The How, When, and Why of TikTok/YouTube/Reels: A Three Part Series for Those who Newly Want (or Have) To Communicate with Shortform Video
“Every form is difficult, no one easier than another. They all kick your ass.”
James Baldwin
A course on shortform video for those who need to make them - but also want to critique their place in our lives.
With Virtual Workshops on
Dec 17th, 4-7pm GMT
January 7th, 4-7pm GMT
January 21st, 4-7pm GMT
For better and worse, a new era is here. This is the year that more people watched TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube daily than watched “normal” TV. If you want to communicate about any number of important topics, especially to younger generations or those in the global south, it might be wise to traverse this strange, fraught format. It's also a format that’s harder than it looks.
Want help? My name is Sarah Stein Lubrano. I’ve worked in “content strategy” for ten years, starting by making videos at The School of Life channel and recently building my own following to promote my book. But it’s not just that I know how to “make the [TikTok/Instgram/YouTube] machine go brrrr.” I also have a PhD in Political Theory and a background in instructional design, so along the way you’ll get bits about the psychology of how people learn and a critique of what this is all doing to our brains. I believe that sometimes the world needs better influencers and communicators on topics big and small, especially when they get people to go act offline.
To that end, I’ll take you through the basics of how this all works - and provide some (optional!) critical literature along the way, also, for those who want to dive deeper into this cultural trend and its significance. At the end of each session we’ll have an open discussion where we can all vent, maybe discuss a little theory, and support each other in exploring this format and creative process.
The goal of this series is for participants to:
Understand what it would mean to make shortform videos and what it would require for these to succeed on their own terms given the nature of this medium
Prepare for, practice, and support each other through the ongoing process of making videos, including the technological, creative, and emotional challenges involved
Understand the ways that this type of communication is parasocial, 'failure'-heavy, and otherwise psychologically challenging to sustain, as well as ethically complex, and
Build a personal strategy and ethical framework for engaging with the process should they continue to make content
Workshop One: How Does This Thing Work?
December 17th 16:00 UK Time/17:00 CET/11:00AM EST/8:00AM West Coast of US
TikTok videos didn’t just take off as a random fad. The format of scrolling shortform video enables a far more powerful algorithm than other genres of social media. Viewers receive more customised and weirdly addictive content than before. Which means successful videos in this space look different (and, let’s be honest, often quite “weird” to those who aren’t used to this world). This workshop is about what’s fundamentally different about this medium, what it rewards, and how to work with it while doing your own unique thing.
This workshop is for people who are only somewhat familiar with this genre, or at least the way it works behind the scenes/screens. It’s for those who want to learn more, potentially to make their own content. We’ll:
Learn why the shortform video algorithm is so powerful
Understand what factors make a video likely to be “successful” as in widely watched and/or shared
Explore several different strategies within this paradigm that might suit one’s particular tastes and needs.
Discuss which strategies feel promising and acceptable and which do not given our creative and ethical goals
This workshop will be 2 hours long, with a further 45 minutes of open discussion/questions and answer.
Optional bonus readings (examples, more to come):
Selected Excerpts from “Content” by MIT Press
Your Internet is Driven By A Secret Dislike Button
Workshop Two: How Do I Make This Stuff?
January 7th 16:00 UK Time/17:00 CET/11:00AM EST/8:00AM West Coast of US
Even if you understand roughly how shortform video platforms work, making the content itself is another challenge. In this workshop, we’ll cover the basics of how to make this type of content. It requires time, practice, a bit of playfulness, a little practice with technology, and, uh, regularly flopping. Don’t worry, that’s normal. We’ll talk about it.
This workshop is for people who want to learn more, potentially to make their own content. We’ll:
Practice coming up with ideas and hooks, including the types of hooks that tend to do well on these platforms
Discuss the basics of technological setup (briefly) lighting, mics and so forth
Discuss the basics of the editing process (briefly), and preferred tools
Learn why perfection often makes for worse, not better videos
Think through the “fail often” philosophy this format demands and share strategies for handling this, including trial reels and special nonfollower content.
Learn about the role of comments, rage, and how you will deal with both.
Share experiences so far creating videos and offer constructive feedback.
This workshop will be 2 hours long, with a further 45 minutes of open discussion/question and answer.
Optional bonus readings (examples, more to come):
Selected excerpts from Influencers and Perceived Interconnectedness - Ada New Media
Welcome to a World of Nonfollowers
Workshop Three: How Can I Bear It?
January 21st 16:00 UK Time/17:00 CET/11:00AM EST/8:00AM West Coast of US
In truth, what most people struggle with when it comes to creating shortform video content isn’t the technology or coming up with ideas on a regular basis. It’s being seen--and being constantly online. This workshop is about that challenge, about how to navigate it as well as possible if one still wants to do this kind of work.
This workshop is for those who want to learn more, potentially to make their own content. We’ll:
Consider the number one worry people have: what will my friends think? (as well as strategies for dealing with this)
Reflect on what we uniquely want to bring to a form of communication and what online actions we want our viewers to undertake
Consider which aspects of “charismatic authority” are relevant in this online space and which we might use, or reject
Choose aspects of ourselves we’re happy to share on the internet (and what we’re not)
Consider strategies for reducing cognitive overwhelm as both consumers and producers of the online world, as well as important aspects of digital security
Think about people’s parasocial projections and prepare for criticism.
This workshop will be 2 hours long, with a further 45 minutes of open discussion/question and answer.
Optional readings (examples, more to come):
Selected excerpts from On Charisma and Institution Building by Max Weber
Selected Excerpts from Presumed Intimacy: Parasocial Interaction in Media, Society and Celebrity Culture | Wiley
Selected excerpts from Marcus Bösch's excellent blog
What does this cost?
I’ve created fees here that sit at the intersection of what it usually costs to teach a professional skill (much higher than this!) and what my mission is (help people communicate better, for good causes). Here’s what I’m asking:
All three workshops (organisational/supporter cost): 350
All three workshops standard cost: 250
All three workshops (low/no wage): 150 and/or email me to discuss what might work for you
You can buy these sessions individually: 125/85/60 each