Rued Riis

I help educators bring knowledge to life via animation. Follow for insights and observations on #animation, #contentcreation, and #onlineteaching.

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

Educators: not content creators by default.

When a global pandemic kicked “online teaching” 10 years into the future..

.. educators had to learn:

Video!

"But it’s hard to make.."

There’s a simple way to make educational video content: https://t.co/mWFRrEBW0W

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

My thumbnail process:

1. Come up with a SIMPLE idea that can INSTANTLY be understood.
2. Take a bunch of photos or a video clip to screenshot from.
3. Spend 5 hours in Canva creating 4-5 variations.
4. Test in Thumbsup·tv and choose a winner.

This is a before and after 🤗

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

I just hit 14,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Some surprising learnings:

1. You can make a living from ads alone.
2. You have to become a pro videographer
3. You find your own style by remixing other's work
4. You have to forget about subscribers
5. You never have to go viral

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

Who is your favorite teacher on LinkedIn/YouTube?

Tag them below—would love to find new inspirations for educational content 🧠
I'll start with 3 favorite online teachers ↓

Marques Brownlee
Brian Dean
Greg Gunn

Your turn ↓

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

100x your joy of work:

Gamify work.
- I love YouTube Analytics for the gamification of my work life.

Play the long game.
- I think of myself as the consistent tortoise racing against the cocky hare.

Micro vs. macro.
- My daily ambition is modest. 10-year ambition is wild.

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

I used to be an introvert.

Teachers told me to say SOMETHING.

I loved to play guitar. Hated performing.

Over the years, I realized it’s a need for preparation.

I want to think before I talk.
I need to practice before I perform.

Full story: https://t.co/X55iydY5jO

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

@NicholasFerroni Sad. But one short term solution for the individual teacher could be to teach online. Classroom teachers have all the basic skills - just need the tools and training for creating content.

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

HUGE gap between “beginner” and “expert” video maker.

It’s like a time-glass distribution:

Lots of help to find when you’re at level 0.
Lots of help to find when you’re at level 100.

But between the extremes.. You’re on your own.

Not entirely: https://t.co/X55iydY5jO

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

Them: "How can I make explainers like you?"

Me: "Do less."

Here are 3 ways to simplify your animations:

1. Delete everything that isn't primary
2. Force yourself to max 5 assets per scene
3. Limit your number of colors.

Give it a try.

#animation #vyond #simplicity

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

5 things I did to add 13,000 new YouTube subscribers:

1. Focused on niche topics I could rank for.
2. Showed my personality in every video
3. Find a hero and follow in their footsteps
4. Double down on what works.
5. Create your own templates.

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

Online learning is lonely:

No surprise that only ≈ 5-15% of students complete a course.

You should join a community. That's where the learning happens.

'Video Maker's Coaching Community is open now.

Join us—👉🏻 https://t.co/TrVm0LXqel

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

The tool my students are most excited about:

(After Vyond, of course)

https://t.co/nrVOe4KryU

It counts words. But it also does a lot of other useful things for video creators:

- See Speaking time
- Check Keyword density
- Instant 'Thesaurus' synonyms
- Check Reading level

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

"What do you do for a living?"
Me:

In this clip, I'm trying to fist-bump an animated character.

These ideas for small clips take a lot of time to create.

It's what makes the production of videos fun.

My principle is: If it's easy to create, it's probably boring to watch.

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

"One ring to rule them all."

(Sadly, this doesn’t apply to video production.)

To make a video interesting, various formats are key.

I use 3 main ones:

Camera footage.
Animation.
Screen-recording.

My free workshop will get you started: https://t.co/X55iyefGbm

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

All teachers are content creators.

(How to succeed with a 'flipped classroom')

The flipped classroom is where research happens at home, and class time is reserved for interaction, discussion, and mentoring.

Enrollment for the Community is now open: https://t.co/NzkdvYnTu8

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

Color is a tough nut to crack.

Luckily, there are great tools to help us out.

(Color is the #1 thing new animators struggle with)

The site I use is called https://t.co/R23PKElwkT

You can generate palettes, browse popular ones, or create your own.

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

4 key elements to a strong explainer script:

Context + Analogy + Story + Examples

Use these 4 components to build your own script:

Watch an example here: https://t.co/MDGzmzz2J0

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

How I used to make videos:

1) Come up with idea
2) Draft a script
3) Delete the script
4) Watch YouTube for 2 hours
5) Postpone to tomorrow

How I make videos today:

1) Prepare
2) Record
3) Edit

A simple structure is 100% necessary.
Here's mine: https://t.co/X55iyefGbm

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

You've heard of branching scenarios.

(Those time-consuming lessons, right?)

Well, they don't have to be hard to make.

You need 3 things:

1. Use one of the structure templates here: https://t.co/AaaNFqbVBY
2. Use Vyond to create 30-60 second chapters.
3. Use YouTube or links.

[Rued Riis @RuedRiis]

Advice I would give to online educators:

Get good at 1 content format:

a) Animation
b) Camera footage
c) Sound recording

I see educators make the mistake of doing too much at first. Lower your format-ambitions, and wait with the full-blown "masters of YouTube" type of video.