Length of video

[Lizzy]

Hi Everyone

I am working on my first course and some of my videos are up to 15 minutes long. Udemy recommends up to 7 minutes. Editing them would be a bit cumbersome because they are on one topic and flow. However, I would appreciate advice. Thanks in advance.

[MikeXCohen]

Your videos should be as long as they need to be. I have some some videos that are >25 minutes long and some that are 2 minutes long. I think most of them are around 10 minutes.

If you have content that is clearly one video but artificially split into two, then it might look sloppy. And if you cut too much out just to get it down to 7 minutes, then it might be incomplete.

My approach is that one video should contain one core message (or one key skill, or whatever is relevant). If it takes 2 minutes or 20 minutes for that core message, then that's what it takes!

Also, if the material is good and well delivered, your students won't mind if the video goes on a bit longer 😉

[Lizzy]

Great advice and reassuring. Thanks for your reply. 

[Robin_Slee]

I believe the 7 minute guideline is based on some established research about human attention spans. And whilst it is a good 'rule' to follow in general.

However, I would also argue that if you are mid-stream in an important topic at the 7 min mark then keep going until you have said what needs to be said fo rhte student to fully understand.

The second approach is to pre-plan your course lectures and split the course in such a way that each lecture only lasts a few minutes. Perhaps an intro lectre, an explanation lecture and an insights lecture for each of the really long topics?

I would be interested in hearing others ideas on this. Do you think 7 minutes is about right for the average attention span? Answers below 😉

[Lizzy]

Thanks for your advice. 

I am trying to chunk down my topics for my next course to keep the videos shorter. Glad to know that I can get away with longer sessions if necessary. Sometimes,  even a single topic can become quite detailed.