The Key to Great Commentary

[TheChillNebula]

Ok so I recently bought a refurbished Blue Yeti mic for $109 off of eBay (it came with headphones too). It took me a couple hours to figure out how to set it up with Audacity and record a couple dry test runs and it works perfectly. There's a problem with Audacity's recording if I talk too fast and it skips a word or two, but the mic itself is very good and professional. My brother was making jokes when he came into the computer room and saw it and said, "this isn't a recording studio." Only thing I need now is a pop filter and a stand so when I'm recording I can simply hover the mic in front of me instead of having to put the mic on some elevated table in front of me while I play the game.

However the point of this thread is to ask you guys what you think are the keys to great commentary? I honestly think you can have the perfect setup, the perfect intro, great channel art and the whole 9...but if your commentary is weak, then people won't be subbing or listening to future vids you upload. I know some Let's Players who have their own unique sayings that they try to work in on every video. I've begun writing down some things that I think might work. However what do you guys do? I know it's better to sound upbeat and energetic than slow and monotone.

 

[HumbleZeus]

Being honest is a crucial its easier to talk if you are being completely honest about whatever you happen to be talking about.
Never speak from ignorance if you don't know the full story behind an event or have any factual knowledge to back yourself up don't bother commentating about it. We are on the internet and people have no issue bashing your channel as well as you for speaking before knowing all the facts.
Talk about things you wanna talk about if you wanna talk about games talk about games, or politics, or art whatever you feel comfortable with and enjoy. The more you like the subject the more passionate you can be which can appeal to an to an audience

Some more practical tips
Listen to the recording when finished. Just let it play and see what you liked, disliked, then make a verdict is it what you want or can you make it better

Last tip get to the point. If you make a video about a fifa update video that's 10 minutes long but don't actually talk about the update until the 5-6 min mark people will click off since you took to long to give them the information they need. As some one who uses youtube all day outside of videos, I can say I have done this many times.

I hope I helped a little bit and good luck

 

[TheChillNebula]

Being honest is a crucial its easier to talk if you are being completely honest about whatever you happen to be talking about.
Never speak from ignorance if you don't know the full story behind an event or have any factual knowledge to back yourself up don't bother commentating about it. We are on the internet and people have no issue bashing your channel as well as you for speaking before knowing all the facts.
Talk about things you wanna talk about if you wanna talk about games talk about games, or politics, or art whatever you feel comfortable with and enjoy. The more you like the subject the more passionate you can be which can appeal to an to an audience

Some more practical tips
Listen to the recording when finished. Just let it play and see what you liked, disliked, then make a verdict is it what you want or can you make it better

Last tip get to the point. If you make a video about a fifa update video that's 10 minutes long but don't actually talk about the update until the 5-6 min mark people will click off since you took to long to give them the information they need. As some one who uses youtube all day outside of videos, I can say I have done this many times.

I hope I helped a little bit and good luck

Yes you did. What do you think about gaming commentary though?

 

[HumbleZeus]

Depends on what aspect of gaming live commentaries, Game reviews, or post recorded commentary[DOUBLEPOST=1409496633,1409496542][/DOUBLEPOST]or just gaming commentary just in general

 

[TheChillNebula]

Depends on what aspect of gaming live commentaries, Game reviews, or post recorded commentary[DOUBLEPOST=1409496633,1409496542][/DOUBLEPOST]or just gaming commentary just in general

I'm speaking mostly about live commentaries, but you brought something to my attention. Do you think it's better to do live commentaries or post recorded commentaries for games? I like the idea of live commentaries better because your reactions are more genuine and you also cut down on time it would seem.

 

[Ninja]

Everything that Zeus said was on point, but I would like to add; You need to be energetic when you commentate. Nobody wants to hear a monotone voice talking to them for 5-10 minutes (or however long your videos are), they want to hear someone who has a good tone, speaks clearly, and is overall enjoyable to listen too.

Also, I guess this is kind of a review (sorry), but I just want to point out; you might want to try and improve your channel art and thumbnails a bit. Although it looks decent for someone who is just starting out, there is still a lot of work to be done. Your channel art and thumbnails need to be bold, bright, eye catching and attractive. Try to play around in programs like Photoshop and try out different designs. I have a few examples of good thumbnails and channel art

 

[TheChillNebula]

Everything that Zeus said was on point, but I would like to add; You need to be energetic when you commentate. Nobody wants to hear a monotone voice talking to them for 5-10 minutes (or however long your videos are), they want to hear someone who has a good tone, speaks clearly, and is overall enjoyable to listen too.

Also, I guess this is kind of a review (sorry), but I just want to point out; you might want to try and improve your channel art and thumbnails a bit. Although it looks decent for someone who is just starting out, there is still a lot of work to be done. Your channel art and thumbnails need to be bold, bright, eye catching and attractive. Try to play around in programs like Photoshop and try out different designs. I have a few examples of good thumbnails and channel artView attachment 22520 View attachment 22521 View attachment 22522 View attachment 22523 View attachment 22524 View attachment 22525

I know I definitely need new banner art on my channel. I just suck at that stuff

 

[HumbleZeus]

I'm speaking mostly about live commentaries, but you brought something to my attention. Do you think it's better to do live commentaries or post recorded commentaries for games? I like the idea of live commentaries better because your reactions are more genuine and you also cut down on time it would seem.

Live commentaries are fine the as you say yes they allow you to be more genuine and your reactions are not scripted which is always good. However with post recording you get more control you can keep redoing the commentary until your satisfied, you can prevent random noises like people walking in and talking messing up the flow of the commentary, you can edit more with out fear of throwing of the timing of the audio and the actual video, you can restart if you get of topic, but like you said you can be more genuine in a live commentary so it depends on what you personally want

 

[JohnnyFox]

Ok so I recently bought a refurbished Blue Yeti mic for $109 off of eBay (it came with headphones too). It took me a couple hours to figure out how to set it up with Audacity and record a couple dry test runs and it works perfectly. There's a problem with Audacity's recording if I talk too fast and it skips a word or two, but the mic itself is very good and professional. My brother was making jokes when he came into the computer room and saw it and said, "this isn't a recording studio." Only thing I need now is a pop filter and a stand so when I'm recording I can simply hover the mic in front of me instead of having to put the mic on some elevated table in front of me while I play the game.

However the point of this thread is to ask you guys what you think are the keys to great commentary? I honestly think you can have the perfect setup, the perfect intro, great channel art and the whole 9...but if your commentary is weak, then people won't be subbing or listening to future vids you upload. I know some Let's Players who have their own unique sayings that they try to work in on every video. I've begun writing down some things that I think might work. However what do you guys do? I know it's better to sound upbeat and energetic than slow and monotone.

This is just my 2 cents. My live commentary (on twitch) is a world different then my Youtube commentary. Why? Because i'm talking to an actual live audience + i'm focusing on the game + i'm multitasking like hell between checking chat, talking to the chatters, playing the game, making sure the s**t is all working, all that. When its on Youtube i got the s**t set up and the commentary is post so it's much easier to act energetic and wild because I can do a retake or whatever ya know.

So basically the way to make good commentary on a game is know what you're talkin about. If you don't somebody will call you out for it. Either way always act like you are talking to the viewer, not at em. Make sure that you are talking to the viewer like a conversation (one way but still). Don't assume your audience already knows everything about the game or whatever. Just tell em about it, make jokes, talk s**t to the characters, get intense when s**t hits the fan, stuff like that.

 

[timmy]

I know I definitely need new banner art on my channel. I just suck at that stuff

im sorry this really is gonna sound like a review but you need to be a lot more constant you seem to upload like 1 video every 2 weeks if you don't upload regularly the audience will lose interest