How Much to Speak When Making a Video?

In this video the focus is slow and there is no talking.

A lot of talking in this video, as you are explaining things the audience does not know.

In this video the action and music are the focus.

Story and Speaking in Videos

While not solely the domain of online videos, telling a story is as much a part of good video production as lighting, sound and subject. Sooner or later I will probably address each of those areas as well. For now I wanted to go over something I think about a lot. Whether to talk or not in a video.

Do you speak live, do voice-over or just let the video tell the story? There is not a right answer. Sometimes it depends on the project and sometimes on your mood. I have found that at times I don't want any voice at all, live on camera or voice-over. This is usually because the project is self-explanatory, or it is like an art piece, or just because I want to feature some kind of feel, usually with a specific music piece.

If anyone has watched my Sheet Music Box Video, that is what I was thinking. By not giving a verbal explanation I wanted the focus to be on the feel of working in a shop, and not necessarily on some kind or instructions about how to build a box. That is one of the reasons the project was so simple, if it was complex the audience might be paying too much attention to something I was not planning to explain.

I often consider which projects get filmed which way before the project starts. It determines how I set up the cameras and what ultimate feel I am going for.

To come back to the concept of how much to speak and how to do that, I am struck by how videos seem to break down very traditionally. Male-focused productions tend to be less verbal, while female-focused videos can be pretty talkative. Sometimes the extreme in this is amusing. Males tend to have pretty traditional male-focused subjects and females tend to be the same. Males weld and females have make-up videos. For the most part these videos all tell stories, and that is all that matters. How exactly you do it is your personal preference.

I don't think you can say there is any evidence that the amount of talking correlates with the success of the channel. There is quite a range in the successful YouTube channel category. Videos succeed because of the underlying story and quality, not necessarily because they are overly vocal or overly silent. So when I think about what to say, and how to say it, I often think as long as there is a real story there that is all that matters.