (PDF). (It’s allowed under the Continue Reading »

Feasibility, Believability, and Fixability: Three Reasons Not to Use a Professional Voiceover Actor

Here’s a common scenario for creating a corporate screencast. In an effort to create a screencast, the project manager writes a script, carefully storyboarding it in PowerPoint. The project manager reviews the script with a committee several times to make sure it’s perfect, and each member of the committee makes a few edits. Finished with Continue Reading »