In Part 1 of this 7 Cool Tools for Fast Delegation series I shared with you how to use Voxie Pro Recorder and in Part 2 I explained how the eFax Pro service can also be used as an even simpler (Luddite-proof!) way to quickly delegate audio messages via email.
But what about when words are not enough? When audio-based instructions won’t provide enough information?
Screencasts are your answer. Quick screencasts.
If a picture tells a thousand words, then a screencast does that at 25 to 30 frames every second! It’s a fast and powerful communication medium for delegation and training.
A screencast is a recording of your screen (such as what you are clicking on and entering in an app) plus your own voice narrating what you are doing and why. It’s a way to quickly capture “this is how you do it” instructions rather than showing a person firsthand.
The use of screencasts is also great for training because the recording can be re-used by other people. It can be watched a few times if the person you have delegated the task to needs to revise the original instructions.
Screencasts are an important part of the knowledge capture process which we call the Lightning Method.
Here are a list of screencasting tools for you to explore:
- SnagIt by Techsmith
- Screenr
- Snapz Pro X (Mac only)
- ScreenCam (Windows only)
- Among many others
SnagIt is available on Windows and Mac and has a big ‘brother app’ called Camtasia Studio (Windows) and Camtasia for Mac. There is an equivalent app to Camtasia for Mac called ScreenFlow, which we use and love at Practice Paradox. These are more sophisticated and complicated apps for editing screencasts.
Important note: For rapid recording and sharing of screencasts, you do not want to use Camtasia or ScreenFlow. These apps record in proprietary formats so you can edit, add effects, captions, music etc. To create a video file that someone can double-click on and it just plays for them, you have to export from Camtasia or ScreenFlow to create an MP4 or MOV file, for example. The export process takes too much time in the context of quick delegation. It’s not practical.
We recommend SnagIt coupled with Screencast.com as the ideal screencasting tools. SnagIt uses Screencast.com to store and play your screencasts, or videos. (Techsmith, maker of SnagIT, no longer updates the app called Jing which is now part of SnagIt.)
The Screencast.com service is necessary because although you can save video files to your hard drive and email them, the files are often too large for email. You can record and then upload SnagIt videos to your private Screencast.com account and share it with others. You can also upload from SnagIt to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and your own website via FTP.
Each video uploaded to Screencast.com has its own URL (or web address) which you can paste into an email or instant message. When the person clicks on it, the web page opens displaying the video. This gets around the issue of emailing large video files. Clever.
I remember the first time I recorded ‘a Jing’ (screencast) in 2007 explaining to a client how to use a specific feature in a program. They replied with, “Wow! How on earth did you create that? It was brilliant. And so easy to follow. Thanks!”
You will impress your clients when you use screencasts with them, and in the context of delegation, your team will love them too.
I noticed in our Screencast.com account the other day that we have recorded over 1,000 screencasts since 2007. We find screencasting to be an indispensible tool for delegating to team members in our head office or in other countries.
A graduate of our Lightning Method course has recorded over 120 screencasts documenting processes in their business. They now have “a multimedia knowledge bank” for on-boarding and training team members.
They love it. I think you will too.
Image credit: SnagIt
