When I was younger, my possibilities of getting my point across was solely made through writing them. At least if I wanted to be convincing. But as an adult, and especially with over a decade of making videos, which are almost completely made of oral speaking, I have begun to find a balance between the two, and constraints and affordances as well.

If I had been a creator who made most of my videos based on a script, I guess the above statement would come across as erroneous. Some of them are however done that. Music videos are not impromptu, the annual video which was a voice-over was scripted and I obviously know beforehand which words will be used in a 10 Swedish Words. But the majority of time in front of a camera is impromptu.

The Good Talk video making is similar every week. I have a topic I want to talk about, I set up my camera and my microphone. I hit record on both within a second or so from each-other, I clap my hand to find a marker to synch sound and image later and I say the words; I want to talk about…

From there I just say what comes to mind, knowing that I will probably get my point across within or around 5 minutes. I often ask you, my viewers, what your experience with the topic is, before I end with saying; Good talk.

The only editing I do is cut the beginning and the end and set the volume and add the music soundtrack in the background. But since I do these videos in a one-take, I don’t get a chance for second chances. What I say there and then, almost like if it was live, will be what I say in the video. In a text like this one, I can go back, fine tune and adapt the text until I publish, and even after that can I make changes. I can wander through my mind with a certain song playing, make parallells to other things like popular culture, reference a film or lyrics, and even add images to get my point across. And I do much of this in candid conversations with people orally too, but then it happens in the spur of the moment where there is no pressure to be concise about my message, and where I am not the only one talking non-stop, as is obviously the case when I film myself alone in a room.

For what I communicate with voice can have so many other layers embedded. Intonation, facial expressions and body movements. These can enhance the message in a way that written text would have a great challenge with.

Both means of communication have their constraints and affordances, but luckily, with this blog post that accompanies the video, I can express a similar point, in two different ways using two different methods. And I thank you for reading this, and for watching the video. Feel free to share your thoughts on this in the comment section of the video.
Good talk.

Good Talk is an ongoing series where I talk about my own experiences with different feelings, personal thoughts, and dreams on a personal level. Good Talk is meant to be a conversation of spreading positivity and inspiration where I just open up for discussion in the comments, and where you, the viewer gets to share your thoughts on the topic of the video. Feel free to post long comments, and even better, respond to other people. That way it becomes a two-way communication where we can all learn from each other’s experiences, regardless of where in the world we live. Thank you all for being a part of something that is very special to me.