How to record for great edits

01Sound first

• People will forgive so-so video. They scroll past bad sound.
• Use a clip-on (lavalier) or wireless mic if you have one. Even wired earbuds with a mic beat the phone across the room.
• Pick a quiet room with soft things in it (couch, curtains, rug). Bare walls echo.
• Turn off fans, TVs and notifications. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb.

Why: we write your captions from what we hear. Clear sound means correct captions and better clip picks.

02Light your face

• Face a window or a lamp. Never sit with a bright window behind you.
• Daylight from the side or front is the best free light there is.
• Avoid overhead lights alone; they put shadows under your eyes.

03Frame it once, for every shape

• Record sideways (horizontal) when you can. We cut the wide video and the vertical Reels from the same recording, and the vertical crop follows whoever is talking.
• Keep your head and shoulders in the middle third of the frame, with a little room above your head. Anything near the edges gets cropped out of the vertical clips.
• Camera at eye level, about an arm and a half away. Prop the phone up; don't hold it.
• Only making Reels? Recording upright (vertical) is fine too.
• Two people or more cameras: record every camera the whole time and upload them all as one session ("same moment, different camera angles").

04Talk in clips

• Open with the point, not the warm-up. "Most people quit right before it works" beats "So today I wanted to talk about…".
• Make one idea at a time and finish it. Each finished idea can become its own clip.
• Messed up a line? Pause, then say the whole sentence again. We spot the repeat and keep your best take.
• Tell stories with names, places and numbers. They make the best clips, and they're what we match to your own B-roll.
• End with one clear next step ("comment GROW", "get the book", "come Thursday").

05Length

• 5 to 20 minutes is the sweet spot: enough for 4 to 6 strong clips plus the full video.
• Long podcasts and sermons work too. Over 20 minutes we focus on clips (6 to 10) instead of the full video.

06Help us get the details right

• Add names, places and brand words to Your brand & style → Always spell it this way, so captions never misspell them.
• Fill Your B-roll library with photos and short videos of the things you talk about (your book, your building, your team, your city). Give each one a clear name, like "Fargo Street sign". When you mention it, we cut to it.

07Upload

• Use Wi-Fi. A 10-minute phone video is often 1 to 3 GB.
• Keep the page open until it says the upload is done. If it drops, it picks up where it stopped.
• Upload the original file (from Photos or Files), not a copy sent through text or email; those get squeezed.