Adjusting AI Adventures

Yufeng Guo’s series on AI and Machine Learning presents valuable information in a very digestible format. His video series is solidified by his articles on Medium which provides establishes his credibility as a thought leader in the AI space. Yufeng consistently delivers content that elevates Google’s voice on Artificial Intelligence instructional material and his instruction style benefit from several strengths:

  • Thoughtful prompts presented to the viewer at the start of each video
  • Examples are concise and are articulated well without being too verbose
  • Good annunciation and camera presence
  • Clean use of simple graphics

Yufeng’s videos also present some opportunities that could potentially elevate his series to the next level:

  • Aim to keep scripts to the 3-5 minute mark
  • Continue to release videos on a consistent schedule (establishes viewer expectations)
  • Aim to include more guest appearances to become more conversational

Presentation Tips

Some of the best tips for continuing to elevate Yufeng’s content comes from Guy Kawasaki’s principles on enchantment, specifically his tips on likeability. Guy Kawasaki has two very simple points that could prove very valuable to Yufeng:

  • Duschenne Smile: by activating both zygomatic major muscle (which raises the corners of the mouth) and the orbicularis oculi muscle (which raises the cheeks and forms crow's feet around the eyes), Yufeng would come across more polished and trustworthy.
  • Use his passions in his examples. Yufeng mentions on his Medium profile that his is passionate about  cooking and music, he should bring more of those passions out in his examples presented in his series.

Aside from these simple points, Yufeng could try some basic stretches and exercises before filming to loosen up and become more comfortable on camera, however, his current demeanor is very presentable and professional as-is.

Production Tips

The consistency between episodes in Yufeng’s series is very strong. Most elements of the production should remain the same, however, some small changes could be made to increase their digestibility:

  • Ensure consistent lighting for more accurate green-screen post production (reduces “dancing” in post production)
  • Do not cut graphics and background images abruptly, this can have a distracting effect which is not desirable
  • Allow Yufeng to reshoot scenes that can be covered up by graphics. This can help reduce total run-time of the final production, helping increase viewer engagement
  • Animate graphics to be more prescriptive to the words Yufeng is speaking. This will help to be less distracting and to reinforce his statements.
  • Cut to full screen graphics more frequently to allow more cuts to be made.
  • When possible, shoot multiple episodes back to back to allow for more frequent video publishings.
  • Adjust the camera angle to present Yufeng at a better angle for more direct eye-contact.