Create Compelling Video Abstracts

Your scientific study is perfectly written and complete. With complex subject matter and extensive information included in the printed abstract, expand your reach and showcase it with a video. The goal – to be engaging while increasing the visibility of an author, their work, and to enhance the user’s experience. Take your study, compress the content into a short video, and make it accessible in a format that will expand your reach by putting it on a homepage, YouTube or anywhere on the web.

While the luxury of hiring a fancy video crew and shoot on location would be marvelous, it isn’t necessary to break the bank to create a fascinating product that hits home and effectively gets your message across. Clients ask us frequently for suggestions on how to get the most out of video abstracts, how to engage viewers, and communicate to a wider audience in a less-traditional way.

The first step in the process is to put together a slide deck that summarizes your topic, findings, and key details of the study. You should then create specifications outlining what your requirements are for the abstract. After you have those two things in place, you can make the most of your time and money by recording the lead author on your own. You can use a variety of mechanisms to do this – WebEx conference call, GoToMeeting, Join.Me, Zoom.us or some other similar platform.

When doing your recording session, it will be helpful to take into account the following tips:

  • Have the lead author call from a quiet location, and use a landline. Do not use a mobile phone or put the call on speakerphone.
  • If anyone else is on the call (other than the lead author), have them mute their line to prevent background noise from being included in the final recording.
  • In between each slide have the lead author pause for a second and then say the slide number, then pause for another second, and then present that slide.
  • Later those things will be edited out, having this information will allow the video editor to easily sync the slides to their audio.
  • If the speaker makes a mistake, they can pause, request a “do-over” and then continue on with the recording. It is not necessary to present the entire deck in one take. Once the audio file is complete, from the recording you can review their presentation end edit out any re-takes to put together one clean, seamless file.
  • Keep the recording to approximately 5 minutes in length, unless you are able to make your content work in less time.

Once your audio recording is complete, it can be combined with the final slide deck and you will have a perfectly timed video that meets your specifications.

  • There are additional ways to improve the look and feel of your video creating a more impactful presentation.
  • Consider a hiring a professional to shoot your video, you don’t need to spend a lot to get video with improved quality.
    Add on-screen graphics, animation and other imagery that will capture a viewer’s attention.

If you would like assistance from experts, contact our team at Creative MediaWorks. In just a few business days we can take your basic audio recording, sync it to your slides, add some features and that will dramatically increase the appeal of your end product!

Contact us today!