I see a lot of people asking, "Why didn’t my course succeed on Udemy?"   Honestly, though, this question often comes too late for us to help them because they have already filmed and published a course. They have spent countless hours and effort to build this course, and they are discouraged because it didn't get a bunch of students buying it up in the first week.     So, with that in mind, here are my four tips for increasing your chances of success onUdemy based on my experience. It is a long read, but worth your time and consideration before you start filming.   (Following all of these tips will NOT guarantee success, but they will certainly put you in a much higher chance of finding success here on Udemy. Remember, Udemy is a crowded place these days with 100k courses from 50k instructors...how will you stand out and succeed?)   Please please please, follow these tips in order. After all, if you don’t get Tip 1 right, the rest of this post doesn’t even matter...   (1) Proper category selection.    This is probably the number one mistake of new instructors on Udemy. People think, “Hey, I know Java and the top Java course makes like $90k a month. I want some of that sweet sweet Java $$, so let me throw together a 3 hour course on it, publish it, and I am going to be instantly rich!”   What they don’t realize is topics like Java, Web Development, iOS Developer and Python are highly competitive topics with 500-1000 courses already released and in the marketplace on each of them. This means you are likely to get buried in the noise (sheer volume of available courses) and no one will be able to find your course. This equates to low or no sales.   Instead, you really need to find a topic that isn’t overcrowded and make a name for yourself there. The topics I have had the most success with (translation: the one with courses making large amounts of money if we measure success by revenue) is categories with less than 10-20 courses in them. Once you find a category like this that you are knowledgeable and can teach, we can then move on to step 2...   (2) Make a better course than what is out there.    Once I find a category, I actually watch the top 1-5 courses for that category (at least their free preview videos). I analyze their course and ask myself, “Self, if I were to make a course on this particular topic, could I do it better than this instructor?”   My first breakout hit for a course was in a topic with only 10-15 courses in it. The #1 course made around $3000/month, and when I watched the previews for that course I was bored. The videography was ok, the audio was ok, but the presentation was outright BORING. I knew I could create a better course than that instructor, so I built one. Within 3 months, my course became #1 for that category and has been my top selling course ever since. (Oddly enough, the top course revenue went up significantly as a result to, moving to 2x the previous top revenue because now there was a better option for students to buy, which in turned increased conversations for this topic area across the Udemy platform.   Now, the hard part here is that there are some categories I found that “looked” like a good opportunity (high demand from students and low number of courses), but the leading course was already very good. For some of these topics, I opted to ignore these categories because I didn’t think I could take the top spots from the existing courses. Could I make a great course? Sure. Could I make one significantly better than the existing leader? Probably not.   When you look at these existing courses, you have to be truly realistic in your approach. I have considered making a Python course before. Python is one of the most searched terms on Udemy and may be the single best selling topic on the platform, BUT the top courses are already REALLY REALLY good. I mean, Jose's Python course is top notch. Could I make a really good course, too? Sure, but there are already so many good courses (and literally hundreds of Python courses on Udemy already), I would likely get buried in the noise, so I don't make Python courses.   Let's take for example, a topic like ITIL 4 Foundation (my #1 course). If you look at the Insights tool for you would think this is clearly a topic you should make a course for. Low number of courses and high demand. But, you would be wrong...   Why? Because the top course is my course. It has great visuals, an energetic and well liked instructor, and exceptional video quality. The course is a complete study solution, where I give the student all the videos needed to pass the exam, quizzes, 2 practice exams, and a downloadable study guide. I give students so much value for their money, it would be hard to displace me from this top spot, because there isn't much you can do to give more value than I already have.    Now, if you are a brand new course creator, it is going to be hard for you to steal students from me. In fact, 9 out of 10 people who search the word ITIL on Udemy end up buying one of my courses. When I have spoken with Udemy has told me, “You clearly dominate this topic.”   But even beyond me thinking my course is the best,  (and students agreeing), you have another challenge in entering this particular topic. This topic is regulated by Axelos, owners of the ITIL brand. If you publish a course there without their authorization and approval, they will have Udemy remove your course under copyright infringement. So again, not a topic you want to join unless you jump through the very time consuming and expensive process of becoming “authorized” by Axelos to teach ITIL. (The same holds true for the CEH certificatoin for those in the IT space who want to teach hacking.)   (3) Make courses people actually want/need.    This may sound stupid, but do people want/need your course? If you are making a course on Underwater Basket Weaving, will anyone want or need it? Is there a big enough audience to support it?   I personally make most of my courses on IT certifications because it gives me a natural audience who is searching for courses to pass these exams. People go to Udemy everyday to search for “CompTIA Project+” or “AWS Associate”.    When you are starting out, people will find your course because of your topic. This is why finding a topic with less than 20 courses is so crucial, because it virtually guarantees you will be one page 1 of the search for that term. Over time, as you become more known and liked by student, then they start searching for you and you can break my 10-20 courses in a topic recommendation.    For example, many of my student search “jason dion python” or “Jason dion Java” because they want to learn those topics AND they want to learn them from me. (They won't find one, because I don't have those courses, but they keep searching.)   Going back to our Java discussion at the beginning of this thread, I now have a big enough following that I could launch a Java course and do pretty well. I won’t knock out the top guy, but I could probably make a few thousand $ a month with one because enough students know me and would buy a course in that topic from me at this point. But if I was where I was 2-3 years ago, forget it. That same course (regardless of how good I made it) would earn me maybe $100/month if I was lucky, and I would be on page 5, 10, or 15 of the search results. It would be very hard for students to find it and discover me.    (4) Happy students.    The last strategy I use is that I put my students first. I give them a complete course, a full study solution, in their Udemy course. I answer their questions. I support them in our FB group, etc.    These students are my biggest marketing effort. Just go into any CompTIA Facebook group and ask what you should study if you are going to take the CompTIA Security+ exam. I bet within the first 5 comments you get at least 3 of them saying “Jason Dion’s course on Udemy”.    This is marketing for me. Now, I don't get 97% because they didn’t use one of my coupon links (I am not the one marketing in these groups), but these recommendations are all over Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, and LinkedIn, an they are all driving warm traffic back to my website and Udemy’s looking for my courses.    You have to be patience with this strategy though. It doesn’t happen overnight. These students took my course, passed their exam, and now they share the good news of "Jason's courses" with others because my courses worked for them. For that to happen, it takes 3-6 months from their first purchase, so you have to be patience. But, once the flow of recommendations starts to flow (you’ve primed the pump), it becomes a snowball effect.   Bottom Line:   I am not saying to go create courses in areas you are not an expert in. Please don't read it that way. I am not trying to make you a mercenary for hire. But, I do want you to consider all the things you COULD teach before deciding on a particular category. Your BEST thing, the thing you are the biggest expert in, may not be your best choice on Udemy because the market is too crowded in that topic.   For example, I have a friend who has been teaching Web Developement (HTML and JavaScript) for a few decades. He is an excellent teacher, and makes outstanding courses, but that is a tough topic to succeed in. Should he go teach a cooking class instead if that has high demand and less competition? Well, maybe...   This particular person is skilled in many things. He has been an online instructor probably longer than anyone else I know. He knows how to do some amazing things in Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, and Audition. He knows how to program computers. He knows how to run a profitable business. He knows management and human resources from running his companies. He knows educational design and learning management systems. You get the idea...this guy knows a lot of things. I just listed 6-10 different topics he could teach, teach well, and with expertise.    Most of us are like this. I look at my own background, and I have 20+ IT Certifications across cyber security, IT service management, and project management. I also can play guitar, run a business, manage people, do videography, and numerous other things that I could  teach.   So, when I started making courses on Udemy, I looked at various topics. My third course (which became my best seller) was on ITIL. It is something I had done at my job for over 10 years. It wasn't the thing I was most passionate or excited about, but it was a high demand area with a low number of courses. Yes, I have expertise in it, and I am certified in it, so I decided to make a course on it....and it paid off (big time).    That is my point here, because I could have created another Web Development course, or Java course, or Python courses, but I didn't. Even though I am knowledgeable about those things, I knew I would be fighting an uphill battle teaching them. For example, I used to own my own web development company. I have been a web programmer since the late 90s. I definitely could create a "Complete Guide to Web Development" course if I wanted to. The same with Java or Python, I program in both of those languages, but it doesn't mean they will provide me the best return on my time investment by creating courses on them. Some things may be good topics, but they may not be good FOR YOU.    Now, when I say things like this, I often get the objection, "But Jason, the only thing I know is Python", or Java, or Web Development. To that I say, "Well, nothing says you have to be on Udemy." Yes, I know this is a Udemy platform I am writing this on, but remember, no one is forcing you to use Udemy. Udemy is awesome, but if you are going to spend 50-200 hours building a course and get ZERO traction because you are hidden in a sea of other courses, then maybe you need to find your own path...or be prepared to market the heck out of the course yourself on Udemy.    Either is fine, but remember, if you are making the next Web Dev, Java, or Python course, you better have a plan for how you are going to be found and how you will stick out among 500+ other courses on that topic. If you think you will just click "Publish" and students will flock to your courses in these highly competitive topics, you are going to be sadly disappointed, I promise you.    I hope this helps some of you out there as you embark on your Udemy journey, Jason Dion   Author: @JasonDion 

Some version of this question is one of the most common by instructors so I thought I would write this, which is a summary of advice from many experienced instructors.   I have compiled a list of things you can or should do to market your course. None of these are short term or an instant path to riches. But, they are things that work if you are serious about building an online business on Udemy. Think strategically, not short term. It often takes a few years of effort to begin to make a significant return on your efforts.    First and most important BE an expert in your field of knowledge. Read, study, and demonstrate state of the art knowledge in your field. If you aren’t this… nothing else is likely to work. Be sure that your course landing page communicates your expertise… “Why should I listen to you?” And, be sure that your course landing page communicates the “benefits” of your course, not merely the “features” of your course. Benefits are how this course will personally benefit me. Customers buy benefits, not features!  Remember that most of your future students will be on Udemy searching for something. That “something” are key words that they will put into the search bar. Think carefully about the key words your future students may be searching for and be sure they are in your title and/or your subtitle. This is how students will find you. Your promo video is what catches students after they land on your page. Spend ten times the amount of time perfecting your promo video as you do on any other lecture. State the benefits of your course, your qualifications, and invite them to join you. These are more important than outlining all the topics (features) of your course. Also, remember that buying decisions are not simply “rational” decisions; they are emotional decisions, and that is about how you make them feel! Personality sells. Do I want to spend hours with this person? Do I like them? I know it isn't "rational" but we buy from people we like. Be your own “brand manager” and build your brand. Brands are built over time by building trust in your marketplace. Brand value is created by being trustworthy, creating consistent value for your customers, over time. The most successful instructors are focused on “marketing”, not just “selling.” Know the difference. Identify Facebook and LinkedIn groups related to your subject matter. Join them. Participate in discussion. Demonstrate expertise by publishing a blog/website with your biography, articles you have written, a page for your courses, and regular blog posts that are educational, value-adding posts. You can see mine at ManagementMeditations.com. It is only one possible model, but I am sure there are better ones. Google the names of some of the more successful instructors and you will find their personal websites. Then, share these blog posts or articles with all relevant groups on LinkedIn or FB. Your LinkedIn page should have articles by you, on your area of expertise. Prove that you are a “thought leader” in your field. Build your own email list be capturing visitors to your website. I use Sumo, but there are other WordPress plugins to do this… oh, use WordPress for your blog. You don’t have to be a web development expert to create a WordPress website. Your Udemy students are your own mail list in that you can send both educational and promo announcements. As you build the number of students there is a multiplying effect when you share what you write. Develop additional courses in your area of expertise. The more courses you have the easier it is to launch a new course by marketing to your current students. Obviously, do a great job of developing your on-camera presence and your courses. Engage in continuous improvement. Alexa Fischer’s Confidence on Camera course is excellent for improving your on-camera presentation skills. Develop a YouTube channel where you can upload the introductory lecture(s) to your courses and include a link, with a discount coupon, to your Udemy course. Develop a Facebook discussion page for your students and to publish articles (the same ones as on your blog page and LinkedIn page. Watch Scott Duffy’s course on Udemy SEO Marketing. It is a consensus of experienced instructors that paid Facebook ads do not work. Do not give away of free courses or thousands of free coupons. Those who take these coupons are not likely to go through the course and are likely to leave poor reviews. Give away a few free coupons to those on your personal FB page, those who know you, and may go through the course and may give a good review. This is something to do only at the first launch of a course. Do not even think about purchasing reviews!!! They are now spotted and removed by Udemy’s Trust and Safety group. Have patience… you are building a business and like starting any business, it is not a get rich quick thing. It takes patience and persistence. Udemy is not a path to quick riches and it is not “passive income.” The above is only my advice, but informed by the experience of many other successful instructors, Larry Miller   Author: @LawrenceMMiller      @MassimilianoAlf: This is a great list with a lot of value... every new instructor should take the time to study it, thanks for posting it!  

Lots of instructors wonder whether it's viable to spend money running ads for their courses.   So, I got my wallet out and spent $4,631.86 on Google Ads, so you don’t have to.   Before we get into the context of this post, let me give everyone some background on what I do for a living.   I run a dedicated SEO Agency in London, however, for our large clients that spend over a specific threshold with us, we offer a boutique Google Ads service as well.   At the time of writing, we manage Google Ads for 12 clients with a total monthly ad spend of $36,000/ m   I don’t say any of this to brag. This is simply to give this post more context and to reassure you that I’m not new to marketing by any means.    In other words, this was not $4.6k spent by someone who has no idea what they’re doing and hoping for the best.   Goal The ultimate goal was to try and generate as many sales as I can, whilst trying to stay as profitable as possible.   I opted to allocate the spend on one of my courses that was marked as the “Highest rated” in hope that if I could generate enough traffic, I would be able to:   Convert a lot of that traffic into sales (the badge should boost conversions)   Potentially generate enough sales to the point where my course became the “best seller” in that topic. In total, I spent $4,631.86 (£3,484.12) over the course of 3 months (no pun intended).   As I’m UK-based, I’ll use the GBP figure from here onwards.   The Campaign Details Below is a spreadsheet I used to track all the sales that came from the ad campaign.   I used the instructor promo referral link as the destination URL for all ads. This allowed me to quite easily track the number of sales, whilst also ensuring I kept 97% of the revenue.     High-Level Numbers In total, I generated 160 sales from 5,839 clicks (£3,484.12 total ad spend) That’s a Conversion Rate of 2.7%.   From these 160 sales, I generated £1,254.28 in revenue. This provides me with a 36% ROAS (return on ad spend), meaning for every £1 spent, I received 36p from Udemy).    Location Targeting I decided not to restrict the ads to one specific country as I was intrigued to see how the avg CPC varied per country.    Below is a breakdown of that data:     As you can see, the USA had the highest CPC (cost per click) with every click costing me an avg £3.06. Whereas the cheapest CPC was coming from showing my ads in India and Indonesia.   Despite India and Indonesia having the cheapest CPCs, those clicks resulted in some of the lowest conversion rates, and as a result, produced the lowest ROAS.   Keyword targeting I initially had one campaign targeting your standard course related keywords e.g “online yoga course”, however, we noticed a lot of people were using the word “Udemy” in their searches e.g “Udemy online yoga course”.   So, I set up another campaign and targeted the same keywords but added the word "Udemy" in front of them. This boosted my Google Ads quality score and also produced some significant improvements.   Overall the Click Through Rate (CTR) was 8.52%, whereas for keywords mentioning ‘Udemy’ it was 26.5%.   That's a 3x improvement.   I also saw a similar trend comparing the conversion rate for these two campaigns too: The overall Conversion Rate was 2.7%, whereas for keywords mentioning ‘Udemy’ it was 5.3%   That’s almost a 2x improvement.    Side note: Although I had a ROAS of just 2.7%, what these numbers do not take into consideration is the lifetime value of a student. So in reality, the ROAS is most likely a lot higher.   Problems I ran into 1 - The biggest problem I ran into by far is the lack of conversion data. Udemy does not provide an option for instructors to add conversion tracking data on their course landing pages, this makes it impossible for instructors to be able to determine what clicks and keywords have generated the sale. Meaning, I had to literally guess what keywords were performing the best and generating my sales, not an ideal strategy when you have your money on the line.   2 - Udemy is always changing the price of courses, this makes it notoriously tricky to be able to determine what amount to bid on a keyword. One day bidding £2/ click may work out profitable, however, the next, that same £2/ click could put me at a massive loss.   3 - Udemy does not provide data on what country a sale came from, they only provide you with the currency of the transaction. I targeted the whole of Europe and had lots of sales in the currency “EUR”.  As a result, I wasn’t able to determine what specific country within Europe those sales were coming from, again making a lot of the optimization guesswork.    4 - Lastly, the coupon codes are only valid for 31 days so I had to keep on going into the course every month to generate another coupon code, this also meant I had one less coupon to use for my monthly promo emails that I send out, not ideal.   Thinking about running ads? Here’s my advice:   - Don’t just focus on CPC when determining what country to target, export all the sales data and work out how well the traffic from that specific country is converting.    - As Udemy does not provide conversion tracking, it's pretty much impossible for you to figure out what keyword that you bidded on attributed to a sale. You can try to counter this by having unique coupons for each ad group you run, but again, it's far from ideal and is something you should be aware of from the start.   - Focus the majority of your ad spend on keywords and ads that mention Udemy. These keywords have an extremely high buyer intent as users have already expressed they’re looking for a course on Udemy.   Cool fact: The course I ran ads to actually ended up receiving the best seller badge, although I can't be certain it was due to this ad campaign as in reality the sales generated with quite low. So, there you have it.   Author: @Joshua George    View the original post here

Hello, I am working on my future first Udemy course and I am facing a problem when recording my voice simultaneously with my screen. I am using a Blue Yeti micro which is very performant at capturing sounds and a video recorder and editing software called Free Cam 8. Since I don't have any 100% isolated room within my studio flat, my recordings are biased with noise from fridge, cars outside etc... I am also facing another problem which is reverbations.  Could you advise me how to get rid of such noise using  some material and/or techniques or maybe denoising software ?   Thank you very much in advance,   Author: Mehdi (@SakjiMehdi359)   Setting up the right acoustic environment for your recording is for many the most taxing, time-consuming, yet important technical task in teaching on Udemy.   It is an investment worth making, but you need to be aware of this:   You need to: 1. Sound proof the room OR 2. Sound proof some part of your environment, like a walk in wardrobe OR 3. Build a shell around your desk to make a DIY mini room and sound proof that   AND OR   Turn off appliances   Before doing all that, you might like to try boxing the Yei into a cardboard box lined with foam. Search Google for 'Microphone Box'.   You can use Duvets or foam to sound proof the environment.   You tube is full of videos showing you various ways to do this.   Search for how to do DIY sound proof for podcasters or something similar.   Once you have done it once you won't have to do it again.   @SakjiMehdi359 , I use a Blue Yeti and had similar problems with computer sound being picked up (I foolishly bought an all-in-one that puts the computer fan about a foot behind my mic.  Padding my environment with foam squares helped a little but I was able to greatly reduce unwanted sounds using a Kaotica Eyeball:   The mic stuffs into a foam ball with a cutout to speak into with a blue pop filter over it.  The thing isn't cheap ($199) but it cuts sound nicely without a lot of effort.  I was barely able to stuff my Blue Yeti into the thing.  I noticed they now offer a Fatboy option for larger mics.   $0.02,   ---Brian   @Vigasan: Hey Sakji,   There's really only two ways around that problem.   1) Change the environment - See if you can book a private conference room, other instructors have prepped in advance so they can book just 1-2 days and get their recordings done and done the editing at home.  An alternative is to see if you can use a friends house, someone who lives outside of the city, to record. You can offer to dog sit, or house sit when they go on vacation for example. 2) Change your set up - This won't help with all problems of course but the best thing to change out is the microphone. The Blue Yeti is a decent entry mic but is known to pick up a ton of background noise as well. Depending on your budget, I would look into good dynamic mics to pick up. There are mics out there that will pick up only objects super close to the microphone itself so definitely do some research and listen to sample audio before deciding.   You can use software like Audacity to help remove noise but it works best when the same noise is present throughout like a hum or fan sounds for example. It's not as great for random sounds. Always try to get the best sound quality directly from the mic though.   @BrunoG: Hi, I would suggest using a dynamic microphone such as a Sennheiser E835 as it does not pickup far sounds as condenser mics do. You have to speak close to the microphone as it's effective range is about  2 to 15cm.   @Umar: nVidia recently released NVIDIA RTX VOICE. It removes noise in realtime in many applications. I started using it for my recordings and the results are amazing. The only catch is that you need to have nVidia GPU on your PC (non-RTX gpus also work through a tweak). Here is the link to setup : https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/guides/nvidia-rtx-voice-setup-guide/       @PranavP: Have been in similar situation where i tried few things like using a very closed room or using zoom inbuilt cancellation,but more efficient then it found recently a nice AI based tool named Krisp ,which helps cancel all types of background noise with its advanced algorithms. Give it a try,would be surely helpful.   

Hi guys, I thought it could be useful to publish a list of shortcuts by keyboard for moving inside the Camtasia different panels, so here it is:   Media Bin is the panel where all files used in your project are showed... to view that you'll use the "B" key in your keyboard Media Bin = Keyboard Key: B Library panel has all the intros and music... the key to go directly there is the "R" Library = Key: R   Annotations is the panel with all the objects you can use to make annotations and pointers... the key is "N" Annotations = key: N   Transitions is the panel with all the transitions you can use in your videos... the key is "T" Transitions = key: T   Behaviors is the panel with all the movements with intros and outros you can give to things in your video... the key is "O" Behaviours = key: O   Animations is the panel where you can add an animation to your video like scale up or scale down... the key is "A" Animations = key: A   Cursor Effects is the panel with the effect to add to your cursor... the key is "U" Cursor Effects = key: U   Voice Narration is the panel where you can add a voice over your video... the key is "V" Voice Narration = Key: V   Audio Effects is the panel where you can add effects to your audio... the key is "D" Audio Effects = Key: D   Visual Effects is the panel where you can add effects to your video (like chroma key)... the key is "X" Visual Effects = Key: X   Interactivity Panel is where you can add quizzes to your video... the key is "I" Interactivity = Key: I   Gesture Effects is where you can add effects to your mouse gestures... the key is "G" Gesture Effects = Key: G   As usually if you want to add something to this list or if you want to modify something or simply correct some errors that I could have done (English is not my primary language), you're welcome to do it, just leave a message and I will correct it. Hope this can help someone to work better and faster! Ciao Massimiliano (@MassimilianoAlf) 

Hi All,   By the time I started my Udemy journey I had already been making video content for many years and was using video editing software which was affordable but also had plenty of functions (VideoStudio X6). When I started on Udemy I realised I needed something different. My sound quality from my camcorder wasn’t suitable, the camcorder only took proprietary microphones which required batteries for the lapel mic (and there wasn’t a compatible mic to place on the camcorder). The lapel mic batteries only lasted about 4 hours and I had times when the mic would cut out (it was bluetooth) or where the batteries would run out and I wouldn’t have noticed and would end up with a silent, unusable video.   So I realised I was going to have to capture the audio separately (I was using my Zoom H2 and then more recently my Zoom H2n. I now also have the Zoom H1 and Zoom H4n Pro, all of which serve different purposes) to the video and then synch it in video-editing software. I initially tried to do this manually by zooming in on a clap in the waveform of the video and audio and lining them up, but frequently they would be slightly out of synch and it was time-consuming if I have recorded 100 videos for an eCourse and I now have to synch 100 videos of audio, and then there was the added problem that when cropping the video I had to make sure I cropped the audio at the same time and didn’t accidentally just crop the video, or I would quickly have a video way out of synch, so I was saving each video as an unedited video with the external audio as a track, and then editing this video, but that took a long time to do.   So, for me, the biggest decision over choosing new video-editing software for making my Udemy courses was whether it could auto-synch the audio and video file together and have a single file created quickly which I could work with. I found that the most recent version of the software I was already using happened to have this feature included, so I upgraded to that software (I now use VideoStudio X9 Pro). It significantly sped up my production time.   I have recently found out that there are video-editing software programmes available which allow you to bulk process videos. Currently I have to edit a video, then wait ages while it processes before I can edit the next video. What would be ideal is to do all the editing during the day and bulk process all the videos over night, so I may be finding software which can do this and upgrading my software again as this is one of the most time-consuming parts of my editing stage.   How did you pick your video editing software? What is important to you in the video editing software you choose?   All the best Dan   @DeniseFletcher: Hi @Hypnodan, I'm at the low tech end of editing so I just use Camtasia, Audacity, my iRig mic my iphone and powerpoint. I try to do as little editing as I can 😉    @GregReverdiau: Hi Dan, Several factors I consider: - ease of use: this really depends on how our brain works. There’s no right or wrong answer. Try the software and see what works.  - compatibility with your operating system: some software works better with windows and some better with Mac.  - price: free vs one time fee vs subscription model.  - functionalities: Does it do all you need to do   Based on all those, I am a Mac user and I tried both Premiere and Final Cut and went with Final Cut. It reportedly works faster on Mac than Premiere because it was designed for the hardware, it’s a one time fee vs a subscription and it was easier for me to use. It has functionalities like multi cam which I love for my editing. With that said, Premiere is an industry standard and an amazing software. Btw, both do batch exporting so you can export everything at the end of your editing day and let the computer do the work while you sleep!    @GrahamNicholls: I'm not what I would call technically advanced with editing software to be honest @Hypnodan    I edit everything on my Ipad and started out just using iMovie but after a few courses I wanted something with more functionality but was still easy to use. I came across LumaFusion which claimed to be the cloest thing on a tablet to that of PC software. After trying it out I found it very easy to use and it processes videos really quickly so I went with it and haven't looked back since. Author: @Hypnodan 

Many of us including myself create English courses even though English is not our first language.   Even though I lived in Canada for 10 years and no one complained about my accent, I was surprised to see the negative feedback from my udemy students that my accent is really bad. Turns out that I had a hard accent and Canada is really such a nice country.   To overcome the bad reviews regarding my accent, I had to take few actions:   1- Add subtitles/captions to my courses ... this really helped a big deal.           --- If you have a script that you read while recording you courses, creating captions would be easy...use youtube or a tool called "Subtitle Edit" to create the subtitles for you.           -- if you don't have a script, then take a look at what udemy has created for you already under the "Captions" tab of your course .... please please, review what has been created there and don't leave it as is ... for some reason, the auto generated captions are usually +18 :D, so your students won't like it as is. 2- In my welcome message of my courses, I ask my students to make sure they watch the Preview videos for my course...I even stated very clearly that I have an accent and I want to make sure they can get along with my accent 3- I took a udemy course to enhance my accent ... well, it's my career and I have to develop myself ... and to my surprise, I noticed my flaws and gradually they are getting better. 4- There's a difference between an accent and bad English. Accents are acceptable, bad English grammar is not. Make sure you English is good ... use spell checker, grammar checker whatever it take to make sure your English is good.   Well, that was my action plan to enhance my courses, If you have any other tips, please share them with the rest of us.   Thanks   Author: @Maged-Koshty      @GregReverdiau: Non-native English speaker here too. I think Point 4 in your list should be point 1. Bad English vs strong accent are two different things. Like you said, bad English is not acceptable!  Getting rid of an accent is difficult but it is possible. Take online courses to improve your accent, record yourself and listen to what you say and how it should be said then say it again correctly out loud several times. If you have a friend or significant other that is around you a lot, ask them to correct you. It sucks at first but if they do it with good intentions, you will learn quickly. After 16 years in the US, I still find myself saying words out loud several times when they don't "sound" right.    @Robin_Slee: Great Points! One thing that I have noticed over the last few months is that several new instructors are very shy when it comes to presenting on camera. They feel very concious about their voice and tend to get very quiet. This is something that I struggled with when I created my first course. To overcome this, I set aside about ten minutes a day for two months. I simply opened audacity and practiced talking into the computer. I tried different speaking voices (soft, firm, loud etc) I also tried to clarify certain words that I found difficult. I even tried rehearsing lyrics! Even with a strong accent, a little practise really helps. You can rehearse as often as you want, you only have to record it correctly once! 🙂   Good luck and keep us posted 😉   @PadmaRallap477: This is Padma Rallapalli, from Visakhapatnam. What you said is absolutely correct, sir.I was a lecturer in English in Reputed schools and colleges. But now stopped working.  I would like to work from home. Udemy gave me a chance to fulfil my desire. But the problem is my uploaded videos are not reaching them to get feedback. My approach is making videos with message giving stories and teaching English. I place images and give my background voice. If I put camera in front and give lecture  I am conscious of it. Please watch my  Videos and give your feedback. I'm YouTuber. Please check my videos with the name Padma Rallapalli. Thank you     @DeniseFletcher: These are fantastic tips @Maged-Koshty. I love the approach you've taken in that you've taken positive action to get round the accent. I personally like an accent as long as I understand what the person is saying. But yes if the the written English is poor then I find that more annoying. Having said that I had a complaint because I provided handouts in English (UK) and not English (US) spelling. Sometimes you just can't please everyone. 

I've gotten this comment many times myself, so you may be wondering, what should I do?   First, you have to decide if the delivery was really a problem or if it is just this student. I have had students tell me that I talk too fast, and others say I talk too slow. Obviously, I can’t make both of these groups of students happy, so I decided to simply talk at the speed that is comfortable for me. In the case of delivery speed, it is an easy fix since the video player allows students to playback the video at 0.75x or 1.5x, too. I also mention this in my introduction video, and the complaints about delivery speed have decreased. If you get complaints about your dialect or accent, you do have to remember that you are serving an international audience. I am an American and I had a British student complain because my slides used the word “color” instead of “colour”. Again, you can’t please everyone, so pick a format and go with it. I’ve also had complaints that my “accent” is hard to understand because I speak “American-ese”. If you have a thick accent, it can be beneficial to take some vocal courses that help you minimize your accent, since this will make you easier to understand regardless of where your student is in the world. Often, international students seek out “American” or “British” accents because they are more common and easy to understand in the global marketplace. If you get complaints that your delivery is “monotone” or “boring”, you should take that criticism and work to improve your delivery. Students want to be engaged and entertained. Try to use different peaks and valleys to your voice and tell stories as you teach. This will go a long way in creating engaging delivery.   Hopefully this helps a bit for some of you who are new to the platform and building your first courses. Remember, you can't please everyone, but do take the time to stop and think if they have a valid point! Jason   @Hypnodan: I occasionally get told I talk too slow, but for others that is what they say they like about my presentation. A couple of years ago I decided to make a YouTube video where I tried to talk as fast as I see other YouTubers talk. It was only a five minute video and it felt like it was going to kill me trying to keep up that speed for five minutes. I have never done that again and wouldn't do it for a course, but it was interesting that no-one seemed to notice I was talking fast (for me) and that I was struggling throughout the video.   I saw a post somewhere in this community a few weeks ago mentioning about mentioning that you can adjust video speed. I have obviously always known this, but for some reason never thought of it as a solution to suggest but think it is a great idea and will likely do this.   All the best Dan Author: @JasonDion 

I have been trying to take my green screen game to the next level for a while and last night I found the ultimate guide so I thought I would share it. If you are having issues getting good effects with your green screen, take a look at this video (it is not mine). If you think your green screen is really good, I'm sure there's a tip for you in here too! This is the best video I have seen on this subject and I have looked at a lot of them! https://youtu.be/OH8TWTt51W8   Here are some takeaways:  Most green screen issues are because of lighting, namely "hot spots" (too much light in one location. Think about green screen lighting separately from the subject (you) lighting. Light up your green screen with bank lights (tall vertical lights) and not spotlights. Here's a video from the same author showing you how to make bank lights for cheap. I will be making those in the next few days and report: https://youtu.be/BpOakYp-gJ4 Use an app (iPad, $10) to determine if your screen is evenly lit. Naked eye doesn't cut it.  Stay away from the screen so you don't cast a shadow (6-9 feet).  Smooth out your green screen (by stretching it or steaming it) Use a backlight (hair light) to pull your subject from the screen (so it doesn't look "flat").  Light your subject a little brighter than your screen (see video for details).  Don't wear green clothes or clothes with green in it.  Blur your background (low f/stop on your camera if you can control that, around f/5.6).  Remove motion blur (slightly higher shutter speed, see video for details).  Frame your shot correctly so the green screen covers all your movements.  Be careful if you have a monitor in front of you connected to your camera as it will reflect green light on you. The trick is to change your saturation to zero to make the screen black and white (love this tip!).  Get good lighting for your subject (after lighting your green screen).  Later this week I will be shuffling my studio to apply some of those tips and will keep you posted on the results. I hope this helps someone! Share your green screen tips if you have any that are not on the list.      @LawrenceMMiller: Greg,   A couple suggestions on this. I worked a lot on this issue and watched a number of good YouTube videos (just search "green screen").    It is usually recommend that you stand eight to ten feet in front of your green screen, rather than two or three feet in order to reduce the chance of shadows.    About the f.stop on your lens: I would not try to blur the background, that background being the green screen. If you are using a green screen then you can insert a photo as background, that is blured. I recommend that your f.stop be at least 5.6 otherwise your depth of field may cause you to be out of focus with just leaning forward or back. If you are down to around f.2.0 your nose and your ear will be out of focus if one is in focus. The more depth of field (higher f.stop) the less chance of being out of focus. Of course, the more light you have, the higher you can move the f.stop.     *** I wanted to give an update on this topic because it took me a long time to get what I think is the proper setup. I'm sharing this in hope that someone else can find it useful and not have to experiment as I did. *** I'll start with what I did for my very first Udemy course. I went to Joan's fabric to get the greenest and most neon looking big piece of fabric I could find. Then I hung it behind my desk. Then I put a lot of lights on my desk lighting up my face and lighting up my green screen (both from the same location... mistake). The lights were those Home Depot $8 metallic light bulb holders that you can clamp on things. Cheap! I got some 60W and 100W light bulbs, not sure what color temperature they were but here's what I got: something that was hard to white balance and to key! I look at this and I cringe now, the green screen is yellow, has tons of shadows, wrinkles. My face has weird nose shadows, a bad hue, etc... I made it work though, this is the course that still brings me the most money each month, is best seller and best rated (at 4.6). I am in the process of reshooting this course as explained in this thread. Students never complained about the quality of the course production, not once!    Then I thought I'd study green screens a little... I started making money on Udemy and taking this more seriously. I had a big course to record (35 hours of content) so I took over our guest bedroom, stretched a green screen on the wall, put the camera on a tripod, put some lights on me, some lights on the green screen, it was looking a little better. Here's a picture of the mess. I had to shoot in a corner because the distance was too short from the camera to me (the camera is hidden in the very right corner, behind a home made teleprompter)...  The screen was the same as earlier, the lights were the same too. I was able to better light my face and remove some shadows and I started using a grey card for white balance. I also started using a better camera (Panasonic GH5 vs DJI Osmo). Here's what I got out of it.  The screen is unevenly lit, which results in difficulties with keying but with the limited space, that's really all I could do. The lights are in the frame so they had to be cropped out and masked, which works since I don't do large arm movements. This was a big improvement from before, easier to white balance since I used a card and a custom white balance on my camera but I knew the green screen lighting could improve.    So I did more research, found the cool tutorials I shared above and decided to start with my studio (guest bedroom) from scratch. I got a new green screen. The main difference is that it's much larger than the old one. It's also much darker green and less neon. That helps with keying. I got some studio lights (came with the green screen). I also built 2 box lights out of fluorescent lights. Those are for lighting my screen. I bought T8 lights that are 5000K in color temperature for the green screen. The problem is that the studio lights came with 2500K lights. So while my green screen was lit correctly, the difference in temperature created issues (notice how teal the green is). When I did my white balance correctly using the card near my face (based on 2500K lights), some of the 5000K lights from the background reflected on my shoulders and head, creating a purple hue. This is what the result looked like (those are noise canceling headphones on my head):    I couldn't really white balance my face properly without having weird purple colors on my shoulders. So I went back to home depot and bought 9 LED lights that were 5000K (much cheaper than buying 8 T8 fluorescent lights in 2500K). The idea was to have the same exact light temperature everywhere. This really solved the issue! I set up my white balance at 5000K in the camera and here are the results:  Now my entire body is lit correctly with the same color temperature. No more purple shoulders. I also used a 3-point lighting setup with a key light (brightest part of my face, left side), a fill light (softer than key, create a light shadow on my right side) and a back light (light shine on my hair and shoulders, giving depth), which looks more inviting. For reference:  My key light is 4x 60W LED bulbs, with a white diffuser in front of it, located about 45 degrees from my face, a little higher than eye level My fill light is 1x 60W LED bulb, with a white diffuser in front of it, located about 45 degrees from my face, a little higher than eye level My hair light is 1x60W LED bulb with a diffuser, on top and slightly behind my head, with a dimmer on it (dimmed about 50%) My green screen is lit with 2 homemade box lights, each has 4x T8 fluorescent lights, with a little reflector (high tech piece of cardboard) so their light doesn't hit me. I also have another light at the bottom to remote hot spots. I used the Green Screener iPad app ($9.99 on iOS) to make sure I didn't have any hot/dark spots on my screen, which are mostly invisible to the naked eye. The result is an amazing keying that doesn't need any tweaking.  My camera is set at ISO 400 (native ISO for the GH5), 1/60 shutter (shooting in 4K/30fps), f/5.6 aperture, with a custom white balance of 5000K.  Here's a quick video walk around of my setup so you can see it in action (yes this is a guest bedroom so the bed is sideways on its side). Note that I am missing a rug in there to absorb some of the echoes. I hope this helps someone save some time if they need help with green screening!    And finally, this is me right before I said: "Look, I'm Harry Potter. "   Author: @GregReverdiau 

Hi everybody,   I'm wondering how I could go about recording my screen (a regular screencast) and then with a tablet or something how I could draw on the screen with a stylus? And then when I'm done I could clear my doodles and return back to regular screencasting again. I actually have no idea what that's called, but if someone could help guide me in the right direct, that'd be really helpful!    I'm using a MacBook Pro, if that makes any difference.   Thank you!    Hi,   I'm not sure for Mac, but for my courses I have used Microsoft OneNote to draw on a touch-screen laptop.   This is how I do it. I connect a graphics tablet to my computer using usb that comes with the tablet. The I run my powerpoint slide. I may have a blank slide with my preferred colour (black). When runing the PowerPoint slide, go to the "pen" icon next to the navigation at the bottom left corner. Click it and the pen appears as a dot. You may choose the colour of the pen at this point. Keeping my eye on the screen and guided by the dot on the screen, I can write on the scrren as I would do on papre using a pen. When I'm done writing, I simply navigate to the next slide. But when you want to exit the slide show, you will be promted to save this inking of the slide. You may discard it but it will of course appear in your screen capture. If you're using camtasia, you can hold "ctrl + shift+ D". A pen appears and you can write on the screen. You do not need to use PowerPoint. Hope this helps.   @KalobTaulien  I use Camtasia 2018 (Windows/MacOS) to record my screen while drawing on a tablet attached to my computer.  I can then edit my recordings in the Cmatasia 2018 video editor in post-production to remove transitions from PowerPoint slides and other unwanted errors.  I draw using the application Clip Studio Paint. Hope this helps, ---Brian   I record on a Windows system and use an free application called ZOOMIT. I did a quick search on MAC alternatives and this one came up, https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/draw-on-my-screen-ez/id1082177879?mt=12   I haven't used it but looks similar to ZOOMIT on Windows, plua it's free. Worth a try.   In my opinion, if you want accuracy when drawing, you need a dedicated drawing tablet.   I don't use it for my courses, but for my photography projects I use an XP-Pen Deco 01 tablet, which connects to my computer via USB.  I use it on Windows but it works on Mac as well.   There are more expensive ones, but this is enough for me at the moment. It has a big enough drawing surface, detects pressure, works very well and it is not too expensive ($60.00).   I use the iPad Pro with Notability. It's extremely powerful and the handwriting optimization makes it great.    Now, the trick it to record it easily! I fire up Quicktime and use iPad as a camera in there. That brings in the screen of the iPad so now, it's just a window that I can use. Doodle away! Shift to whatever other window you want to show/code in/animate.    Hope that helps.    Any tablet will do the job, buy the Wii Styles Pen it works with all devices, record right to the tablet using any screen recorder and you won't face any problem  Use OneNote   You could use a graphic tablet which comes with a stylus and not as expensive as iPad.   Basic model: https://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Graphic-Drawing-Tablet-Beginners/dp/B07S1RR3FR   Pro model: https://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Digital-Graphic-Drawing-PTH460K0A/dp/B07PPQH867/   Author:  @KalobTaulien 

Recording your desktop can be achieved using any number of software programs designed to do just that. These programs are called 'screen capture software'. Many applications will capture not only what is onyour screen but also what is seen through your webcam and heard through your microphone.   You may have heard of Camtasia? Whilst this is a screen capture tool it is also a video editor and boasts a number of features targeted at the online education sector. Its down side is that it is not cheap.   You may also have heard of ScreenCast-O-Matic. This is also a screen recording software. And it does come with a very rudimentary editor (paid version). I like its simplicity and is ideal for quick short videos and screencasts.   You might even have heard of OBS (Open Broadcast Software)? Primarily aimed at gamers to stream gaming sessions. It can also save those streams locally as video files. This makes it a very good application for creating screencasts. Oh, and did I mention its free? 😉   So, whichever application you are using, remember that you may also need a seperate video editor? You might need a certain feature? Or, you might be starting on a budget? What ever your situation - there is something available for you to get started right now.   I hope you find this useful? If you do, give it a like and let others find this post. Warm regards, Robin.   @Anonymous: I use ScreenFlow and find it really good for what I do. First I start with iShowUHD but for some reason, I left it behind. Still, have it but just collecting dust. ScreenFlow is a good solution for people who just starting and need all in one solution. The software offer editing, transactions, effects, sound adjustments, just to name a few.    Most of the time I edit everything in Adobe Premiere Pro but as I mention if you starting and you don't have a subscription for Adobe then ScreenFlow is good as a one-off buy.   Of course, all of the above mentioned are good solutions but I never try them and can't say much about them.   @AmrinGrewal: Camtasia is great for price!   @Chris_Haroun: I use Wirecast as I stream a lot online...and I am not smart enough to understand OBS - no joke : )    Prior to this, I used the following 2 products:   On my Mac: Quicktime   On my Windows PC: PowerPoint (on the Windows version you can do an "Insert Screen Record")   @ZbigniewMisiak: I use Loom (https://www.loom.com/)   Best regards,   Zbigniew   @MarcoAdda75: @Robin_Slee for Mac users, I work with Screenflow, free and easy to use, it's a great one.    @JeffSharman592: I would like to add my experiences in course creation right from the beginning. My first course was trial and error. I made some talking heads video using a Canon camera on a tripod. The sound quality was terrible. I then did the same thing using a Samsung Smart phone on a tripod. Much better than the camera. I use a Dell laptop with built-in webcam and Mic. Originally on quite an old laptop. It was OK but the sound quality needed improvement. I purchased a separate Mic which improved it a lot.  It is always necessary to have some good audio and video editing software. There are some free ones around, but I opted for NCH Videopad, Wavepad and Debut Video Capture. All excellent and not that expensive. Very user friendly and effective.  I now have a new Dell laptop and I still use the built in Mic and Webcam. Excellent quality and after editing, noise is virtually non-existent. I don't use a separate Mic anymore or Webcam for my recordings. I have made a recording booth to cut down echo and outside ambient noise. Cheap and easy. A plastic box covered in a thick multi-layered blanket. Works beautifully.  It is nice to know that you don't have to spend a fortune to obtain good results.   I use zoom for my Virtual Classroom learning. It does record during the class so it should work.   Author: @Robin_Slee 

I am now contemplating upgrading my current set up of webcam and mid range mic.   I would like to spend some money on investing in a camera, mic and some lighting with a backdrop.   What is your current set up it terms of camera and mic, plus what lighting fo you use?   Really intersted to know before I take the capital expenditure plunge.   Julian   @GrahamNicholls: Hey @JulianJenki396  Here's the basics of what I use.   I use an Ipad as a camera that has a Rode Lapel mic plugged into it via the 3.5mm port which provides HD quality video and great sound (the Rode mic is fantastic).   As far a lighting goes I've got 4 Pro Softbox lights to light the area I record in.   @LawrenceMMiller: You will find a huge range of responses in terms of the sophistication and expense of the equpment that instructors are using. I suspect that I am somewhere in the middle. Here are two photos of my office/studio. One is from behind the camera, the other looking toward the camera from where I stand.  Obviously, I use a green screen and insert a background photo in editing. Here is my gear breakdown. I have been using a Fuji XH1 camera with a variety of lenses, usually the 16-55/f2.8 set to f5.6 and a custome K scale level (3300) to match the lights, auto focus off and auto white balance off. I recently acquired the new Nikon Z7 and I may use that for my next course. I use a laptop for a teleprompter, but that is just to give me an outline or a graphic, which I use a lot of, to remind me of my key talking points.  I use a Sony URX-PO3 wireless receiver and transmitter. This is a relatively expensive unit ($500) but I went through several other cheaper units and they kept failing for one reason or another. This one is excellent.  Lighting is probably the most critical element of your set up. I have four  Generay Spectra 500 bi-color lights. These allow you to adjust the color temperature of the light. Two are in front of me and two only illuminate the green screen. I have two smaller lights that are above and behind my head aimed at the back of my head, this eliminates the glow you can get around your head. These aren't shown in the photos.  Oh, notice my mascot, Bella on the couch. Very imporant. This is her position while I am filming so she isn't looking out the window downstairs and barking at people or dogs walking by. Hate that!   @KylePew: I started out with a logitech webcam and a couple of small lights. After a couple of courses I upgraded to using a Sony A6000 with a Sony ECM-GZ1M mic in the cameras Multi-Interface Shoe. I also purchased a simple retractable green screen, from Elgato. When I made the upgrade I also changed from using Camatasia to OBS. OBS is super easy to use with the green screen adjustments. I recently upgraded to a Sony A6400. This camera gives me more options as far as microphones are concerned as the A6000 didn't have a Mic input other then the Multi-Interface slot at the top of the camera. My lighting has also changed over time, I now have a couple of LED panel lights to light me and the green screen.   @Hypnodan: Hi @JulianJenki396  For camera, I use a Sony AX53 camcorder or Sony A6400 camera. On either I use Rode Mics. Either the Rode Lavalier microphone (about £40) or the Rode VideoMicro (about £40). Obviously the cameras I mention here are quite expensive, but the microphones are reasonably priced. For lights, I use the 'Neewer 3 Packs Dimmable Bi-color 480 LED Video Light and Stand Lighting Kit - LED Panel (3200-5600K) with U Bracket Light Stand for YouTube Studio Photography Video Shooting' (about £150 for 3 lights plus stands. You can buy them cheaper individually if you don't need 3) I used to use softbox lights which were much cheaper (about £40 for two plus stands), but they take up a lot of room. I rarely use green screen, but do have a green screen setup I can use if I want. It was quite cheap (about £35) to purchase the set which included green screen plus white, black and red and the frame, which at it's largest is  2m x 3m. I also have a teleprompter. I don't use it often. It was about £80 and you put your tablet device lying down on it and read off (using any free 'teleprompter' or 'autocue' app) the slanted perspex which is in front of your camcorder. It fits on the tripod and you put your camera on the telepromper.   All the best Dan   @AliciaPaz: I've made some upgrades recently, not sure your area but I also initially used Omni which is an app where you can borrow stuff and tried a DSLR first.  I made an Amazon list of what I use/have used- not an affiliate link below, a wide range of items and all pretty cheap.  I started with an iPhone 7, $9.99 lapel mic and a $9.99 app (ProMovie.)   Current set up is a lighting kit; 2 on tripods and umbrellas and one softbox on a tripod, blue ICE mic which is bungee corded to another tripod with a pop filter.  I use a Canon DSLR as well which has made a huge difference in quality.     My basic kit for social media and promo is that I use my iPhone and a ring light that attaches to it.   I don't use a green screen and my videos are all talking head (it's less ego and more that I am a therapist!) and I have this as my background in all videos.  I also use Mac products so I also have 23029508 adapters due to the C-port.      I should add I also have a room I use as a studio with no windows (3/4 basement) and white walls so lighting is easy as is sound.  And to prevent echo I have a mattress against a wall- it might also be my never used guest bedroom so it also has a dresser and nightstand to the sides.   If I had to choose what to buy looking to upgrade presuming someone's set up is alright, to begin with; mic > lights > camera    https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1X1J354MTOLQI?ref_=wl_share   @GregReverdiau: I just finished construction of my home office/studio. This is my setup.    Logitech 920 Pro or iPad available light or 3 photo LED lights Greenscreen on a frame and stand Auna USB MIC 900B with mike stand and pop filter (might be a different brand in the US) which is a large-diaphragm condenser microphone. The mike is very important because I do screencasts. This mike is simply overwhelming and really makes the difference. This has improved my sound quality dramatically. I used to have a Rode smartLav+ before, but in comparison, the Rode is like phone quality.   Bottom line: mike is king, the rest is nice to have.   @RobinHills: Some of these bits of kit are very impressive.  They may be very off putting to new, inexperienced instructors.   PLEASE do not think that you have to have all this gear to be successful on Udemy.  I started out with a Logitech c690 webcam giving me HD video and a Blue Yeti microphone giving high quality sound.  Together both cost about £150 (~$150 equivalent).  They got me started and established with my courses.    Over the months I have invested my Udemy income in a DSLR camera (Nikon d5600), a Rode Video Pro microphone, a white screen, a lighting kit and a teleprompter.     Having got got my professional kit together, I still haven’t mastered the art of producing great videos that I am 100% happy with!   Author: @JulianJenki396 

So ok you’ve had this great idea to create an online course. You were full of enthusiasm but today you’ve hit a brick wall. You just can’t seem to get going. You are procrastinating. It’s all milling around in your head but nothing is happening.   Don’t worry we’ve all had those moments. I am a super procrastinator so I can go off track really easily especially if I’m finding something challenging to do, like course creation.   So how can you unblock yourself? Here are some tips to try out…all you need to do is grab your notebook and a pen. Just pick 2 or 3 things from the list below and do each one for just 20 minutes. Just doing something different for a short time can trigger your brain into focus and bam you’re back on the production train again.   1. Get your outline onto the Udemy dashboard if you haven't already - so you can physically see the course building bit by bit. 2. Explore your course objectives / course landing page and see if you can improve them – again write them into your course and keep tweaking. 3. Start to fill in the lecture descriptions - and remember you can tweak as you go along. 4. Watch a variety of preview videos from courses in the same topic area as yours to understand their offering and work out how yours will be different. 5. Get a blank sheet of paper and brainstorm your own Bio – explore other instructors Bios for ideas 6. Start to write your Bio into Udemy - and remember you can tweak this at any point. 7. Research and explore additional documents /material you can add to your course. 8. Create your additional documents. 9. Spend time here in the forum Studio U observing and getting involved. 10. Brainstorm course titles and subtitles. 11. Have a play and experiment with your test video and filming in general. 12. Take the plunge and submit your test video - you'll get great feedback. 13. Get creative and start to explore your course image(s). 14. Get brave and hold yourself to account by posting about your course and course launch date on social media. 15. Try not to be a perfectionist. Tell yourself your course is a "work in progress" and you can continually improve it after it is live. 16. Remind yourself that doing something is better than nothing. 17. Have a complete break, grab a coffee or go for a walk.   Have you got any other tips to add to the list?    @AliciaPaz: Love this list and I am the Queen of procrastination at times.  I would add for me to do something!  If you are like not into filming today and the script seems overwhelming go choose something else- #14.  Make the graphic for the course, write the landing page, anything even a 2 min. project just to have some momentum.   My best/worst tip and this might be bad if you truly procrastinate and don't do anything- I post on social media my launch date!  Yes, I give myself a public (reasonable) timeline that I feel an obligation to stick to.  I create a countdown on IG and the pressure is enough for me to put my ass in gear!   Also over time, I have streamlined my process (I think @GregReverdiau started a post on it a month or two back) and it has helped me make this so much faster and also choose my next step over a long to-do list that is too much to handle so I just eat ice cream instead!   Great list. Thank you. Here are a couple items I’ve found that might be appropriate.   Do something on your project every day. DeniseFletcher suggests 20 minutes. I opt for 10. In any case, the point is to do something every day. If you are still not in the mood after that initial 10 (or 20) minutes, then stop. I find that if I don’t EVER honor my commitment to stop after 10 minutes, then I never start. I seldom abandon my project after 10 minutes, but there are times when things just aren’t working. Forcing myself to continue just generates frustration, resentment (and garbage). Be willing to scrap an afternoon’s / day’s / week’s / (okay, not month’s) material. If you are anything like me, some of your best work just will not fit your course. My biggest frustration is trying to adapt my course to include a lecture that doesn’t fit. It may be entertaining, interesting and some of my best work. And I’ve spent hours and hours developing it. But if it disrupts the course flow, it needs to go away. That’s hard. But continuing to try to make it fit creates an almost insurmountable course development blockage. Author: @DeniseFletcher 

It seems that every instructor on Udemy has an opinion about what makes an effective online presentation, but rarely do we have a discussion about evidence based research. So... I thought I would post some of the research I have found, encourage others to post additional research, and hopefully, instructors (Including myself) can make better informed course creation decisions. 1. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/effective-educational-videos/   How Video Production Affects Student Engagement: An Empirical Study of MOOC Videos Key findings:     2. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED560520   Seeing the Instructor in Two Video Styles: Preferences and Patterns   Key Findings:    Instructional content designers of online learning platforms are concerned about optimal video design guidelines that ensure course effectiveness, while keeping video production time and costs at reasonable levels. In order to address the concern, we use clickstream data from one Coursera course to analyze the engagement, motivational and navigational patterns of learners upon being presented with lecture videos incorporating the instructor video in two styles--first, where the instructor seamlessly interacts with the content and second, where the instructor appears in a window in a portion of the presentation window. Our main empirical finding is that the video style where the instructor seamlessly interacts with the content is by far the most preferred choice of the learners in general and certificate-earners and auditors in particular. Moreover, learners who chose this video style, on average, watched a larger proportion of the lectures, engaged with the lectures for a longer duration and preferred to view the lectures in streamed mode (as opposed to downloading them), when compared to their colleagues who chose the other video style. We posit that the important difference between the two video modes was the integrated view of a "real" instructor in close proximity to the content, that increased learner motivation, which in turn affected the watching times and the proportion of lectures watched. The results lend further credibility to the previously suggested hypothesis that positive affect arising out of improved social cues of the instructor influences learner motivation leading to their increased engagement with the course and its broader applicability to learning at scale scenarios. [For complete proceedings, see ED560503.]   3. https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/presentations/delivering-presentation Delivering an effective presentation   An effective presenter needs to be flexible, energetic and enthusiastic. This guide will help you turn your written presentation into an imaginative public performance.   Your turn.     Author: Lawrence M. Miller (@LawrenceMMiller) Management & Leadership Coach

What process and tools do you use to create a new course from scratch? Particularly for courses that are mostly either talking heads or slideshows with a voiceover (rather than courses that are mostly screencasts of software being used).   Do you, for example, sit down and script the entire course before recording your talking heads/slideshows. Rather than using a script, do you use bullet points to cover everything?   Is there a tool that you use to help you with the course planning and scripting process. Does anyone use Scrivener for example, or something similar. The few times I've looked at Scrivener, it looks pretty confusing.   I've been using Microsoft OneNote and I find this has been quite good, but maybe there's something more intuitive. My process varies, dependent of course on the kind of course I'm creating. I generally create slide-based lessons, so the text on the slide determines what I'm going to talk about, so detailed scripts can be unecessary, but when doing talking heads I script every word. I think planning a course has been one of my weaker areas in the past as I tend to start creating content before the planning process has been finished.     @GrahamNicholls: I don’t script anything, I sit with pad and pen (yes I’m old fashioned), I mindmap the subject and then do a lecture list. Then, when I’m ready, set up and record.   simple yet effective      @DeniseFletcher: Hi @CharlesCorn  Mostly the courses I create are from things I've delivered in person but none the less in trying to improve content I go through the same process as what I do when I create a course from scratch.  1. I buy an A4 hard backed book to jot notes in. Each course has it's own book. 2. I create a summary structure of the course on one page as a mind map which then becomes a linear structure which then I set up in Udemy ( I find that seeing the course visually on Udemy helps). 3. Then for each part of the landing page - objectives, ideal student, course description I create a one page minde map 4. I do the same with each section / lecture 5. I research lecture content where I see gaps 6. I go to a coffee shop / pub and sit in a quiet corner to start thinking about visuals and scripts so I have no distractions. 7. I then create each lecture as a powerpoint presentation and use the Trainer Notes view to write bullet points / script 8. I explore / create draft additional resources 9. I record the lectures one by one and add to Udemy 10. I finalise additional resources lecture by lecture and add them to Udemy 11. I then revisit the landing page and tighten up 12. Press the magic button and plan out marketing / promo   So my note books become full of mind maps and drafts and powerpoint helps me to polish it all.  I should add I am a terrible procrastinator and I faff a lot - one of the reasons for making myself go out to a coffee shop with no laptop and just the notebook.  I hope that helps Best Wishes Denise   @Chris_Haroun: Charles here are 2 videos on how I create the content for a course from scratch (the first video below shows how I come up with and script/organize the content and the second video below shows how I place the content in my teleprompter set-up...I used 2 videos with lower resolutions as you can't upload more than 500MB per file here); thanks:        Please let me know if you have any questions, Chris   @GregReverdiau: Personally, I use an Excel spreadsheet to create my strawman of all the areas I want to cover, then I divide it into logical categories. Then when I create my slides, they contain the bullet point ideas of what's important and I expand on each of those in front of the camera. Sometimes (most of the time) I show the bullets to the students, but sometimes it's just for me to stay on track. I never script, I tried for my promo videos and I'm horrible at it. I'm much better with just an idea that I can expand on. With that said, everyone is different so whatever works for you and makes you comfortable in front of the camera.    Author: @CharlesCorn 

See what instructors are using to edit videos!   My workflow is based aroud Adobe apps. Premiere Pro is a main "work horse", I also use a bit of AfterEffects, when I need infographics (to be honest, I don't do that too often). I record videos in Camtasia, but I don't edit there, it is way simpler to organize big project in Premiere Pro.    Personally, I use Final Cut Pro X (Mac only). It is an industry standard along with Adobe Premiere. It provides me with the video editing, audio editing, acts as file organizer. One thing I love is that it lets me save presets from previous videos (such as how much crop, where the video is positioned, color corrections, etc) so I can apply them to future videos. That's been great to save a lot of time once I setup my studio correctly. It also has a great green screen option, it allows for outside plugins (such as on-screen graphics and animations), and the multi-camera option has allowed me to save a TON of time when editing. It's a bit of an investment at $299 and I know there are lots of other options for free out there too.    I use Adobe Premier Pro and love it. With that I also use Audition to clean up our sound. I tried Final Cut, and while it has amazing tools, Premier just clicks in my head. I am working on an iMac Pro if that helps too. I used iMovie back in the day but one of the version updates they did took away all the features I liked and used and I got mad at it and have barely touched it since.   Screenflow for Mac has been amazing! I do have the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so technically, I can start to explore Adobe premiere and Adobe after effects, but for teaching courses screenflow keeps it nice and simple with some pretty decent transition effects.    I use Adobe premier pro. Mine is just slides and voice over. Only takes couple of days to edit. So, usually when I finish editing, I unsubscribe the service. Adobe is so generous that they do refund if service period is less than 2 weeks.   I also use ScreenFlow on my Mac. I have been using it for many years now and it has grown from an application to just record and edit screencasts to something more capable. So nowaydays I even use it to edit talking head videos etc.   I am sure that pro-level applications like Premiere or Final Cut Pro X have a lot more bells and whistles. And I might look into that in the future. But for now I am pretty happy with it. Author: @Marious 

Instructors share how they dress up for when they're recording their course lectures. Read this post to get some inspiration!    Most of my videos are just screencasts or slide narration where I don’t appear, so in reality I’m usually wearing a t-shirt and jeans! But when I do appear on camera, I do put some thought into my attire. You want students to identify with you, yet you still want to look like a respectful authority figure. For courses aimed at engineers, I’ll usually wear a collared shirt, but without a tie or jacket. But for courses aimed at executives, I break out the sport coat. It’s also important to avoid complex patterns in your attire, as they can create odd interference patterns on camera. I have a section of my closet that consists of tailored, solid-color shirts for use on camera. And I also think it’s important to have some sort of “signature” in your apparel. Steve Jobs had his turtlenecks; Bill Nye has his bow ties. For me, it’s a flat cap, and I’m never on camera without one.    Do you have a "signature"? What is it?     Greg Reverdiau: I do mostly talking heads and I use the same grey short sleeve collared shirt. I don’t know that I would call it a signature per se but it does help with consistency and it is easy to white balance.    Graham Nicholls: As all of my videos are me on screen I wanted to look presentable and professional so I started out with a black shirt and that has continued throughout my courses. The only difference being that I now have my logo embroided on it..... I guess, therefore, that the black shirt is my signature.   Although I did get one review with someone complaining that the black shirt made them feel dark and down so they requested a refund..... you just can't please everyone!   Hypnodan: I like to wear the same thing all the time in all videos. I think over the years I've been on Udemy I have had three different shirts I've worn in my videos, one shirt I wore in my 2014/2015 eCourses, another shirt in my 2016/2017 videos and another shirt in my 2018/2019 courses. I tell myself that this is for consistency in the videos (which it partly is), but I like having a 'work outfit' and I like things to be unchanging. When I was working full-time in my last couple of jobs I wore the same shirt every workday from 2007-2015. My wife hated the shirt and made sure it was thrown out once I left my last job.    Alicia Paz: Mine are all talking head and I wear different things every 3-5 videos and have a rack of clothes while filming I organize pre-filming to change into as I film 8-12 at a time. I joke privately I have costume changed like Beyonce.  It's business casual and low on patterns but overall brighter colors.  Partly it's because my courses are meant to be done 1-2 video per week (Udemy suggestion: courses that can be "dripped,") so in my head, different clothes signal some kind of "stop" to students who want to binge the whole course.   My signature...I would say 80% of my videos I have the same red lipstick in, a handful I have a purple color which has received some comments on in the past and I stopped wearing- but at this point, I brought it back from my newest course.  Also, I rock some funky and ornate nails and use my hands a lot (East Coast problems) so I get a lot of comments on social media about them- although all positive and sometimes for close up shots of them.  This also fits my demographic.     My background is the same in all videos, but one which is busy on purpose as it's about distraction.     Author: @FrankKane 

You do not need to spend a lot of money to get started. Here I share a few tips to help you.   This short video was filmed using my four-year-old iPhone and its microphone. The green screen cost me $15aud for the material. I have an orange ring light - the only light I used for this from Amazon. The image at the end was free from Pixabay. It was edited in Screenflow which cost $149 - there is cheaper editing software out there. Most of all practice loving the camera and allow your love and knowledge to shine through.   Author: @SharonRamel 

Hello fellow instructors,  I think that recording studio setup is one of the most difficult subjects to get your head around. Microphones, audio interfaces, lights and sound all seem to be important. However the amount of technical details and hard decision on priorities are making studio setup quite overwhelming.    I've gone through a long journey of building home studio from $500 to $10k setup, made many mistakes along the way, bought few pieces of equipment that I almost never used, and some other pieces that I can't imagine my work without.  I decided to record a short video and describe the priorities and options for your home studio. Check it out! How to set up home recording studio If you're curious, here's the list of my equipment that I use for recording. Notice that videography is my hobby, so I also shoot some short films, interviews and occasionally corporate promotional videos, so this equipment set is a bit of an overkill for Udemy Microphones: Neumann TLM-102 (voice-overs) Sennheiser ME-2 (lavalier mic for talking to a camera) Radio transmitter/receiver set for mics Sennheiser G3 Audio Interface Focusrite Clarett 2Pre (thunderbolt version) Field recorders Zoom H6 Zoom H1 Cameras Canon C100 MK-II Canon Legria HF G-25 (cam B) Lenses Canon EF 24-105mm f/4l IS II USM Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8l IS USM Lights LEDGO 2x 1200 Bi-colour Lighting Kit Monitors (headphones) Audio Technica AT-M70x   @Khushboo98: Is this complete set up is necessary..? Can't we use our smartphone to record and create our course..?   @GregReverdiau: There is no requirement for equipment and you could record your course with only a smart phone. However, the microphone on your smartphone is not going to give you great results compared to even some of these cheaper microphones on this list. Remember that students will give you some slack for lower video quality but you will get bad reviews if your audio is bad...    @JeffSharman592: I would like to add my experiences in course creation right from the beginning. My first course was trial and error. I made some talking heads video using a Canon camera on a tripod. The sound quality was terrible. I then did the same thing using a Samsung Smart phone on a tripod. Much better than the camera. I use a Dell laptop with built-in webcam and Mic. Originally on quite an old laptop. It was OK but the sound quality needed improvement. I purchased a separate Mic which improved it a lot.  It is always necessary to have some good audio and video editing software. There are some free ones around, but I opted for NCH Videopad, Wavepad and Debut Video Capture. All excellent and not that expensive. Very user friendly and effective.  I now have a new Dell laptop and I still use the built in Mic and Webcam. Excellent quality and after editing, noise is virtually non-existent. I don't use a separate Mic anymore or Webcam for my recordings. I have made a recording booth to cut down echo and outside ambient noise. Cheap and easy. A plastic box covered in a thick multi-layered blanket. Works beautifully.  It is nice to know that you don't have to spend a fortune to obtain good results. Author: @Juriy 

Check out what instructors are doing to remain motivated during the course creation process!   @GregReverdiau: It can be difficult from time to time to stay motivated but think about all the future students you will help with your course. It might seem like a gigantic task to create an entire course so create a little checklist of all the things you have to do and tackle one after the other. I also like to mix it up by just doing different tasks throughout the process. Like creating slides, then recording, then editing, then creating slides again and starting the process. It helps with the daunting task like editing which can take a long time.  Best of luck to you.    @Laurence-Svekis: This is one of the hardest parts I find to building the courses. I break apart the process in manageble chunks then set my weekly schedule to accomplish them.   I have courses that have taken sometimes 6 months or longer to build and the task tracking has kept me one track.   @GianniBruno011: Hi,   My key tips are: careful planning breaking down tasks into sizeable chunks scheduling As they say, 90% of the work is preperation. If you've planned your course well, then, like a jigsaw, it will all form together nicely.    I spend most of my time planning the course sections and lectures within those sections. I gain an idea of what I want to cover and then I bullet point key points. I then (since my courses are technical) plan the code that's to be used during the lectures.    Once happy with the planning, I start creating content by recording videos. I then place these draft videos into a depository before editing them to a finalised version.   If I take a step back and look at all the tasks ahead, it would be like looking at a moutain of work. To avoid this, I schedule by outstanding tasks and then schedule time each day week-by-week to clearly state what I want to achieve and devote time doing it.   Bit by bit you will complete lectures and sections. By the end of the schedule you'll have next to a perfect course that has been well formed and designed.   As they say, each journey starts with a single step. The motivation for me is finding out if my course is going to be successful. People I'm sure will say it's mostly about helping people (for which it plays a big part) but money is also a motivator. Some courses (if done right) could make considerable amounts each month.  For me it's 50/50. 50% helping people and 50% to provide a new source of income (yes, I'm being very honest - but hey, we've got to live, right? 😉)   Finally, I would say that hard work pays off. Many people spend time after work watching tv, playing games etc. Some of us (especially on this instructors board) make use of our spare time and from that everyone's a winner. It takes devotion and effort but remember the pain of it all is only temporary.   Keep motivated!   Gianni       @McCleish868: What helps me to stay motivated is knowing that I will be added value to at least one person. Also, in the building process, I usually like to try something new that I have never done before so it makes it to be fun as well. Lastly, just talking with friends and family where I am at with the building journey and they adding value to me with their thoughts on the course.   Continue to keep building! Author: @MalayaBiswal