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Last week I set up an experiment. I posted my first ever video blog, but there was a twist to it -- there were 3 different versions of the same video, and everyone saw something different, and filled out a different survey depending on what video they watched. Today, we’ll take a look at the results!
The Videos
So let’s take a look at each one of the video in turn, and how it performed in the survey results!
I’ve invented a scoring system in order to compare the effectiveness of the videos to eachother. Each answer of ‘Strongly Disagree’ = 0 points, ‘Disagree’ = 1 point, ‘Agree’ = 2 points, and ‘Strongly Agree’ = 3 points. Because the surveys also received slightly different numbers of respondents, I also divided the final score by the number of people who took the survey to get the average.
By this system, each answer can receive a maximum of 3 points, with anywhere above 1.50 being a majority of ‘Agree’ and anywhere below 1.50 being a majority of ‘Disagree’.
Version 1
Version number 1 was deliberately done in an introverted style. Not a lot of variation in tone of voice, not a lot of eye contact, and not a lot of movement. This is a style which many people adopt for some reason -- and it’s my number 1 pet peeve for videobloggers.
- I found the video interesting: 1.38 (lowest)
- I found the video professional: 1.19
- I liked the way in which the video was presented: 1.06 (lowest)
- I am likely to watch more videos by this author: 1.69 (lowest)
- I am likely to recommend this video to a friend: 0.94 (lowest)
- I thought that the author knew what he was talking about: 2.19
- I liked the format/setting of the video: 1.13
- Total: 9.58
Version 2
Version number 2 was 100% natural, all me, nothing else. This is how I would give a talk or a presentation to a small number of people. Not much else to say about this ‘style’ -- it’s just me being me.
- I found the video interesting: 2.05 (highest)
- I found the video professional: 1.53 (highest)
- I liked the way in which the video was presented: 1.58 (highest)
- I am likely to watch more videos by this author: 2.11 (highest)
- I am likely to recommend this video to a friend: 1.53 (highest)
- I thought that the author knew what he was talking about: 2.47 (highest)
- I liked the format/setting of the video: 1.58 (highest)
- Total: 12.84
Version 3
Version number 3 was deliberately done in an extroverted style, in an attempt to emulate someone like Gary Vaynerchuck. The reason I wanted to test this style was that I think some poeple (like Gary) pull it off really well, and it makes a huge difference.
- I found the video interesting: 1.93
- I found the video professional: 0.73 (lowest)
- I liked the way in which the video was presented: 1.20
- I am likely to watch more videos by this author: 2.06
- I am likely to recommend this video to a friend: 1.47
- I thought that the author knew what he was talking about: 2.00 (lowest)
- I liked the format/setting of the video: 0.87 (lowest)
- Total: 10.26
Understanding The Results
Interestingly, the video that came out on top every single time was the one where I was simply being myself. I guess this quite partially proves the theory that you should ‘just be yourself, and nothing else’ -- however I also think that the success of this version was down to the fact that version1 didn’t connect with the audience at all, and version3 was a bit too over the top.
The introverted version came out lowest overall (as I suspected it would), however interestingly it was the extroverted version that scored lowest on professionalism, credibility, and format/setting. I expect that this was due to the hand-held camera effect in this version.
But Is The Best Good Enough?
The best version by a mile was version 2, but is it good enough to warrant doing more videos in the future? It could just be the best of a really bad bunch, right?
The good news is that on version 2, the average results indicated that everyone agreed or strongly agreed with the survey questions. That’s definitely a positive.
But the real answer is………..
You tell me?
Great study. So people like to see all natural you. I can understand that. Makes perfect sense to me.
Excellent stuff.
You know I think that it’s a relative thing though because the more people ‘do’ videoblogging, the more comfortable they become.
I recall seeing a few ASP.NET MVC videos from Microsoft employees where they looked really uncomfortable. Thinking about it, I guess they were trying to appear “professional” as it was a mock-interview style but they should’ve just done it as two-geeks-dicussing-something-interesting. Not only would they have just talked (at length) about something they knew about, they’d have been more comfortable in front of the camera by being themselves instead of who (or what) they thought the audience wanted to see.
Just my 2p
Anyway – major kudos on doing this; i’ve not been brave enough to stick my ugly face in front of a camera yet. haha.
Great study.
A comment for the video – even if 97% of your users are on FF, if it’s a 5/10 minute fix for IE6/IE7 then why would you NOT fix IE? It’s common sense, 5 minutes of work for full IE6 support and you might as well, it’s silly to not even look and see how bigger job it is.
Hi Jack, of course if it’s a 5 minute job then I would totally agree with you – however I can safely say from experience that that’s very very rarely ever the case. (sadly)
I like what I am seeing! Yes it is me :)
Hi Gary, I was hoping that Google Alerts would bring you over here ;) I’m glad it worked!
Gareth, great tips cheers, I’ll certainly give those a try if/when I do any further vids!
Hi John,
I’ve been tempted by video blogging in the past but never made the step maybe sometime in the far off future it might happen.
Not sure how much it would help but if you had the video in a neutraly lit room so no sun comeing in the side and maybe a clear background, this would at least clean up the visual perception that way its all about what your talking about.
Good stuff John- #2 is definitely the best. I think whichever one was your natural self would have worked best really, whether that is the monotone version, the extrovert version…
Also agreed on your points about IE6.
Looking forward to more vids!
we have the same glasses
John, great study and great topic. I’m recording a video talking about the same thing. Sort of parralell evolution. Kinda in response to your thoughts and adding my own.
I’ll shoot you the link when it’s up.
Great site. You’re really talented.
Thanks Seth, long time no speak – hope you’re well!