Everything I've learned about YouTube in a 10 minute skim | #47
how to make ideas interesting, what's the most important thing, etc
Hey friends!
In the previous newsletter I detailed my plan for the next 90 days.
This newsletter you’re reading right now is deliverable #3 from that plan. It’s a summary of ~30 hours of research and learning I’ve done about YouTube.
I tried to organize it so that you can go directly to what you’re most interested in (since it’s long), but also in an order that makes sense.
My favorite learnings (stuff that made me go “ooooh that’s good to know”) are bolded.
The stars of this show are:
George Blackman (scriptwriter for Ali Abdaal: 5 million+ subs)
Ed Lawrence (teaches you how to grow educational YouTube channels)
Paddy Galloway (YouTube strategist for many big channels like MrBeast, who is now at 238 million subscribers - sheesh)
Jake Thomas (runs the Creator Hooks newsletter)
Aprilynne Alter (runs a YouTube channel for beginning YouTubers)
Gwilym Sims-Williams (another scriptwriter for Ali Abdaal)
Dr. K (aka HealthyGamerGG, Harvard psychiatrist, 2 million+ subs)
Jay Clouse (runs a YouTube channel where he interviewed all of the above people except Aprilynne)
I hope you enjoy it! I plan to refer back to this many times - I made it mostly for myself, but I hope you find it useful, too.
It also includes sources! When source is a video, I tried to link directly to the relevant timestamp. PS: I paraphrased some of what they said from transcripts. Any errors are my own!
The idea
What's the #1 most important thing when it comes to making YouTube videos?
What are some hallmarks of a great idea?
What are some questions to tease out great video ideas?
Which comes first: the thumbnail and title, or the idea and content?
How do you present a dry (but useful) idea as interesting?
How do you frame an idea to be as clickable possible?
Once I have a good idea, what's an example for how to package it (educational channels)?
The title
What are some best practices for making YouTube video titles?
How do I make a good title without going against my morals?
The thumbnail
What's the key to making a good thumbnail?
The intro
What's the key to making a good intro?
What's the difference between an intro and a hook?
The body
What's an example of a bad hook and how would I turn it into a good hook?
What's the #1 mistake people make when presenting the content of their videos?
What are 3 more mistakes people often make in their videos?
How do I apply "show, don't tell" to making YouTube videos?
How should creators structure their videos?
How do I create tension or stakes?
Everything in the video should be doing one of these 4 things
How do I make my educational videos interesting to beginners and experts at the same time?
The outro
Why is the end of the video ("the outro") super important?
How can one make a great outro for a video?
The process
How much time should I be spending on each part of the video making process?
Writing a script is overwhelming, what process should I follow?
How do youtube experts use AI in their workflow?
Other helpful assorted links
The idea
What's the #1 most important thing when it comes to making YouTube videos?
It starts with the idea. It doesn't matter how clever you are at word smithing good titles, if you have a bad idea then you're wasting your time.
I can't say it enough. I'll be blue the face saying this until the day I die: the idea is more important than everything else. The idea sets the standard of what this video could become. Is it going to be a 50k view video? 500k? 5 million?
I honestly believe this: it is no longer about making videos YouTube. It's about who can come up with the most interesting idea, thumbnail, and title. Then, how do you sandwich a video into that idea? If you think like that it changes the game.
What are some hallmarks of a great idea?
Interesting to core, casual, and new audience
Easy to convey in a title and thumbnail
Unique/novelty value
Combines 1 or more viral formats together
Friends get excited when you mention it
What are some questions to tease out great video ideas?
Does making this video excite me?
Is this video feasible to make?
Is there evidence that this video could hit our expectations for how many views we want it to get?
for example, similar ideas, titles, thumbnails, formats in your niche or adjacent niches that got views
Can we package it into a clickable title/thumbnail?
Does it appeal to core, casual, AND new viewers?
Can you name a specific persona or audience that this video is for?
Does it have an actionable takeaway for the audience? (educational videos)
- Dr. K
Which comes first: the thumbnail and title, or the idea and content?
You can do it one of two ways.
You can take a good thumbnail and then work backwards and figure out the content. It just usually results in more lack luster content.
Or, you can think of 10 ideas that are phenomenal, that people would love to watch, and then ask: which one do we think we can make a good title and thumbnail for?
How do you present a dry (but useful) idea as interesting?
The problem we have is: we come up with an idea and we naturally think it's good.
And it might be, but it doesn't mean it's interesting, so it's our job as YouTubers to make it interesting.
Let me give you an example. I made a video about Mr who's the boss and Marcus Brownlee.
I started my process with, "I want to talk to YouTubers about how to present."
That is the most boring thing I can possibly talk about. There isn't a YouTuber in the world who wakes up in the morning and goes:
"I need to learn how to present."
They wake up in the morning and go,
"My channel isn't growing. What the hell is wrong?"
But I need to talk about it (presenting). It's massive. How do I make it more interesting?
He then went on to workshop some ideas about how to make it interesting:
5 tips to present
5 mistakes you make that will WRECK your channel
I taught strangers how to present
The secrets MKBHD (popular YouTuber) used to present
He said the first one is too boring. The second one is doable. He could frame presenting badly as a mistake.
Ultimately he decided on the last one. He figured it would be most interesting to
find a famous YouTuber,
dig through their videos for a video with little views where they presented badly,
and tell the story highlighting their presentation skills getting better.
Suddenly, a boring idea (presenting) can become interesting (the story of a famous YouTuber's rise).
This is the "give them a burger and shove some broccoli in it" approach.
He also gives another example about lighting:
If I make a video about lighting, no one is going to click on it.
If I make a video called
The #1 Mistake That's Destroying Your Channel's Growth
people will click on it. The script could be something like:
A few years ago, I was stuck at 10k subscribers.
Then I made one change that skyrocketed me to 250k subscribers.
In this video, I'll show you what that change was and how you can do it too. All you need is a light.
How do you frame an idea to be as clickable possible?
A paraphrase of a long George Blackman tweet:
Let's take a look at this video’s thumbnail. It's about the bombing of Hiroshima during WWII.
Imagine you'd decided to make this video. You need to decide how to frame it.
Angle #1: Why was the Nuclear Bomb dropped on Hiroshima?
The problem: the answer can be simplified fairly easily. You can google it and get a satisfying answer in seconds.
A viewer is not likely to commit 10 minutes to something they think they could find out in 10 seconds.
Angle #2: What happened before, during, and after the bomb was dropped?
It's a decent enough idea, but the question feels vague. There aren't any specific curiosity gaps opened. The framing of the content is too surface-level and doesn't evoke an instant need to click the video.
Angle #3: Why isn't Hiroshima a nuclear wasteland?
This is much more effective than the previous options. Why?
It opens a plethora of curiosity gaps. Seeing this title I'm instantly asking questions like,
How did they rebuild an entire city so fast?
How can people still live there?
Isn’t there a problem with radiation?
If people can live in Hiroshima, why can’t they live in, say, Chernobyl?
In fact, the questions we briefly considered earlier could (and do) fold into this video too:
Why was the Nuclear Bomb dropped on Hiroshima?
What happened before, during and after the bomb was dropped?
Hence, "Why isn't Hiroshima a nuclear wasteland?" is a great option to be the Grand Payoff - the ultimate question/focus/topic the audience needs to find out before they leave.
And, trust me, it’s usually not your first idea.
So spend time identifying the grand payoff that’s gonna
satisfy their curiosity,
get them watching til the end, and
keep them thinking about your video after they close YouTube.
Use this 4-point checklist to identify your grand payoff.
I’m passionate about it.
My audience will care deeply about it.
It evokes emotion.
It opens multiple curiosity gaps (and can’t be answered with a Google search).
This is also echoed in Ed Lawrence (Film Booth)'s scriptwriting workshop:
If your title and thumbnail don’t create 3 big questions in the viewer’s mind, it’s probably not good enough.
Once I have a good idea, what's an example for how to package it (for educational channels)?
To package a video means to create an adequate title and thumbnail.
In general, you want to use BENS as much as possible. BENS stands for
Big (big numbers, extreme emotions, etc)
Easy ("in just 10 minutes, you can..", "without having to..")
New ("just released!", "of 2024", etc)
Safe ("No risk", "Or your money back")
You don’t have to have them all, but the more, the better.
Some examples include Codie Sanchez's thumbnails and Elizabeth Filips' thumbnails.
Here's an example title and thumbnail. On the right are 5 questions that someone could ask when they read it (see: How to frame an idea).
Here’s a hook for the above title and thumbnail that promises to answer the first 3 questions:
So, in this video, I’m going to reveal what this simple step is, how any level of editor can easily transform their videos using it, and give you examples of YouTubers who are blowing up harnessing its epic power.
Source: Ed Lawrence (Film Booth)'s scriptwriting workshop.
The title
What are some best practices for making YouTube video titles?
keep it simple (ideally <50 chars)
consider audience age, language, country
punchy language (e.g. how MrBeast BROKE youtube)
narrow your titles using feedback from
your team, if you have one
friends, customers, other "external" sources
data: have other videos succeeded with a similar title?
Source: Paddy Galloway
Titles and headlines are super important. All the time spend producing the video is wasted if people don't click it.
If you’re going to model other channels (which, you should), model channels with 5k-500k subscribers, not millions. Sometimes people are succeeding in spite of doing things, not because of them.
When you search for titles to model, do a broad search. Search your title and many variations of it across different niches. You're looking for a general trend.
If every successful video has a specific quality, then you probably also want to adopt that quality.
Otherwise, if there’s no clear winner, do what seems the most reasonable.
You don't have to be 100% original. Just model what works and add your own twist.
Some other tips:
write titles for humans - if you confuse them, you lose them. Don't keyword stuff.
no focus, no audience - the more ands and commas you include, the less of a punch it will pack. Don't dilute your title.
The 3 "clickworthy emotions" are curiosity, fear, and desire.
Give them a reason to listen to you.
If you can word their desires better than they can, they'll trust you.
Source: Jake Thomas (author of Creator Hooks newsletter)
How do I make a good title without going against my morals?
Sometimes the idea of making titles based on fear doesn't sit right. It feels slimy.
Jake Thomas's tip for this is to be honest and avoid being presumptuous.
For example, instead of writing "You will regret..." in your title (presumptuous), write, "I regretted..." (assuming it's true). Talk about your own experiences.
Source: Jake Thomas (author of Creator Hooks newsletter)
The thumbnail
What's the key to making a good thumbnail?
Thumbnails are 90% psychology and 10% design.
For example, this thumbnail is easy to make but psychologically enticing. It uses color theory, is clean, and is easy to understand if you shrink it.
Some other tips:
if you have text on your thumbnail, keep it to 5 words or less
text is helpful to open a curiosity loop, which is more helpful for education and "talking head" channels
generally, action in thumbnails is more relevant to entertainment channels
but, you can still use action in educational thumbnails. Here is an example of a video about note taking tools with an action-ey thumbnail.
try to have ≥3 thumbnail variations for testing
Source: Paddy Galloway
5 common types of thumbnails:
Moment Thumbnail: offers a glimpse into the moment right before a powerful reaction
Story Thumbnail: introduces a point of tension or a question that sets up the first act of the story
Result Thumbnail: features a result desired by the audience
Transformation Thumbnail: features a before and after frame
Novelty Thumbnail: draws power from our natural urge to see something we've never seen before
Some tests to run your thumbnail by to ensure quality:
Clarity test: if you shrink it, can you still read it?
Contrast test: if you saw it compared to other thumbnails, would it stand out?
Glance test: if you only look at it for two seconds, do you still understand it?
These are all from Aprilynne Alter's video about how to make a killer thumbnail. She goes into a lot more about, for example, the psychology, design, and composition. Highly recommend watching it for a deep dive.
The intro
What's the key to making a good intro?
Struggling with writing your intro?
See if you can break it down and re-write it like this:
Entertainment → Character, Concept, Stakes
These are the characters.
This is the concept.
Here’s what’s at stake.
Education → Target, Transformation, Stakes
This is my target audience.
This is their desired transformation.
Here’s what’s at stake.
It's also helpful to assure the viewer that you'll meet the expectations set from the title and thumbnail. An easy way to do this is to
have your first sentence match the title
have your first shot match the thumbnail
Source: Aprilynne Alter
What's the difference between an intro and a hook?
(My paraphrasing of Gwilym:) An intro is a hook for the whole video. It's the setup for the grand payoff of the video: the entire reason someone would watch it. There can be several hooks in a video, depending on how long it is.
Source: How to Write 1M+ View YouTube Scripts Gwilym Sims-Williams
The body
What's an example of a bad hook and how would I turn it into a good hook?
Source: How to Write 1M+ View YouTube Scripts Gwilym Sims-Williams
Your hook needs to ground the video in something that resonates profoundly with your audience.
Fears. Dreams. Preconceptions. Curiosity. Nostalgia.
Leave no one feeling outside the conversation, and they’ll gladly let you talk to them for 7-10 minutes.
Good hooks often
set up the value, and
frame it against the result they care about (i.e. shows them why it's important)
A few types of hooks:
question (pose a question the viewer will want the answer to)
story (drop them in the most “exciting” part - if relatable, better)
statement (shock or surprise them)
visual hooks: sounds effects, music, etc
Source: Ed Lawrence (Film Booth)'s scriptwriting workshop.
How long should my hook be?
On your next video, instead of worrying about the LENGTH of your hook, focus on:
Target; transformation; stakes.
Force every word to justify its place in relation to these three things.
Your hook will end up exactly the length it needs to be.
What's the #1 mistake people make when presenting the content of their videos?
Giving the answer before the explanation. An example:
Wrong:
"Tip #2 is to get your feet close to his."
*Demonstration*
Correct:
*Demonstration*
"Notice what I'm doing with my feet?"
"I beat an opponent taller than me because I positioned myself closer to his feet. This is tip #2."
By reversing the order of information, we’re now doing something audiences LOVE.
We’re making them feel smart.
Because now they have to interpret what’s happening before they get told.
We're no longer giving them the answer on a plate, but asking them to engage and figure it out themselves.
If you don't do this, your retention graphs will likely show people skipping around, like this:
Source: George Blackman's newsletter
Ed Lawrence (Film Booth) says something similar:
Use a story to make a point. Bring the viewer into the story.
For example, let's say you have a video called "5 mistakes to ruin your cooking".
Don’t just say, “don’t use too much salt in your soup”
Instead, tell a story. Ideally your story. For example,
“I was cooking for Queen Elizabeth, I did this, I made this mistake, it had this bad outcome.. hence, don’t use too much salt in your soup.”
Source: Ed Lawrence (Film Booth)
What are 3 more mistakes people often make in their videos?
Source: George Blackman
How do I apply "show, don't tell" to making YouTube videos?
Tip #1: Ask yourself: do I need this shot or voiceover? If I put text, animation, or b roll, can I get the same point across in shorter time?
Tip #2: Ask yourself: Can you use actions instead of words to communicate your point?
For example, instead of saying,
"this isn't working, we need to break up",
what if you had a scene with someone sliding house keys across a table with a sad look on their face?
That tells the entire story without the dialogue.
Source: Ed Lawrence (Film Booth)
How should creators structure their videos?
There's no one-size-fits-all, but usually there's some kind of "beginning, middle, end" structure. And within that structure there are mini-"beginning, middle"end" structures.
Loops within loops.
George Blackman uses the vocabulary, "setup, tension, resolution".
He gives an example in this Rogue Startups podcast episode:
Setup: “lots of people make this sales mistake” (but without saying what it is)
Tension: "I struggled to get sales without this thing..." (doubling down on the issue)
Resolution: “but once I had a clear customer persona, I got sales”
Ed Lawrence uses hook, setup, and payoff.
Matthew Dicks, who wrote Storyworthy, uses Promise, Progress, and Payoff.
They're all gesturing at similar ideas:
generate interest,
make progress,
maybe twist the knife a bit with stakes or tension, then
deliver on the interest
Rinse and repeat, transitioning seamlessly between each loop:
Payoffs are wasted if they’re not structured properly.
Review (and highlight) each payoff in your script. Check whether:
1. You have more than one.
2. You are setting up the next one as soon as you’ve resolved the last.
Setup, tension, resolution, setup, tension, resolution…
If your audience has to wait 15 minutes for *any* release of tension, they’ll be bored / irritated.
Ergo, your videos need more than one payoff right at the end.
A 15 minute video might have 3-4.
But how do you create multiple payoffs from an idea that feels like it has one?
It’s usually quite simple:
If you’re an educational channel, ask:
”What are the component pieces of information needed to understand my overall point?”
”Can I create tension in the buildup to the reveal of each?”
If you’re an entertainment channel, ask:
”What are the tasks I need to complete in the build-up to [big explosion thing] at the end?”
”Can I create tension around the completion of each of those tasks?”
If you can’t break the concept down, it’s probably not strong enough.
How do I create tension or stakes?
My (Josh's) understanding is that you can't create them, you can only amplify what's already there.
If tension exists you can probably make it more dramatic with zooms, woosh sounds, etc.
If there isn't already tension, trying to add zooms and stuff is just polishing a turd.
That being said, I'm also a believer that there's a story anywhere if you look hard enough. There has to be, because problems are everywhere. Desires are everywhere. There is so much we don't know.
Anyway, here are some actual expert takes:
Sure, make your protagonist’s goal seem near-impossible. But the stakes need to be interesting too.
What happens if they fail?
What will they gain/lose? Time? Money? Status?
On a deeper, human level, why do we want them to succeed?
Likely failure x low stakes = no tension.
Some examples from Aprilynne Alter's Intro video include
framing things as a 3 step formula (since people will wanna know waht the steps are)
blurring something out (which gets them wondering what it is, which you will reveal later)
asking signpost questions (e.g. narrator: will he achieve the world record?)
Everything in the video should be doing one of these 4 things:
Every line, scene, shot, or detail in the video should be serving a purpose. At any point in the video, 1 of 4 thing should be happening:
new information is introduced (e.g. the setup or hook)
progression: the video is progressing towards some goal (e.g. the grand payoff)
redirection: stakes are highlighted or tension is amplified
an emotion is elicited
this can be from any of the previous 3 bullets, too
are you making the audience curious?
are you making the audience happy by resolving that curiosity?
are you sucking them in by causing trouble for a character they care about?
etc
Note: it can be overkill to be extremely studious about this. Think of this as a rule of thumb.
Source: George Blackman
It can be helpful, before you write the script, to figure out what goal, failure, progress mean for the video.
Goals:
if it's an educational video, what’s the goal of the audience member watching this video?
if it's entertainment, what’s the goal of the person in the video?
Failure: what do objections, setbacks, etc for that goal look like?
Progress: what does moving towards that goal look like?
Emotions: What do we want the audience member or person in the video to feel?
Either we’re moving towards the goal, away from the goal, or someone’s got to be feeling something.
Source: George Blackman
How do I make my educational videos interesting to beginners and experts at the same time?
In a nutshell: use metaphors and stories.
When you use metaphors to simplify complex information, beginners and experts tend to like it.
Beginners think, "sweet I understand that!"
Experts think, "I knew that but whoa that's a cool way of looking at it."
When you use stories, it helps get everyone on the same page. But even if they're an expert and they didn't learn anything, at least they were entertained.
Source: Ed Lawrence
The outro
Why is the end of the video ("the outro") super important?
Your video should ideally never end. The hardest thing to do on YouTube is get someone to click and keep their attention.
Once you have it, it's a lot easier to get them to watch another video. Take advantage of that!
Source: Ed Lawrence (Film Booth)
How can one make a great outro for a video?
The most effective CTA for growing your channel?
Getting the viewer to watch your next video.
The problem is... most creators don't know how to do this effectively.
Here's my 3-step formula for writing a killer CTA to keep people watching your content:
Link -> Curiosity Gap -> CTA/Promise
Set up a point that links to the current video.
Widen the curiosity gap.
Promise a specific transformation they'll experience by clicking the next video.
Here's George writing a CTA as a twitter thread.
Another tip: use an action to link the beginning and the end of your video. It gives the viewer a satisfying feeling.
For example, in this video, Joshua Mayo lights a candle in the beginning and blows it out at the end.
The process
How much time should I be spending on each part of the video making process?
About 70% of it planning, 20% editing, and 10% filming.
Source: Ed Lawrence
Paddy Galloway also advocates for a similar split (see: The idea).
Writing a script is overwhelming, what process should I follow?
George Blackman likes to do 4 passes when he writes a script. He refers to 4 different hats he puts on: the artist, architect, writer, and wizard hats.
Artist - Free-flowing, get all your ideas out, don’t think about structure
Architect - Narrow down the idea, start to flesh out the structure
Writer - Start connecting the dots between your key points and your grand payoff. Make sure everything is either progressing, regressing, or changing.
Wizard - start thinking about retention. Highlight key moments in the script.
More details about the 4 hat method can be found here and here.
How do youtube experts use AI in their workflow?
When asked about how George Blackman uses AI in his workflow, he replied, "not much" except for with titles and packaging.
He uses it to model titles that are working well. He also asks it questions like,
What sorts of emotions should i be trying to elicit in a video about X?
He also pastes transcripts from popular YouTube videos and asks it:
What's NOT being talked about?
And often makes videos from that.
Other assorted helpful links:
George Blackman: Use THESE 22 graphs to understand WHY people click away (and how to avoid it).
George going over a script live: Exposing THE BIG YouTube Monetisation Myth
George going over a video about Thomas Frank switching to a smaller channel. (He also talks about that video at 36:53 in this loom.)
This is awesome, thank you for sharing your insights sir!