Skillshare: FROM CLUELESS TO CONTENT CREATOR Student Worksheets

3: The ONE Thing Your Content Really Needs

KEY POINTS
• The one thing that will ultimately determine whether our content has a chance to be
watched and appreciated by an audience is VALUE.

• Just like anything competing for people’s time, attention, and money, your content--
from the level of individual videos to your entire channel or page--needs to have a
unique VALUE PROPOSITION.

• This value can be as simple as ve seconds of entertainment - your cat doing

something adorable - or it can extend to hours of insight on a deep interview. The key
is to know even before you roll the camera what the VALUE is that you want to create
and for WHOM. And then, build your channel or personal brand around
communicating that value.

• You build an audience around your work by providing value consistently so that
people keep coming back for more. Find the intersection between something you’re
passionate about and something a speci c group of people really want or need.

4: Identifying Your Value Proposition

KEY POINTS
• Broadly speaking, I would say that content falls into one of three value categories:
• Information
• Examples: reviews, travel guides, tutorials, health and nutrition, news and analysis
• Entertainment
• Examples: cat videos, Tiktok, daily vlogs, comedy, ASMR, mukbang, etc — anything
that helps people pass the time
• Inspiration
• Content that seeks to create a positive emotional impact and makes you feel
good
• Examples: Motivational and self-help, beauty of nature, guided meditations
• All great content contains elements of all three!

GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. Do you have a unique talent or an uncommon expertise or passion for
something?
• Usually best place to start
• No need to be world’s best
• You can build an audience just by being very relatable and sincere

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2. Are you a combination of things that we don’t usually see?

• A pianist who races mountain bikes?
• A ight attendant that plays the cello?
• A dad of two boys who’s great at cooking and comedy?
• Don’t think about being the best, but about being the only, or one of the few.

3. Is there some aspect of your daily life that would be enlightening to others to
share?
• You live somewhere people have never heard of
• Have a job that isn’t well-represented online
• You have a lot of insights or jokes about common relatable problems
• Example: Russian couple goes to supermarket: https://youtu.be/m6wAtzrTZbo

4. What is the content you’ve been looking for but can’t nd? Make it yourself!

TO DO
• Develop value proposition ideas
• Pick one you like and see yourself sticking with
• Ideate your rst ve videos

5: Your Secret Sauce: Point of View

KEY POINTS
• On top of value, what makes or breaks content is a distinct POINT OF VIEW.

• Nowadays, in any niche, you won’t be the only person making content. So you need to
double down on being and communicating ourselves because information can be
copied, but your personality is the one thing that no one can do better than you.

• Point of view, in this speci c de nition, is more than just your opinion. It’s the lens
through which you allow the audience to experience your world. And we love the
creators we love because we enjoy experiencing the world through their eyes.

• Without a point of view, you may as well read a Wikipedia article.

• Channels mentioned:
• Johnny Harris, Russia video: https://youtu.be/HBlZlmXyR5M
• Casey Neistat, $21,000 First Class Airplane Seat: https://youtu.be/84WIaK3bl_s
• James Hoffman, Dalgona Cofffee video: https://youtu.be/WHmpgMsW-aA

GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. How has your life story shaped your beliefs and interests?
• How you got where you are today
• How you developed your passion for your topic
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• Your story brings you closer to your audience and creates a sense of trust and
closeness

2. What is your authentic personality?

• Laid back or energetic and everything in between, it doesn’t matter, just be you!
• Don’t withhold your true self! You would remove the one thing that really makes
your work unlike anybody else’s.

ONE MORE THING

Be assured that this is a constantly-evolving process.

I had some very well-de ned ideas written down for my channel identity, value
proposition, and target audience, that now have drastically changed because of things
I’ve learned and feedback I’ve gotten over the years.

You can pivot if things don’t work after some time of really trying them. Don’t be afraid
to experiment. Stay open and have fun with it!

6: Fundamental Video Skills Overview

SKILLS TO LEARN AND RESEARCH

• How to shoot video

• Good composition
• How to “read” and work with light
• Basics of good audio recording
• Shooting with the edit in mind
• On-camera skills
• Video editing: how to get and hold an audience’s attention
• The art and science of sharing your content to attract an audience

7: Gear and Tools: What you ACTUALLY Need

GEAR FLOWCHART: See separate owchart graphic in les folder

KEY POINTS
• Tools needed are determined by your needs. Ask yourself:
• What kind of content are you making and for whom?
• What return on investment can you expect?
• What are other things you might invest not just money but also time in to create
more and better content?

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• Why Gear DOESN’T Matter

• Most people watch creators not for their production value but because of their
personalities, the interesting things they do, and the places they go
• These days, low production value and “amateur” editing are often seen as a
marker of authenticity!
• Simpler gear is light, inconspicuous, and easy to use, allowing you to shoot more
content in more places with less effort.
• Most professional gear won’t make your life easier, but adds layers of
complication to your work ow. They’re usually bigger, heavier, take time to set up,
and are more complicated to use.
• BUT, avoid shaky shots!
• My current recommendations: GoPro Hero 7 Black, iPhone 11 or equivalent
smartphone with good stabilization

• Why Gear DOES Matter

• Certain niches call for it (photo and video, cinematic, anything that prioritizes
aesthetics)
• The amount of care you put into crafting your videos adds a level of credibility
to your work. Better-looking and sounding videos are more likely to have a
wider appeal. 
• Current recommendations: relatively recent mirrorless cameras from Sony,
Fuji, and Canon
• BUT investing time and effort in good, tight scripting and thorough research
delivers tremendous value for free.

CASE STUDY SUBJECT LINKS

James Hoffman Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMb0O2CdPBNi-
QqPk5T3gsQ
Dan McLaughlin Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@softpourn?lang=en

CASE STUDY KEY POINTS

• In each case, the medium is the message!
• Even with high production value, what makes Hoffman’s content so good is STILL
point of view + behind-the-scenes research, preparation, and testing
• Aesthetic value of Hoffman’s videos make his watchable still highly-watchable for non-
coffee drinkers
• Dan McLaughlin’s approach is low-tech, simple, and relatable to support his anti-elitist
message, and speci cally to reach the Tiktok audience.
• McLaughlin’s Tiktok videos are also high-value content that I go back to over and over,
but require much less time and effort to produce per video

Key takeaways
• The value of your gear doesn’t directly translate to the value of your content.
• It’s wise to make the best content you can with what you can comfortably afford and
grow from there.

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• Find the sweet spot of something good enough to get the results you want and that
gets you excited to shoot without burdening you with complexity. 

Some ideas for what to invest in instead of gear

• For informational videos, invest your time in research and writing solid scripts, and your
money in books and courses to shore up your knowledge. 

• For entertainment and inspirational content, constantly creating and re ning video
ideas and staying up to date with trends you can jump on for more traf c only
requires investing time and effort!

• For travel vlogs, invest your money in trips and time on good editing.

8: Planning and Pre-Production

What to prepare before shooting

1. Video's value proposition
• Stay focused on what to invest time and effort in
• For Youtube, already have solid ideas for a catchy title and thumbnail this early

2. Script, outline, or talking points

• Plan how your video will ow from start to nish
• Can range from bullet points to full A/V script

3. Shot list
• Pre-visualize your edited video
• A verbal storyboard
• Ensures you have more of shots you need and less of shots you don’t

TO DO
Go back to your list of video ideas and pick the one you want to start with. Download
the sample A/V Script and shot list in the les folder in preparation for the next
lesson. In the next lesson, we’ll make your script or outline.

9: Practical Script Structure for Better Engagement

KEY POINT
Think of your video as a gift to your target audience; let them get what they want in a
timely and enjoyable manner. Do that consistently, and they’ll keep coming back for
more.

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SIMPLE SCRIPT STRUCTURE

BEGINNING
Tease or preview the main value of your video and drive curiosity to watch the rest.
Bonus points: Subtly set up something that you can pay off in a surprising or satisfying
way at the end.

I suggest to use an intro only if it adds value and establishes your credibility and
trustworthiness. But be warned that it could cause viewers to click off your video.

MIDDLE
Get to the point! Deliver the value you promised in as engaging and complete a way as
you can.

Keep it meaty and interesting throughout. Ensure this by working on your script or
outline and revising it until it’s both as informative and tight as you can make it.

END
Fully deliver on your promised value. Pay off what you set up. Make a lasting impression
that will leave your audience both satis ed and hungry for more. 

Ask your audience to share their questions, reactions, and feedback. You can add your
calls to action, like the usual like and subscribe for more of this content, invitations to
follow on social media, or how to nd out more about the topic. If you’ve gotten them
to watch til the end, you have a greater chance of them sticking around, so ask them to!

TO DO
Use the script and/or shot list templates to make your outline, script, and/or shot list.

10: Top Tips For Shooting High-Quality Video

1. Shoot with the edit in mind

• Constantly visualize how and where each shot is going to be used in the edit.
Imagine how one shot ows into the next, and the beginning, middle, and end of
every segment.

2. Frame rates
• You can choose whatever looks best to you. Personally, I’d advise shooting and
editing in HD at 24, 25 (if you live in Europe), or 30fps (frames per second) for your
talking heads. In camera, these could be called 24p, 25p, 30p, etc.
• Then you can shoot in 60p for your b-roll [B-ROLL = supporting footage that
illustrates the point being made]. This gives you the option to use slow motion to
make your b-roll more stable or stylish and to prolong moments that need
emphasis in the edit.

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3. Shooting talking heads

• Leave some headroom. Use a tripod to keep the camera stable and your hands
free. Try to position the lens square to your body—not looking up or looking down.
Align the camera just below eye level and to position yourself either in the center
or one-third to the side of the frame. 
• Don’t be too close to a wall behind you as this makes the shot look at; give depth
to a shot by creating separation between you and your background. And try not to
have a blank background but do some production design on it. 
• You can shoot in 4K and edit in 1080p HD to give you room to crop and
recompose in the edit without losing quality. This effectively gives you a two-
camera setup.

4. Focal length (lens/zoom choice)

• Shoot in medium telephoto (50-85mm full frame equivalent) to give faces a
realistic, attering appearance.
• May need to use an external microphone and/or recorder for audio as camera will
be a bit further away at this focal length

5. Shooting good b-roll

• Avoid shaky and out-of-focus shots! Use a tripod or other stabilizer to keep the
camera steady, or at least tuck your elbows in.
• Make sure every shot has a clear, in focus subject for a suf cient amount of time
because each piece of b-roll is meant to illustrate a speci c point. Shoot a few
seconds of heads and tails to give space to cut or use transitions in the edit. 
• Be deliberate about choosing to shoot static or moving shots and wides, mediums,
or closeups depending on their purpose, and pay attention that all these shots can
ow together.

6. Pro Lighting Tips

• Don’t shoot with the light directly behind you! And of course, don’t shoot in a place
that’s too dark.
• Generally the light looks best when it’s about 45 degrees above and to the side to
give your face a good contour. (Rembrandt lighting) Look up “three point lighting”
for a complete discussion on basic lighting setups.
• It’s almost always better to use soft, diffused light rather than hard direct light.
• Another reason it’s good to shoot away from a wall behind you is so that your key
light doesn’t spill onto the background, making your shot look at and creating
distracting shadows.
• If you can set up a spot by a large window, that often looks better than small
budget lighting.
• Shoot at golden hour: If you’re outdoors, shoot when the light looks best in the
morning or in the afternoon.

7. Record good audio

• In professional production, high-quality audio is more important than fancy
cinematography.
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• An inexpensive lavalier mic like this sounds much better than your on-camera mic
and allows you to compose shots freely.
• Pick a place that’s not just quiet but has minimal reverb, although most rooms will
require some level of treatment for great audio.
• Monitor your audio at least during setup and do a soundcheck. After your rst take,
make sure to listen to your audio to make sure it’s good before shooting the rest of
your video!
• You can use an external recorder for even higher quality and more exibility. Set
your levels manually and then try to hit between -12 and -6db on the meters
during your soundcheck.
• FCP X allows you to sync your audio and video with one click.

8. Backup your footage. Just do it. Please!

11: Secrets to Being Great On Camera

KEY POINTS
1. It’s all about practice!
• Links to Sunny Lenarduzzi’s tutorials
• HOW TO TALK TO CAMERA
• Vlogging fearlessly in public

2. Perfection is overrated
• Unlike in the old world of TV, where you always had to look and sound “perfect,”
creators today use their quirks and bloopers to their advantage, conveying
personality, adding humor, and just being more relatable. 

3. Editing is your friend

• Just focus on getting each point across reasonably well and splice the best
takes together in the edit. You can cover up the seams with appropriate b-roll
to minimize jarring jump cuts.

4. Use Voiceover
• Plan exactly what parts to say on camera and shot list the necessary b-roll to
illustrate the points being said off camera. Make sure that your delivery and
voice projection still sound natural and close to your on-camera spiel.

5. HAVE FUN! You transmit the energy you feel.

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12: Top Tips for a Better Edit

1. Learn Keyboard Shortcuts

• Makes edits SO much faster
• Check the “Help” menu of your editing app to nd them.

2. Organize your footage

• Group or tag your footage so you don’t have one big mess of footage to sift
through. Organize it in a way that’s useful for you. For most people, grouping
footage by what segment they’re meant to be used for would be most helpful.

3. Editing timeline settings

• Make sure your timeline is set to the same frame rate you shot in. Example: If
footage is 1080p at 30fps, the timeline should be the same. Some editing apps
allow you to do this automatically.
• If you shot in 60p, you can either use 60fps on your timeline for very smooth
motion, or use it in a 24, 25, or 30p timeline to make it slo-mo.
• Not doing this could lead to all sorts of technical problems, usually a very slow edit.

4. Study the greats (and the not so great)

• Look at how your favorite videos and movies are cut together. Pay attention to:
• Shot length and pacing
• Choice and placement of b-roll
• How each scene ows to the next
• Graphics and text design
• Music and sound design
• Note typical video length in your niche
• Note mistakes of videos that don’t engage your attention and avoid those

5. Keep it interesting
• Cut out parts that feel repetitive or dragging, regardless of how hard you worked to
shoot them. Keep things info- and action-packed.
• The aim isn’t to make the shortest video possible, but to give the right amount of
time for every segment so that it feels complete but doesn’t overstay its welcome.
• The “right” video length is always relative to platform, niche, video type, and target
audience.

6. Pick great music

• Pick great music for the kind of content you do. This will supercharge your edit and
also make it easier to decide shot pacing. Great music inspires great edits!
• Johnny Harris music tutorial: https://youtu.be/fqB5W-AdFqw
• Music for content creators: Soundstripe, Epidemic Sound, The Music Bed, etc.
• Free option: Youtube Audio Library

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7. How to export your video

• Most editing apps now include presets for uploading to social media and more so
stick to these unless you’re advanced. These will usually use the H.264 codec, and
nowadays H.265 (codec: the underlying format that a video is encoded in).
• Nowadays it doesn’t actually matter whether your video ends as a .mov or as
a .mp4—these are just containers for the underlying codec, which is usually H.264.

8. TRUST THE PROCESS!

• Don’t worry about the end result—just keep working on your video until it’s
reasonably good. Publish, get feedback, and move on to the next.

13: Sharing Your Video and Building An Audience

1. Who is your TARGET AUDIENCE?

• Focus on nding and connecting to “your people”— nd your tribe and build a
community
• Speak directly to these people with your titles, branding, etc.
• Helps to minimize haters (but you will never completely avoid them no matter
what)

2. What are the potential KEYWORDS someone searching for your content is
likely to use?
• Start off making videos that don’t have to compete with the biggest channels and
millions of videos so you have a chance to be noticed and build authority in your
niche.
• Find a good balance between people searching for it and relatively low
competition (i.e., high demand, low supply!)
• The inexpensive TubeBuddy plugin offers a Keyword Explorer tool that focuses on
this

3. Titles and Thumbnails

• Without attracting an audience, your hard work will go unseen, especially now that
creators say that the Youtube algorithm prioritizes clickthrough rate (CTR) above
all.
• Create short titles and intriguing thumbnails. Always answer the question of, “Why
would someone click on this?” If you’re gonna resort to clickbait, make sure your
video delivers on what you promised!
• Design your thumbnails in a small size to preview how they’ll look.

4. Don’t just rely on the algorithm

• Find your target audience wherever they may be, online or of ine (e.g., Facebook
groups, subreddits, local communities, events)
• But don’t be spammy! Give before you get. Offer value instead of just seeking
attention.

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5. Adapt to your platform

• Videos that work on Youtube don’t work at all in the same way when reposted on
Facebook, Instagram, IGTV, or Tiktok.
• Study successful videos on each platform and re-edit your work to t what might
work well and deliver value on each. Don’t just link back to a Youtube channel.

6. Remember that this is a long-term process

• The aim isn’t for one video to go viral. This almost never happens and it’s actually
undesirable. The surge of attention is likely to pressure you to make that same
video over and over, but it’s almost never the work you care about the most that
will get the most views.
• What’s more sustainable is to build up a body of work and grow and evolve along
with your audience.
• Focus on the big picture. There’s no one tactic that will bring in the views and
subscribers. Consistently deliver value and let the rest follow.

14: Success as a Creator, and Why You Don’t Need a Huge Audience

KEY POINTS
• If you’re doing this for your ego, no amount of views will ever be enough. If you’re
doing it for money, there are much more reliable ways to make money.

• We need our creation to be self-sustaining (i.e. we need to make money from it). But
AdSense alone is not a great business model.

• Viable monetization boils down to getting your video seen not by millions of
people, but by enough of the right people: People who will spread the word about
you, buy your products, support you on membership sites, or hire you. For
sponsorships, what the sponsor is paying for isn’t a big audience per se, but a highly
engaged audience.

• Monetizing suf ciently still boils down to delivering value--this time, in a way that
ampli es what you deliver to the audience with your free content enough that people
are willing to pay for it.

• Read: Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans essay

• Feeling discouraged? Focus on the value you’re getting from the process :
• Learning and growing with every video
• Making stuff you genuinely love and care about, no matter how many views it
gets

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• Aim high, but don’t get so attached to the results that it causes you to give up when
things don’t go the way you expected in the time you expected it to. Success
ultimately boils down to endurance.

The end! Thank you so much for taking my course!

I would love to hear from you! Get in touch with me on my social media:
YouTube.com/aaronpalabyabchannel
instagram.com/aaronpalabyab
twitter.com/aaronpalabyab
facebook.com/a.palabyab