Anti-Retention Editing Techniques

Editing alone won’t make your content better, but if you’re not careful, it could make it worse.

A few months ago I would tell you that you need to cut your videos more often.

Add a quick zoom here and a background change there.

I wasn’t alone in this idea, and it wasn’t until recently that I realized that pointless cuts and zooms are becoming anti-retention techniques.

Sure, there are specific audiences that this hack will work for, primarily a younger demographic.

But, I’ve also seen data signaling that older audiences might not find this content as compelling.

So, here’s what you should focus on instead.

Use each cut to push your storyline forward.

For example:

Imagine a movie where somebody gets stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean.

On that island, they are left with a knife, a lighter, a fishing pole, and a squirt bottle.

Now, as the audience in this movie, we see a shot of all these tools.

Fast forward through the movie, we see them use the knife to cut down leaves for shelter, we see the lighter used for a fire, and we see the fishing pole used to catch a fish.

But, we never see what the squirt bottle is used for.

As the audience we are confused as to why they had a squirt bottle, and why it was never used.

This is exactly what happens when you add random cuts, zooms, background changes, etc.

It’s confusing and potentially annoying for the audience.

Use a zoom to increase tension, or amplify the emotion or importance of your points.

Use stock footage to help the audience understand the story on a deeper level.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Going forward, once per week I will be sending an email like last Thursday’s and today’s, and the other day will be news/story focused.