You may be asked to record and upload a video as part of your CCO course. This guide has been designed to give you all of the information you need to create a successful video presentation!
Before you record:
- Consider writing yourself a script: Reading from a script during a video presentation can help you speak confidently while hitting all of your key points. Before you get in front of the camera, do a few table reads of your script out loud. You’ll get a sense of how the words flow and you’ll be able to make any updates to the script if you need to.
- Think about your lighting and environment: Is your recording area quiet? Does it echo? Is there a window nearby? To create a video that looks effortlessly well-produced, try recording in a quiet room with available natural light. For the best quality, make sure your light source is in front of you, not behind you! Also, think about your background. Are you comfortable showing everything that will get captured on camera? If you can, try sitting a few feet away from the wall behind you in order to minimize shadows. For more information, take a look at the Setting Up Your Recording Environment page from Champlain College’s Center for Learning & Teaching (CLT).
- Position your camera: Try to position your camera at eye level. This helps to ensure that the recording of you looks the most “accurate” to real life. You may need to set your computer on a stack of books to do this – but trust us! It’s worth it. Also, don’t be afraid to sit farther back from your computer or camera while recording.
- Practice: This may go without saying, but the best way to get comfortable presenting on video is to practice. It’s good practice to record multiple versions of a single video – so don’t worry if you don’t get everything exactly right on the first try.
Want more tips and strategies for recording video? Visit the CLT’s How to Perform in Front of the Camera page!
Recording your Video
We recommend that you use Canvas Studio to record your videos for class. Canvas Studio is a tool embedded in Canvas that allows you to upload, create, edit, manage, share and discuss audio and video files.
Students, the tutorials below walk you through how to use Canvas Studio: