Reports from the Asylum

Most video editing software lets you export to MP3 format along with creating iPod or Flash video for uploading. Here are five good reasons why you should.

1. Bandwidth. The so-called broadband in Central America and Australia is not very fast. In fact, the so-called broadband in the US is pathetic when compared to speeds available in Western Europe and Asia. And many people in the US are actually still on dial-up. There’s just no way that they’re going to be able to download a video file.
2. Media Player Limitations. Not everyone uses a video-capable media player. Pity the person who tries to put your .m4v file on her Sansa Clip—or even her iPod Shuffle.
3. Listening Habits. Many of us prefer to listen to podcasts while doing something else, like driving a car. Since you can’t watch video and drive anyway, forcing those listeners to download a video rather than an audio just fills their players up with useless megabytes.
4. Learning Styles. Roughly 1/3 of the population are hearing learners. They don’t remember or learn from what they see very well. What they hear is much more important. These are the people who turn up the volume on the TV and walk out of the room. No matter how visually interesting your podcast is, all they care about is what you have to say.
5. Show Length and Format. While many people will take the time to watch a short (less than 5 minutes) video online, they may not have the patience (or time) to sit through something longer while chained to their computers. Also, the longer the video, the higher the production values people are likely to want. If you have a long interview where the video really just shows a couple of talking heads, you might be better off showing a short clip in video format but making the full-length version available as audio.

As a general rule, keep the video for things you really have to show, like demonstrations, and break those down into multiple short videos.