YouTube is Hard... Until You Learn This

all right so you feel like you wrote a great script you filmed the killer video and you got your packaging all right title and thumbnail your audience showed up and clicked and then boom retention fell off a cliff today I'm talking about how to achieve retention at all costs so this never happens again I've spent over 15 years creating videos 15 years filled with blood sweat and a whole lot of Tears okay mostly just tears all in the Relentless pursuit of perfecting my video attention at all costs and today I'm sharing everything I've ever learned

so you can skip the tears and get right to the results first my viewers are falling off right at the beginning of my video but I was able to fix that then they were dropping off before even making it to the end of my video and it felt like all my hard work was going to waste so I was able to tackle that problem too then I started noticing random drops and dips in the middle of my videos frustrated I went back to the lab and each time I returned to the drawing board I made

some pretty awesome discoveries and I was able to implement some impactful changes but I was missing something and then it hit me my videos weren't fully cooked it was like making a beautiful pie and never putting it in the oven I had all the necessary ingredients but I needed to get my videos across the Finish Line I was obsessing over it I couldn't sto thinking about it audiences came so far why did they leave right away well let's break it down and think about their journey and how fast it happens they search see read click

and then decide often within seconds and if that decision is to leave we might want to have a closer look at our introductions have you ever heard the old saying you never get a second chance at a first impression it's an important one if your audience shows up to the rave party and when they open the door all they see is old people playing bingo I think you know what comes next right they're gone we didn't keep the promise that was on the party invitation now picture this not only is it a rave party but

you greet them at the door with a smile introduce them to the DJ and show them where all the best food and drinks are think they might stick around now many video creators call this the hook around here we like to call it the Honey because we want to entice viewers in and we want them to stick around whatever you call it let's show them that they're in the right place and there's a reason to stick around and Watch What Happens Next another great way to keep that promise is for the first 5 Seconds of

your video to match the packaging you know that title and thumbnail that you took all of that time and energy to create you ever notice when you hover over a video from a great Creator in the suggested area that it autop plays a little bit and that that autoplay often represents the title and thumbnail literally and it draws you in keep that in mind when you're making your videos also make sure that you state the concept in the beginning to reinforce to your audience that they're in the right spot do you remember what I said

in the first 5 Seconds of this video all right so you feel like you wrote a great script film the killer video and all right before we dive into the middle section of retention strategies let's tackle the end retention falloff problem where viewers often drop off don't worry will Circle back and cover all of the middle retention drop off strategies because that's where all the magic happens often times we see a pretty dramatic drop off at the end of our videos this is relatively normal but if there's something that we can do to minimize this

drop off we should do it right especially if it better serves our audience here are a couple quick tips to bump up the retention at the end of your videos number one don't wind down many times towards the end of a video you can literally feel the Creator starting to wind down and close out the video they start speaking a little slower saying things like thanks so much for watching if you like this video please hit the like button subscribe to the channel we'll see you next blah blah blah just don't do it simply end

the video watch until the end of this video to see how I pull this off number two don't ask for things now that your video is over if you want people to comment below click on a link in the description subscribe like ask for it more in the middle of your video ask for it quickly and make the ask make sense like right now I'll ask you to hit that like button down there if you're enjoying this video since I just happen to be talking about the topic of when's a great time to ask for

things and this is the middle of my video if you have any surprises reveals giveaways or bonuses wrap up with those if I'm going to purposefully stay around to the end of a video it's going to be for a specific reason like receiving the last tip in a listicle or finding out how everything ends okay now for the middle of video retention we call it the meat of your script and this part I'm going to cover a lot and fast there are no perfect strategies here so I'm just going to share some of the things

that have worked for me over the years to keep people interested and sticking around during the middle of my videos many of the reasons that attention might fall off in the middle of your videos falls into one category or bucket and that is engagement so that's what I'm going to cover I've got a full tool box of strategies to keep your viewers hooked and now we're going to open it up and show you the tools we rely on tools that have saved our videos time and time again oh people aren't going to like this first

one first up is scripting I can feel the cringing in the eye rolls through the screen and I'm sure some people probably just clicked away but I'm telling you 90 plus% of the video content that you enjoy watching or consuming is scripted in some form have you noticed in this very video that I haven't said a single um had to stall search for a thought or sound like I'm making things up as I go yeah that's because this video was written with great thought and Care long before I ever hit record on the camera this

is why anytime anyone ever asks me how long a video should be my answer is always the same if it's good it doesn't matter all right next up is b-roll on the surface Boll is secondary footage that plays over top of the a roll or main footage in my case over top of me talking in my studio and it's generally used to support or drive home the main points being made in a video you can also use b-roll as kind of like a Band-Aid to cover up mistakes in your videos as well you can also

use b-roll as kind of like a Band-Aid to cover up mistakes takes in your videos as well there are many different websites and places that you can find stock footage to use in your videos and I'm generally a fan of this especially when you use stock footage creatively as opposed to conventionally in your videos but you can create your own b-roll as well here's an example would you rather see this when I'm talking about typing emphatically because I have a deadline coming up fast or would you rather see this when I say that I'm typing

emphatically because I have a deadline coming up fast don't be afraid to create your own b-roll to make your video is more engaging and let your audience get to know you a little bit better too that b-roll you just saw earlier I shot that with my smartphone speaking of visuals what if I told you that you can make your video look like it was shot with multiple cameras even if you're only using one next up use multiple angles I know you're probably sitting there thinking it's hard enough to film and edit with one camera Den

now I have to use multiple cameras to get multiple angles having more than one camera isn't the only way to make it seem like you have more than one angle for all of my I use one camera and a couple small tricks to get the same effect as using multiple cameras first up I shoot in 4k and distribute in 108p HD which means my original image is much larger than it needs to be that means I can zoom in a certain amount and not lose any quality on the screen so when I'm filming a normal

talking head shot like this I can punch in and make a point I can punch back out to my original shot I can slowly zoom in to draw attention through movement and maybe make my shot more dramatic especially when I have something super important to say I can zoom all the way in and highlight something really important that I want to tell you up close and then even slide over to the side and use a visual aid to drive home my points Punch Out punch in slow Zoom fast Zoom side slide and of course you

can use a jump cut to go back to your original angle next up pattern interrupt a pattern interrupt is pretty literal interrupting the pattern of what's been going on it's a powerful component of any story and it's a great way to re capture attention and keep things fresh and interesting like how I just changed my shirt to finish out this video here's just a couple of examples of great pattern interrupts first up surprises doing something unexpected is such a fun way to keep audiences entertained and engaged throughout your video it can be as simple as

introducing an element on screen like this surprise confetti or as complex as changing into a completely new shirt and matching up the clip seamlessly to achieve the effect next up is Motion Graphics often times we use very literal onscreen Graphics to drive home important points during our videos but remember you can use almost anything on screen to interrupt and entertain your audience as well last but certainly not least sound effects or sound design often times sound effects are a really simple yet effective way to interrupt the pattern of a normal boring video and add some

quality to your video production have you noticed all the sound effects I've been using during this section of my video I am sure you have figured out by now that if you want to create retention at all costs you're going to have to really put some serious effort into the production of your videos you got to pay attention to all the details I mean if you're going to spend all the time energy and often times money to make a great video Don't you want it to not only find the Right audience but for that audience

to stick around until the end I know I do you've got all the secrets to retention but there's one more thing how you present yourself on camera without mastering this all the retention strategies in the world won't help because if you suck on camera no one's going to want to stick around and watch anyway Dan what it's true