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"[New] Plot Twists for Success Top 3 Channel-Building Tactics"
Plot Twists for Success: Top 3 Channel-Building Tactics
The Best Storytelling Techniques to Grow Your YouTube Channel
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.
Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:
1. Create Suspense
The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.
The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.
What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?
When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.
Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:
- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)
- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)
- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)
- Limited time (example: prom is next week)
- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)
You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!
Raise Questions After Questions
A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.
For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?
This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.
Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.
Include a Cliffhanger
We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.
But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.
In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.
How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger
Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.
Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.
A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.
Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.
Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .
Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:
1. Slow Down and Have Pauses
As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.
Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.
2. Use Repetition
Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.
In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.
The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?
Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.
The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.
2. Use Empathy
A storyteller must be empathetic.
If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.
If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.
Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.
Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures
If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.
It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.
However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.
Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.
Evoke the Senses
If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.
Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What does it smell like?
- What can you hear?
- What do you see?
- What can you physically feel?
This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.
Use Metaphors
As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.
If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”
That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.
By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.
3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey
Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.
- Is it educational?
- Is it entertaining?
- Is it motivational or inspiring?
Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?
YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.
It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.
His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.
Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.
Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers
Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.
Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:
1. Create Suspense
The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.
The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.
What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?
When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.
Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:
- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)
- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)
- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)
- Limited time (example: prom is next week)
- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)
You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!
Raise Questions After Questions
A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.
For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?
This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.
Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.
Include a Cliffhanger
We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.
But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.
In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.
How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger
Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.
Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.
A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.
Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.
Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .
Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:
1. Slow Down and Have Pauses
As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.
Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.
2. Use Repetition
Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.
In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.
The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?
Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.
The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.
2. Use Empathy
A storyteller must be empathetic.
If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.
If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.
Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.
Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures
If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.
It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.
However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.
Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.
Evoke the Senses
If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.
Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What does it smell like?
- What can you hear?
- What do you see?
- What can you physically feel?
This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.
Use Metaphors
As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.
If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”
That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.
By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.
3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey
Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.
- Is it educational?
- Is it entertaining?
- Is it motivational or inspiring?
Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?
YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.
It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.
His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.
Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.
Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers
Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.
Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:
1. Create Suspense
The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.
The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.
What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?
When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.
Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:
- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)
- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)
- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)
- Limited time (example: prom is next week)
- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)
You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!
Raise Questions After Questions
A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.
For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?
This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.
Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.
Include a Cliffhanger
We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.
But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.
In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.
How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger
Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.
Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.
A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.
Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.
Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .
Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:
1. Slow Down and Have Pauses
As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.
Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.
2. Use Repetition
Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.
In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.
The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?
Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.
The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.
2. Use Empathy
A storyteller must be empathetic.
If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.
If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.
Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.
Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures
If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.
It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.
However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.
Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.
Evoke the Senses
If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.
Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What does it smell like?
- What can you hear?
- What do you see?
- What can you physically feel?
This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.
Use Metaphors
As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.
If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”
That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.
By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.
3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey
Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.
- Is it educational?
- Is it entertaining?
- Is it motivational or inspiring?
Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?
YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.
It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.
His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.
Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.
Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers
Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.
Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:
1. Create Suspense
The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.
The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.
What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?
When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.
Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:
- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)
- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)
- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)
- Limited time (example: prom is next week)
- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)
You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!
Raise Questions After Questions
A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.
For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?
This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.
Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.
Include a Cliffhanger
We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.
But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.
In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.
How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger
Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.
Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.
A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.
Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.
Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .
Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:
1. Slow Down and Have Pauses
As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.
Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.
2. Use Repetition
Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.
In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.
The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?
Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.
The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.
2. Use Empathy
A storyteller must be empathetic.
If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.
If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.
Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.
Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures
If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.
It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.
However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.
Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.
Evoke the Senses
If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.
Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What does it smell like?
- What can you hear?
- What do you see?
- What can you physically feel?
This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.
Use Metaphors
As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.
If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”
That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.
By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.
3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey
Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.
- Is it educational?
- Is it entertaining?
- Is it motivational or inspiring?
Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?
YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.
It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.
His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.
Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.
Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers
Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Elevating Channel Excellence with Ideas & Vision
Best YouTube Video Ideas to Spark Inspiration
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Ideas are the fuel for your YouTube channel, and you are running on empty. Out of video ideas or in need of fresh new ideas? No worries. This article is truly a definitive list of YouTube video ideas.
Bookmark this post, so whenever you need a content idea, you can quickly reference it. After you finish reading, you will be ready to make your next video.
Make Creative YouTube Videos with Wondershare Filmora
Wondershare Filmora is a great tool and known for its creativity in video files. You can always make use of features on Filmora that would help you to tweak your videos in any way. Be it the effects, overlays, or transitions, Filmora has all the tools and features available to make creative content for your YouTube channel. The best advantage of having Filmora in the tool list is that it has some inbuilt templates which are easy enough to be implemented and embed on the YouTube Videos.
1. Content Idea Resources
Before we go deeper into the search to find you the best topics for YouTube, let’s take a quick look at some tools that may help you warm up and get your creative juices flowing.
Portent’s Content Title Idea Generator: Put in one of your keywords in this content idea generator and it will come up with an interesting title for you.
We The Unicorn’s Video Idea Generator Quiz: Answer this multiple-choice quiz and allow the algorithm to suggest a YouTube video idea that best suits your style.
701 YouTube Video Ideas [eBook]: You’ll save time brainstorming, be able to post consistently, and grow your YouTube channel faster with this book of ideas.
As you can see, coming up with ideas doesn’t have to be an agonizing drag. It’s all about flexing your creativity muscle and we are here to help you do it. Are you ready to be inspired? Great! Let’s begin this list:
2. Showcase Who You Are
Talk About Yourself: Introduce yourself to the world. You can answer 10 of the most common ice breaker questions you get at social gatherings: “Who are you?” “What do you do for a living?” “What are your hobbies?” In this video, you get to decide how you want to showcase yourself to your audience.
Reviews: Do you have opinions? Of course, you do. Movie trailers, popular YouTube videos, products such as makeup, gadgets, and toys, you have thoughts on everything. It’s more than content creation, it’s critical thinking. Understanding why you like or dislike something is not only helpful for other people like you, but it’s also helpful for you to know your own preferences. It’s a little exercise in self-discovery.
Day in a Life: Bring the audience with you on a day of your life. Show people what it is like to walk in your shoes from morning to night. How do you commute to school or work? What do you have for lunch? What obstacles do you encounter throughout the day? You’ll be surprised what will happen as your day unfolds.
Top 10: People love lists because it’s a simple rundown. When you set your video as a list, the viewer knows exactly what they are getting, and familiarity with the format will make it more likely to be clicked. While you can make a top 12 or top 16 list, it is shown that picking a number ending on “0” will yield the best results .
Routines: What do you do when you get ready for school or work? What do you do before bed? Discussing your routine can inspire people to lead the life you have. A routine does not mean going to an office every day , it can mean eating a new restaurant every month, doing something impulsive once a week, or appreciating what you have on a daily basis.
Reflection: You’ve come a long way and you don’t always acknowledge it. Were there a few pivotal milestones in the last five years? Were there new friends you made or new places you’ve been to? Can’t think of anything? Well, pull out your calendar and flip back a few months and a few years. Was there something you scheduled that you’ve forgotten? It was important enough for you to mark it down at the time, reflect on how it went, and what you got out of it.
Favorites: Game, food, or sports team: when you talk about your favorite things, you allow people to take a peek into the history of you. It’s easier to get people excited when you talk about something you are passionate about, so do it! Also, talking about your favorite thing allow other people who like those things to find you. This is a great way to find and build your own community
Relatonships: Your parents, your partner, your teachers, or your friends, your relationship with each of those people are different, even though you are the same person. That’s the beauty of a relationship. This makes it a great topic to share on YouTube because it shows a unique side of who you are every time you speak about another relationship you have.
Rant: The world is out to get you… not really, but there are enough annoying situations during the week to fill a weekly rant segment for your channel. Here’s a tip about ranting that you should use to avoid sounding whiny: offer a solution at the end or be funny .
Show and Tell: Like the elementary school exercise, show and tell is a terrific way to show off something interesting you have and talk about the significance of it. An old childhood toy, a new gadget, a gift from a friend: every item has a story, show and tell it.
3. Challenge Yourself
Leave Your Comfort Zone: Do something that you didn’t think you can do and film it. It might end up being a Fail, but that is how you learn. Learn a new language and talk to a native speaker. Go bungee jumping. Offer free hugs in public. Do something that makes your heart beat faster everyday and film it.
Live On A Budget: Reduce your weekly budget to $50, can you do it? How about $10? This YouTube video idea gives you perspective into your life. How will your lifestyle change when you vastly reduce your expenses? Knowing this can actually help us prepare for the worst-case scenario.
30 Day Challenge: Usually a 30-day challenge is associated with partaking in a healthy activity such as exercise or giving up a bad habit. But all that has been done, why not challenge yourself to do something different? Cook all your meals for 30 days. Take a different route to work every day for 30 days. Have a 10-minute long conversation with someone new for 30 days.
Speed Round: You think you are good at something? Well, why not try to do it as quickly as possible? Complete a round of video games as quickly as you can. Do a MasterChef mystery box challenge in your kitchen. Run from one subway station to the next , beating the tube itself.
4. Show Your Talent
Make Music: An original song, a cover, or a remix, YouTube is a fantastic platform to showcase your musical talents. Don’t forget, some of the world’s top artists began their journey on YouTube. You might be next to join the discovered on YouTube list .
Creating: Are you an artist? Show your process in making a piece. Depending on the speed in which your project takes, use a timelapse to present what you did in the most effective way.
Unusual skill: Do you have a party trick that you would love to show everyone, but don’t have a party to go to? YouTube is the place for you. Juggle, do a magic trick, dance like Christopher Walkens, whatever unusual skill you have, share it on camera, and get the accolades you so deserve.
5. Explore Your Surroundings
Tour: Your home, your office, your city. Bring your camera and take your audience on a tour of a place you know well. Show them all the hidden gems, tell them a story about the history, and be spontaneous and discover along the way.
Special Event: In any community, there is always a special event taking place, whether it be a concert, a festival, or a conference. Film the environment, interview attendees, and share the experience.
Travel: Go on a trip and bring your camera with you. Create drama by documenting all the things that didn’t go as planned… and any memorable trip will have hiccups along the way. Discover things along the way and vocalize your thoughts through the trip.
Discuss Current Events: As the environmental climate, there is also a social and political climate. Address the current state of events in your city. Are there plans to build new infrastructure? Is there a social injustice that the public should know about? You can discuss international affairs, national politics, or keep it local to start.
6. Be An Educator
Advice: Have you been through a trying experience? Do you have advice for other people setting off on the same path? Whether it’s graduating school, starting a new job, losing weight, or practicing a new skill, creating content that offers helpful advice for those seeking it will give you credibility to speak about the topic since you have gone through the situation yourself.
How to Plan Something: Did you plan a camping trip that went really well? Did you throw a surprise birthday party that went without a hitch? It doesn’t have to be anything grand but think back to something you followed successfully and explain what you did to achieve it.
Lifehacks: Do you have lifehacks? This may be the most generous gift you can share with your audience. You can save them time, energy, and a whole lot of headaches. If you have an engineering spirit, then consider how you can simplify all the little activities that make up a day. No engineering spirit? Start with these lifehacks instead.
Time Management: The responsibility of every person is slightly different, but how you manage your daily schedule. Do you write tasks down on an agenda? Do you have a calendar? What do you do when you get distracted? What is your schedule like? Do you create your own bullet journal or use a productivity app? If so, share it!
Guided Activities: For beginners, some activities are better with a guide. If the audience is unable to join an in-person class, YouTube is a wonderful online alternative for guided activities such as yoga, meditation, and other exercise or relaxation activities.
Tutorial: Is there software you use particularly well? Are you skilled in the kitchen or the garage? Can you install appliances without reading the instructions? Give a step-by-step tutorial in completing a project.
7. Share Your Beliefs and Lifestyle
Motivation: Whatever you are pursuing, know that there are many on the same path as you. If you are an aspiring dancer create content for those that are with you on the journey. Encourage them and speak authentically about the accomplishments to come. Motivation is the energy that is in circulation. The more you send out into the universe, the more will come back to you.
Pets: If you share your home with animals, then you have no shortage of content. Point the camera at your dogs, cats, and ferrets for a while and see what ridiculous scenarios they get up to.
Fitness and Food: Do you subscribe to a specific type of fitness and diet? Have you seen the results that you want to share? Yes, perfect! If no, then why not do a little experimentation. Try to include a fitness and diet regimen in your daily life and vlog about it. Who knows, it might become a healthy change.
Tattoos, Piercing, or Scars: Every tattoo, piercing, and a scar on your body probably have an interesting story behind it. Whether it is something you are proud of or something you may prefer to hide, recognizing the different marks on your body and how they represent your history is a great way to reflect and get inspired.
Document Your Journey: It’s important to set achievable goals for yourself. That’s how you can encourage progress within yourself. With a goal and a timeline in mind, it can be as simple as documenting your journey towards it. If you are working on your novel, you can do a vlog updating the viewers on your process and word count or even bringing a camera with you as your piece gets workshopped.
Holiday: We all share memories of that wonderful time of year. For some it’s a spectacle for others it’s a modest affair. How do you celebrate the holidays and is there a story to that tradition?
Career: So much of our identity is related to what we do for a living. Talking about your day job on YouTube can be tricky. Be authentic, but also use your discretion, because you don’t want to misrepresent yourself professionally to the world.
Philosophy: What is your relationship with money, weekends, and your extended family? Thinking about your values can help you explore life philosophically, thus encouraging you to live the best life possible. As you speak about your philosophy, you are bound to experience alternative views, and that is where great content materializes.
Haul: If you have some money to spend, create a haul YouTube video. Haul video involves you going on a shopping spree and bringing home a big “haul.” In essence, it is an unboxing video on steroids. This type of video generally involves fashion or groceries, but it can be related to anything in large quantity. It’s all about showing off your new stuff to the audience.
Unboxing: Got something new from Amazon? Before you open it, turn on your camera. Unboxing is an easy YouTube video idea that allows your viewers who are considering buying the item to better understand whether it is in fact the right purchase for them.
8. Nurture Your Curiosity
Build Something: IKEA furniture, a website, a LEGO miniature, a business plan. The best way to get better at something is to just do it. Use your hands and build something and capture it for YouTube.
Behind the Scenes: It’s not only the entertainment industry that offers behind the scenes content, but many businesses offer tours and open houses. Reach out to any business or organization you are curious about the inner workings and odds are there will be a day where you can pop in and have a look at what it makes the wheels turn.
Jargon and Slang: From fashion to baseball to dentistry, everything has its own set of jargon or slang. What’s a galloon? What does it mean to win the pennant? What is 3MOD? If you are interested in languages, then diving into the world of jargon and slang is an interesting one.
Deconstruct a Process: Be like Tim Ferriss by breaking down a process into parts enabling you to learn a new skill faster, whether it be language or sports or coffee . Show your viewer how to properly learn how to improve performance by simplifying.
Languages: We all want to learn a new language, but it isn’t easy. If you have a knack for languages, show it off as a skill. Help new speakers avoid common mistakes, discuss the etymology of each word, and explore all the diverse dialects.
Accents: How accents derive is a fascinating topic to explore if you are seeking good ideas for YouTube. Why do some accents sound like music while other sound abrasive? Why different neighborhoods in the same city have different accents? There are endless questions to explore. Evenconstructed languages can be analyzed for their accents.
History: Are you interested in your city, your school, or the land your office is built upon? What was it like ten years ago? A hundred years ago? An exploration of history does not have to be about Rome or Mesopotamia, it can be about your backyard
Debunking Myths: Before every MythBusters episode they warn you not to attempt any of their experiments, and we are not encouraging you to either. At least, not to their scale. There is a multitude of myths out there that can use your expert eye to explore. In your city itself, there are stories worth debunking or at least learning more about.
Compare Two Things: Need something to do on YouTube? Why not compare diets such as Paleo vs Keto, devices such as Android vs iPhone, or a remake vs an original?
Opposing Opinions: Do you have a friend who always has to argue with you about everything: films, values, politics? Well, don’t just save those conversations for private, invite him or her over and film a debate.
Deep Dive: Go down the rabbit hole on a topic you are really fascinated about. Dissect every song from an artist, read every book by an author, or learn about a different type of plant growing in your community. Everywhere you look, you should see opportunities to get obsessed over a topic.
Biography of Someone: It could be a famous person or it can be someone from your family. Tell their story in a way that only you can. Get interviews, do research, and find a personal connection. Every life is significant, now it is your chance to honor that.
Fun Facts: Grab a deck of questions from Trivial Pursuit and pick a fun fact to explore. Use it as a jumping-off point for exploring an interesting topic. Share it with viewers who might not have known that they were interested in this fact.
Timeline of a Topic: Pick any topic and trace the lineage and better understand how it has gotten to this point. Where did it begin, has it hit critical mass, and how has it evolved over the years?
9. Be a Fan and a Critic
Fanfiction: Continue a story of one of your favorite movie characters or explore the life of some secondary character in a television show that you enjoy. Use their existing storyline to guide where you toward an interesting YouTube video about how they could have evolved.
Re-edit: Use your editing skills to recreate a classic movie scene, allowing it to have a completely different tone. Or mashup footage from a variety of sources to create an original piece of video content.
Speculation of Unreleased Entertainment: There are always rumors of upcoming movies, music, and books from famous filmmakers, musicians, and authors. Speculate on what the new release can possibly be about. Generate buzz and excitement and consider what you would do if you were put into the shoes of those famous creators.
Spotlight on the Best: In every field, there are those that are considered world-class. How did they get there, what support did they get, and how are they working to stay at the top? Highlight their achievements and see what we can anticipate from them in the future.
Commentary: Can you offer insights into a particular piece of work? Share it with the world and add another dimension to what the viewers have already seen.
Spotlight on Something Not So Popular: Is there something you adore that nobody really knows about? You can be the one to help this become mainstream.
Tribute: Pay tribute to a personality or an event from the past. Help people remember the significance of what happened from the past through your YouTube video.
Shoutout: Like sending out a thank you card, use YouTube to publicly thank someone for doing something awesome! It’s like you are giving a toast to someone in front of the whole Internet, what an honor.
Summarize a Book, Movie, or TV Show: Give the Coles note summary of a book, a movie, or TV show. Challenge yourself to make a summary that is as interesting as the actual source material.
“Best of” Video: Select the best scenes from your favorite actor or the best plays from your favorite athlete and compile it into a video that highlights all the best moments.
10. Create Entertainment
Fails: Don’t get embarrassed, get views. Embrace your shortcomings and accept that everybody has failed at something. Be careful and don’t get hurt too bad though.
Parody: Channel your Key of Awesome and create your own parody of something from pop culture. If you parody something trending, it can help you catch the wave of popularity and bring in views as all eyes are currently on that topic.
Break Something: There is nothing like watching something get destroyed. Maybe that’s why the Will it Blend videos got so popular. No matter how we resist it, we enjoy seeing the destruction.
Time Lapse: The growth of a plant, the flow of traffic, the rise and fall of the sun through your eyes. In this fast pace world, it’s fun to see organized chaos at a rapid rate.
Screen Sharing: Let people watch you play a video game or give a tour of your desktop. Share your screen as you write a poem.
Cinematography: There is always a place for beautiful cinematography on YouTube. Tell a great story about your life or your city with great moving images.
Short subject documentary: Pick a topic that matters and explore in through the structure of a documentary. Remember that when making a documentary, think about it as making a movie – you are not there to lecture them. Can you get peopleriled up as Michael Moore does? Can you encourage people to take action? If yes, then you are ready to start making documentary-style YouTube videos.
Lip-sync: Can’t sing but feel you have a musical gift to give to the world, well, they will never put you on the billboards for what you can do lip-syncing, but you can make a pretty entertaining YouTube video through this medium. It doesn’t even have to be music either, take Bad Lip Reading .
Impressions: A good impression is always worth a good laugh, and a bad one is almost as good. Give it a shot, pull up videos of some of your favorite celebrities, and film yourself attempting to mimic their voice, characteristics and expressions.
Sketch Comedy, Short Film, or Role Play: Do you have characters and scenes in mind that will be perfect for SNL? Well, instead of having to go through Lorne Michaels, create the character yourself and publish your comedy sketch on YouTube.
Interview: Find a subject matter experts and ask them interesting questions about their profession and areas of interest.
Games: Play a game with your friends or other YouTubers and allow the competitiveness, frustration, and hilarity to ensue.
Okay! How do you feel?
I bet you are bursting and ready to create your next video. Onwards! Remember, whatever idea you pick, be sure to give it your own flair. That is what YouTube is all about. Got another YouTube video idea you want to share? Let the Filmora.io community know in the comments.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Ideas are the fuel for your YouTube channel, and you are running on empty. Out of video ideas or in need of fresh new ideas? No worries. This article is truly a definitive list of YouTube video ideas.
Bookmark this post, so whenever you need a content idea, you can quickly reference it. After you finish reading, you will be ready to make your next video.
Make Creative YouTube Videos with Wondershare Filmora
Wondershare Filmora is a great tool and known for its creativity in video files. You can always make use of features on Filmora that would help you to tweak your videos in any way. Be it the effects, overlays, or transitions, Filmora has all the tools and features available to make creative content for your YouTube channel. The best advantage of having Filmora in the tool list is that it has some inbuilt templates which are easy enough to be implemented and embed on the YouTube Videos.
1. Content Idea Resources
Before we go deeper into the search to find you the best topics for YouTube, let’s take a quick look at some tools that may help you warm up and get your creative juices flowing.
Portent’s Content Title Idea Generator: Put in one of your keywords in this content idea generator and it will come up with an interesting title for you.
We The Unicorn’s Video Idea Generator Quiz: Answer this multiple-choice quiz and allow the algorithm to suggest a YouTube video idea that best suits your style.
701 YouTube Video Ideas [eBook]: You’ll save time brainstorming, be able to post consistently, and grow your YouTube channel faster with this book of ideas.
As you can see, coming up with ideas doesn’t have to be an agonizing drag. It’s all about flexing your creativity muscle and we are here to help you do it. Are you ready to be inspired? Great! Let’s begin this list:
2. Showcase Who You Are
Talk About Yourself: Introduce yourself to the world. You can answer 10 of the most common ice breaker questions you get at social gatherings: “Who are you?” “What do you do for a living?” “What are your hobbies?” In this video, you get to decide how you want to showcase yourself to your audience.
Reviews: Do you have opinions? Of course, you do. Movie trailers, popular YouTube videos, products such as makeup, gadgets, and toys, you have thoughts on everything. It’s more than content creation, it’s critical thinking. Understanding why you like or dislike something is not only helpful for other people like you, but it’s also helpful for you to know your own preferences. It’s a little exercise in self-discovery.
Day in a Life: Bring the audience with you on a day of your life. Show people what it is like to walk in your shoes from morning to night. How do you commute to school or work? What do you have for lunch? What obstacles do you encounter throughout the day? You’ll be surprised what will happen as your day unfolds.
Top 10: People love lists because it’s a simple rundown. When you set your video as a list, the viewer knows exactly what they are getting, and familiarity with the format will make it more likely to be clicked. While you can make a top 12 or top 16 list, it is shown that picking a number ending on “0” will yield the best results .
Routines: What do you do when you get ready for school or work? What do you do before bed? Discussing your routine can inspire people to lead the life you have. A routine does not mean going to an office every day , it can mean eating a new restaurant every month, doing something impulsive once a week, or appreciating what you have on a daily basis.
Reflection: You’ve come a long way and you don’t always acknowledge it. Were there a few pivotal milestones in the last five years? Were there new friends you made or new places you’ve been to? Can’t think of anything? Well, pull out your calendar and flip back a few months and a few years. Was there something you scheduled that you’ve forgotten? It was important enough for you to mark it down at the time, reflect on how it went, and what you got out of it.
Favorites: Game, food, or sports team: when you talk about your favorite things, you allow people to take a peek into the history of you. It’s easier to get people excited when you talk about something you are passionate about, so do it! Also, talking about your favorite thing allow other people who like those things to find you. This is a great way to find and build your own community
Relatonships: Your parents, your partner, your teachers, or your friends, your relationship with each of those people are different, even though you are the same person. That’s the beauty of a relationship. This makes it a great topic to share on YouTube because it shows a unique side of who you are every time you speak about another relationship you have.
Rant: The world is out to get you… not really, but there are enough annoying situations during the week to fill a weekly rant segment for your channel. Here’s a tip about ranting that you should use to avoid sounding whiny: offer a solution at the end or be funny .
Show and Tell: Like the elementary school exercise, show and tell is a terrific way to show off something interesting you have and talk about the significance of it. An old childhood toy, a new gadget, a gift from a friend: every item has a story, show and tell it.
3. Challenge Yourself
Leave Your Comfort Zone: Do something that you didn’t think you can do and film it. It might end up being a Fail, but that is how you learn. Learn a new language and talk to a native speaker. Go bungee jumping. Offer free hugs in public. Do something that makes your heart beat faster everyday and film it.
Live On A Budget: Reduce your weekly budget to $50, can you do it? How about $10? This YouTube video idea gives you perspective into your life. How will your lifestyle change when you vastly reduce your expenses? Knowing this can actually help us prepare for the worst-case scenario.
30 Day Challenge: Usually a 30-day challenge is associated with partaking in a healthy activity such as exercise or giving up a bad habit. But all that has been done, why not challenge yourself to do something different? Cook all your meals for 30 days. Take a different route to work every day for 30 days. Have a 10-minute long conversation with someone new for 30 days.
Speed Round: You think you are good at something? Well, why not try to do it as quickly as possible? Complete a round of video games as quickly as you can. Do a MasterChef mystery box challenge in your kitchen. Run from one subway station to the next , beating the tube itself.
4. Show Your Talent
Make Music: An original song, a cover, or a remix, YouTube is a fantastic platform to showcase your musical talents. Don’t forget, some of the world’s top artists began their journey on YouTube. You might be next to join the discovered on YouTube list .
Creating: Are you an artist? Show your process in making a piece. Depending on the speed in which your project takes, use a timelapse to present what you did in the most effective way.
Unusual skill: Do you have a party trick that you would love to show everyone, but don’t have a party to go to? YouTube is the place for you. Juggle, do a magic trick, dance like Christopher Walkens, whatever unusual skill you have, share it on camera, and get the accolades you so deserve.
5. Explore Your Surroundings
Tour: Your home, your office, your city. Bring your camera and take your audience on a tour of a place you know well. Show them all the hidden gems, tell them a story about the history, and be spontaneous and discover along the way.
Special Event: In any community, there is always a special event taking place, whether it be a concert, a festival, or a conference. Film the environment, interview attendees, and share the experience.
Travel: Go on a trip and bring your camera with you. Create drama by documenting all the things that didn’t go as planned… and any memorable trip will have hiccups along the way. Discover things along the way and vocalize your thoughts through the trip.
Discuss Current Events: As the environmental climate, there is also a social and political climate. Address the current state of events in your city. Are there plans to build new infrastructure? Is there a social injustice that the public should know about? You can discuss international affairs, national politics, or keep it local to start.
6. Be An Educator
Advice: Have you been through a trying experience? Do you have advice for other people setting off on the same path? Whether it’s graduating school, starting a new job, losing weight, or practicing a new skill, creating content that offers helpful advice for those seeking it will give you credibility to speak about the topic since you have gone through the situation yourself.
How to Plan Something: Did you plan a camping trip that went really well? Did you throw a surprise birthday party that went without a hitch? It doesn’t have to be anything grand but think back to something you followed successfully and explain what you did to achieve it.
Lifehacks: Do you have lifehacks? This may be the most generous gift you can share with your audience. You can save them time, energy, and a whole lot of headaches. If you have an engineering spirit, then consider how you can simplify all the little activities that make up a day. No engineering spirit? Start with these lifehacks instead.
Time Management: The responsibility of every person is slightly different, but how you manage your daily schedule. Do you write tasks down on an agenda? Do you have a calendar? What do you do when you get distracted? What is your schedule like? Do you create your own bullet journal or use a productivity app? If so, share it!
Guided Activities: For beginners, some activities are better with a guide. If the audience is unable to join an in-person class, YouTube is a wonderful online alternative for guided activities such as yoga, meditation, and other exercise or relaxation activities.
Tutorial: Is there software you use particularly well? Are you skilled in the kitchen or the garage? Can you install appliances without reading the instructions? Give a step-by-step tutorial in completing a project.
7. Share Your Beliefs and Lifestyle
Motivation: Whatever you are pursuing, know that there are many on the same path as you. If you are an aspiring dancer create content for those that are with you on the journey. Encourage them and speak authentically about the accomplishments to come. Motivation is the energy that is in circulation. The more you send out into the universe, the more will come back to you.
Pets: If you share your home with animals, then you have no shortage of content. Point the camera at your dogs, cats, and ferrets for a while and see what ridiculous scenarios they get up to.
Fitness and Food: Do you subscribe to a specific type of fitness and diet? Have you seen the results that you want to share? Yes, perfect! If no, then why not do a little experimentation. Try to include a fitness and diet regimen in your daily life and vlog about it. Who knows, it might become a healthy change.
Tattoos, Piercing, or Scars: Every tattoo, piercing, and a scar on your body probably have an interesting story behind it. Whether it is something you are proud of or something you may prefer to hide, recognizing the different marks on your body and how they represent your history is a great way to reflect and get inspired.
Document Your Journey: It’s important to set achievable goals for yourself. That’s how you can encourage progress within yourself. With a goal and a timeline in mind, it can be as simple as documenting your journey towards it. If you are working on your novel, you can do a vlog updating the viewers on your process and word count or even bringing a camera with you as your piece gets workshopped.
Holiday: We all share memories of that wonderful time of year. For some it’s a spectacle for others it’s a modest affair. How do you celebrate the holidays and is there a story to that tradition?
Career: So much of our identity is related to what we do for a living. Talking about your day job on YouTube can be tricky. Be authentic, but also use your discretion, because you don’t want to misrepresent yourself professionally to the world.
Philosophy: What is your relationship with money, weekends, and your extended family? Thinking about your values can help you explore life philosophically, thus encouraging you to live the best life possible. As you speak about your philosophy, you are bound to experience alternative views, and that is where great content materializes.
Haul: If you have some money to spend, create a haul YouTube video. Haul video involves you going on a shopping spree and bringing home a big “haul.” In essence, it is an unboxing video on steroids. This type of video generally involves fashion or groceries, but it can be related to anything in large quantity. It’s all about showing off your new stuff to the audience.
Unboxing: Got something new from Amazon? Before you open it, turn on your camera. Unboxing is an easy YouTube video idea that allows your viewers who are considering buying the item to better understand whether it is in fact the right purchase for them.
8. Nurture Your Curiosity
Build Something: IKEA furniture, a website, a LEGO miniature, a business plan. The best way to get better at something is to just do it. Use your hands and build something and capture it for YouTube.
Behind the Scenes: It’s not only the entertainment industry that offers behind the scenes content, but many businesses offer tours and open houses. Reach out to any business or organization you are curious about the inner workings and odds are there will be a day where you can pop in and have a look at what it makes the wheels turn.
Jargon and Slang: From fashion to baseball to dentistry, everything has its own set of jargon or slang. What’s a galloon? What does it mean to win the pennant? What is 3MOD? If you are interested in languages, then diving into the world of jargon and slang is an interesting one.
Deconstruct a Process: Be like Tim Ferriss by breaking down a process into parts enabling you to learn a new skill faster, whether it be language or sports or coffee . Show your viewer how to properly learn how to improve performance by simplifying.
Languages: We all want to learn a new language, but it isn’t easy. If you have a knack for languages, show it off as a skill. Help new speakers avoid common mistakes, discuss the etymology of each word, and explore all the diverse dialects.
Accents: How accents derive is a fascinating topic to explore if you are seeking good ideas for YouTube. Why do some accents sound like music while other sound abrasive? Why different neighborhoods in the same city have different accents? There are endless questions to explore. Evenconstructed languages can be analyzed for their accents.
History: Are you interested in your city, your school, or the land your office is built upon? What was it like ten years ago? A hundred years ago? An exploration of history does not have to be about Rome or Mesopotamia, it can be about your backyard
Debunking Myths: Before every MythBusters episode they warn you not to attempt any of their experiments, and we are not encouraging you to either. At least, not to their scale. There is a multitude of myths out there that can use your expert eye to explore. In your city itself, there are stories worth debunking or at least learning more about.
Compare Two Things: Need something to do on YouTube? Why not compare diets such as Paleo vs Keto, devices such as Android vs iPhone, or a remake vs an original?
Opposing Opinions: Do you have a friend who always has to argue with you about everything: films, values, politics? Well, don’t just save those conversations for private, invite him or her over and film a debate.
Deep Dive: Go down the rabbit hole on a topic you are really fascinated about. Dissect every song from an artist, read every book by an author, or learn about a different type of plant growing in your community. Everywhere you look, you should see opportunities to get obsessed over a topic.
Biography of Someone: It could be a famous person or it can be someone from your family. Tell their story in a way that only you can. Get interviews, do research, and find a personal connection. Every life is significant, now it is your chance to honor that.
Fun Facts: Grab a deck of questions from Trivial Pursuit and pick a fun fact to explore. Use it as a jumping-off point for exploring an interesting topic. Share it with viewers who might not have known that they were interested in this fact.
Timeline of a Topic: Pick any topic and trace the lineage and better understand how it has gotten to this point. Where did it begin, has it hit critical mass, and how has it evolved over the years?
9. Be a Fan and a Critic
Fanfiction: Continue a story of one of your favorite movie characters or explore the life of some secondary character in a television show that you enjoy. Use their existing storyline to guide where you toward an interesting YouTube video about how they could have evolved.
Re-edit: Use your editing skills to recreate a classic movie scene, allowing it to have a completely different tone. Or mashup footage from a variety of sources to create an original piece of video content.
Speculation of Unreleased Entertainment: There are always rumors of upcoming movies, music, and books from famous filmmakers, musicians, and authors. Speculate on what the new release can possibly be about. Generate buzz and excitement and consider what you would do if you were put into the shoes of those famous creators.
Spotlight on the Best: In every field, there are those that are considered world-class. How did they get there, what support did they get, and how are they working to stay at the top? Highlight their achievements and see what we can anticipate from them in the future.
Commentary: Can you offer insights into a particular piece of work? Share it with the world and add another dimension to what the viewers have already seen.
Spotlight on Something Not So Popular: Is there something you adore that nobody really knows about? You can be the one to help this become mainstream.
Tribute: Pay tribute to a personality or an event from the past. Help people remember the significance of what happened from the past through your YouTube video.
Shoutout: Like sending out a thank you card, use YouTube to publicly thank someone for doing something awesome! It’s like you are giving a toast to someone in front of the whole Internet, what an honor.
Summarize a Book, Movie, or TV Show: Give the Coles note summary of a book, a movie, or TV show. Challenge yourself to make a summary that is as interesting as the actual source material.
“Best of” Video: Select the best scenes from your favorite actor or the best plays from your favorite athlete and compile it into a video that highlights all the best moments.
10. Create Entertainment
Fails: Don’t get embarrassed, get views. Embrace your shortcomings and accept that everybody has failed at something. Be careful and don’t get hurt too bad though.
Parody: Channel your Key of Awesome and create your own parody of something from pop culture. If you parody something trending, it can help you catch the wave of popularity and bring in views as all eyes are currently on that topic.
Break Something: There is nothing like watching something get destroyed. Maybe that’s why the Will it Blend videos got so popular. No matter how we resist it, we enjoy seeing the destruction.
Time Lapse: The growth of a plant, the flow of traffic, the rise and fall of the sun through your eyes. In this fast pace world, it’s fun to see organized chaos at a rapid rate.
Screen Sharing: Let people watch you play a video game or give a tour of your desktop. Share your screen as you write a poem.
Cinematography: There is always a place for beautiful cinematography on YouTube. Tell a great story about your life or your city with great moving images.
Short subject documentary: Pick a topic that matters and explore in through the structure of a documentary. Remember that when making a documentary, think about it as making a movie – you are not there to lecture them. Can you get peopleriled up as Michael Moore does? Can you encourage people to take action? If yes, then you are ready to start making documentary-style YouTube videos.
Lip-sync: Can’t sing but feel you have a musical gift to give to the world, well, they will never put you on the billboards for what you can do lip-syncing, but you can make a pretty entertaining YouTube video through this medium. It doesn’t even have to be music either, take Bad Lip Reading .
Impressions: A good impression is always worth a good laugh, and a bad one is almost as good. Give it a shot, pull up videos of some of your favorite celebrities, and film yourself attempting to mimic their voice, characteristics and expressions.
Sketch Comedy, Short Film, or Role Play: Do you have characters and scenes in mind that will be perfect for SNL? Well, instead of having to go through Lorne Michaels, create the character yourself and publish your comedy sketch on YouTube.
Interview: Find a subject matter experts and ask them interesting questions about their profession and areas of interest.
Games: Play a game with your friends or other YouTubers and allow the competitiveness, frustration, and hilarity to ensue.
Okay! How do you feel?
I bet you are bursting and ready to create your next video. Onwards! Remember, whatever idea you pick, be sure to give it your own flair. That is what YouTube is all about. Got another YouTube video idea you want to share? Let the Filmora.io community know in the comments.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Ideas are the fuel for your YouTube channel, and you are running on empty. Out of video ideas or in need of fresh new ideas? No worries. This article is truly a definitive list of YouTube video ideas.
Bookmark this post, so whenever you need a content idea, you can quickly reference it. After you finish reading, you will be ready to make your next video.
Make Creative YouTube Videos with Wondershare Filmora
Wondershare Filmora is a great tool and known for its creativity in video files. You can always make use of features on Filmora that would help you to tweak your videos in any way. Be it the effects, overlays, or transitions, Filmora has all the tools and features available to make creative content for your YouTube channel. The best advantage of having Filmora in the tool list is that it has some inbuilt templates which are easy enough to be implemented and embed on the YouTube Videos.
1. Content Idea Resources
Before we go deeper into the search to find you the best topics for YouTube, let’s take a quick look at some tools that may help you warm up and get your creative juices flowing.
Portent’s Content Title Idea Generator: Put in one of your keywords in this content idea generator and it will come up with an interesting title for you.
We The Unicorn’s Video Idea Generator Quiz: Answer this multiple-choice quiz and allow the algorithm to suggest a YouTube video idea that best suits your style.
701 YouTube Video Ideas [eBook]: You’ll save time brainstorming, be able to post consistently, and grow your YouTube channel faster with this book of ideas.
As you can see, coming up with ideas doesn’t have to be an agonizing drag. It’s all about flexing your creativity muscle and we are here to help you do it. Are you ready to be inspired? Great! Let’s begin this list:
2. Showcase Who You Are
Talk About Yourself: Introduce yourself to the world. You can answer 10 of the most common ice breaker questions you get at social gatherings: “Who are you?” “What do you do for a living?” “What are your hobbies?” In this video, you get to decide how you want to showcase yourself to your audience.
Reviews: Do you have opinions? Of course, you do. Movie trailers, popular YouTube videos, products such as makeup, gadgets, and toys, you have thoughts on everything. It’s more than content creation, it’s critical thinking. Understanding why you like or dislike something is not only helpful for other people like you, but it’s also helpful for you to know your own preferences. It’s a little exercise in self-discovery.
Day in a Life: Bring the audience with you on a day of your life. Show people what it is like to walk in your shoes from morning to night. How do you commute to school or work? What do you have for lunch? What obstacles do you encounter throughout the day? You’ll be surprised what will happen as your day unfolds.
Top 10: People love lists because it’s a simple rundown. When you set your video as a list, the viewer knows exactly what they are getting, and familiarity with the format will make it more likely to be clicked. While you can make a top 12 or top 16 list, it is shown that picking a number ending on “0” will yield the best results .
Routines: What do you do when you get ready for school or work? What do you do before bed? Discussing your routine can inspire people to lead the life you have. A routine does not mean going to an office every day , it can mean eating a new restaurant every month, doing something impulsive once a week, or appreciating what you have on a daily basis.
Reflection: You’ve come a long way and you don’t always acknowledge it. Were there a few pivotal milestones in the last five years? Were there new friends you made or new places you’ve been to? Can’t think of anything? Well, pull out your calendar and flip back a few months and a few years. Was there something you scheduled that you’ve forgotten? It was important enough for you to mark it down at the time, reflect on how it went, and what you got out of it.
Favorites: Game, food, or sports team: when you talk about your favorite things, you allow people to take a peek into the history of you. It’s easier to get people excited when you talk about something you are passionate about, so do it! Also, talking about your favorite thing allow other people who like those things to find you. This is a great way to find and build your own community
Relatonships: Your parents, your partner, your teachers, or your friends, your relationship with each of those people are different, even though you are the same person. That’s the beauty of a relationship. This makes it a great topic to share on YouTube because it shows a unique side of who you are every time you speak about another relationship you have.
Rant: The world is out to get you… not really, but there are enough annoying situations during the week to fill a weekly rant segment for your channel. Here’s a tip about ranting that you should use to avoid sounding whiny: offer a solution at the end or be funny .
Show and Tell: Like the elementary school exercise, show and tell is a terrific way to show off something interesting you have and talk about the significance of it. An old childhood toy, a new gadget, a gift from a friend: every item has a story, show and tell it.
3. Challenge Yourself
Leave Your Comfort Zone: Do something that you didn’t think you can do and film it. It might end up being a Fail, but that is how you learn. Learn a new language and talk to a native speaker. Go bungee jumping. Offer free hugs in public. Do something that makes your heart beat faster everyday and film it.
Live On A Budget: Reduce your weekly budget to $50, can you do it? How about $10? This YouTube video idea gives you perspective into your life. How will your lifestyle change when you vastly reduce your expenses? Knowing this can actually help us prepare for the worst-case scenario.
30 Day Challenge: Usually a 30-day challenge is associated with partaking in a healthy activity such as exercise or giving up a bad habit. But all that has been done, why not challenge yourself to do something different? Cook all your meals for 30 days. Take a different route to work every day for 30 days. Have a 10-minute long conversation with someone new for 30 days.
Speed Round: You think you are good at something? Well, why not try to do it as quickly as possible? Complete a round of video games as quickly as you can. Do a MasterChef mystery box challenge in your kitchen. Run from one subway station to the next , beating the tube itself.
4. Show Your Talent
Make Music: An original song, a cover, or a remix, YouTube is a fantastic platform to showcase your musical talents. Don’t forget, some of the world’s top artists began their journey on YouTube. You might be next to join the discovered on YouTube list .
Creating: Are you an artist? Show your process in making a piece. Depending on the speed in which your project takes, use a timelapse to present what you did in the most effective way.
Unusual skill: Do you have a party trick that you would love to show everyone, but don’t have a party to go to? YouTube is the place for you. Juggle, do a magic trick, dance like Christopher Walkens, whatever unusual skill you have, share it on camera, and get the accolades you so deserve.
5. Explore Your Surroundings
Tour: Your home, your office, your city. Bring your camera and take your audience on a tour of a place you know well. Show them all the hidden gems, tell them a story about the history, and be spontaneous and discover along the way.
Special Event: In any community, there is always a special event taking place, whether it be a concert, a festival, or a conference. Film the environment, interview attendees, and share the experience.
Travel: Go on a trip and bring your camera with you. Create drama by documenting all the things that didn’t go as planned… and any memorable trip will have hiccups along the way. Discover things along the way and vocalize your thoughts through the trip.
Discuss Current Events: As the environmental climate, there is also a social and political climate. Address the current state of events in your city. Are there plans to build new infrastructure? Is there a social injustice that the public should know about? You can discuss international affairs, national politics, or keep it local to start.
6. Be An Educator
Advice: Have you been through a trying experience? Do you have advice for other people setting off on the same path? Whether it’s graduating school, starting a new job, losing weight, or practicing a new skill, creating content that offers helpful advice for those seeking it will give you credibility to speak about the topic since you have gone through the situation yourself.
How to Plan Something: Did you plan a camping trip that went really well? Did you throw a surprise birthday party that went without a hitch? It doesn’t have to be anything grand but think back to something you followed successfully and explain what you did to achieve it.
Lifehacks: Do you have lifehacks? This may be the most generous gift you can share with your audience. You can save them time, energy, and a whole lot of headaches. If you have an engineering spirit, then consider how you can simplify all the little activities that make up a day. No engineering spirit? Start with these lifehacks instead.
Time Management: The responsibility of every person is slightly different, but how you manage your daily schedule. Do you write tasks down on an agenda? Do you have a calendar? What do you do when you get distracted? What is your schedule like? Do you create your own bullet journal or use a productivity app? If so, share it!
Guided Activities: For beginners, some activities are better with a guide. If the audience is unable to join an in-person class, YouTube is a wonderful online alternative for guided activities such as yoga, meditation, and other exercise or relaxation activities.
Tutorial: Is there software you use particularly well? Are you skilled in the kitchen or the garage? Can you install appliances without reading the instructions? Give a step-by-step tutorial in completing a project.
7. Share Your Beliefs and Lifestyle
Motivation: Whatever you are pursuing, know that there are many on the same path as you. If you are an aspiring dancer create content for those that are with you on the journey. Encourage them and speak authentically about the accomplishments to come. Motivation is the energy that is in circulation. The more you send out into the universe, the more will come back to you.
Pets: If you share your home with animals, then you have no shortage of content. Point the camera at your dogs, cats, and ferrets for a while and see what ridiculous scenarios they get up to.
Fitness and Food: Do you subscribe to a specific type of fitness and diet? Have you seen the results that you want to share? Yes, perfect! If no, then why not do a little experimentation. Try to include a fitness and diet regimen in your daily life and vlog about it. Who knows, it might become a healthy change.
Tattoos, Piercing, or Scars: Every tattoo, piercing, and a scar on your body probably have an interesting story behind it. Whether it is something you are proud of or something you may prefer to hide, recognizing the different marks on your body and how they represent your history is a great way to reflect and get inspired.
Document Your Journey: It’s important to set achievable goals for yourself. That’s how you can encourage progress within yourself. With a goal and a timeline in mind, it can be as simple as documenting your journey towards it. If you are working on your novel, you can do a vlog updating the viewers on your process and word count or even bringing a camera with you as your piece gets workshopped.
Holiday: We all share memories of that wonderful time of year. For some it’s a spectacle for others it’s a modest affair. How do you celebrate the holidays and is there a story to that tradition?
Career: So much of our identity is related to what we do for a living. Talking about your day job on YouTube can be tricky. Be authentic, but also use your discretion, because you don’t want to misrepresent yourself professionally to the world.
Philosophy: What is your relationship with money, weekends, and your extended family? Thinking about your values can help you explore life philosophically, thus encouraging you to live the best life possible. As you speak about your philosophy, you are bound to experience alternative views, and that is where great content materializes.
Haul: If you have some money to spend, create a haul YouTube video. Haul video involves you going on a shopping spree and bringing home a big “haul.” In essence, it is an unboxing video on steroids. This type of video generally involves fashion or groceries, but it can be related to anything in large quantity. It’s all about showing off your new stuff to the audience.
Unboxing: Got something new from Amazon? Before you open it, turn on your camera. Unboxing is an easy YouTube video idea that allows your viewers who are considering buying the item to better understand whether it is in fact the right purchase for them.
8. Nurture Your Curiosity
Build Something: IKEA furniture, a website, a LEGO miniature, a business plan. The best way to get better at something is to just do it. Use your hands and build something and capture it for YouTube.
Behind the Scenes: It’s not only the entertainment industry that offers behind the scenes content, but many businesses offer tours and open houses. Reach out to any business or organization you are curious about the inner workings and odds are there will be a day where you can pop in and have a look at what it makes the wheels turn.
Jargon and Slang: From fashion to baseball to dentistry, everything has its own set of jargon or slang. What’s a galloon? What does it mean to win the pennant? What is 3MOD? If you are interested in languages, then diving into the world of jargon and slang is an interesting one.
Deconstruct a Process: Be like Tim Ferriss by breaking down a process into parts enabling you to learn a new skill faster, whether it be language or sports or coffee . Show your viewer how to properly learn how to improve performance by simplifying.
Languages: We all want to learn a new language, but it isn’t easy. If you have a knack for languages, show it off as a skill. Help new speakers avoid common mistakes, discuss the etymology of each word, and explore all the diverse dialects.
Accents: How accents derive is a fascinating topic to explore if you are seeking good ideas for YouTube. Why do some accents sound like music while other sound abrasive? Why different neighborhoods in the same city have different accents? There are endless questions to explore. Evenconstructed languages can be analyzed for their accents.
History: Are you interested in your city, your school, or the land your office is built upon? What was it like ten years ago? A hundred years ago? An exploration of history does not have to be about Rome or Mesopotamia, it can be about your backyard
Debunking Myths: Before every MythBusters episode they warn you not to attempt any of their experiments, and we are not encouraging you to either. At least, not to their scale. There is a multitude of myths out there that can use your expert eye to explore. In your city itself, there are stories worth debunking or at least learning more about.
Compare Two Things: Need something to do on YouTube? Why not compare diets such as Paleo vs Keto, devices such as Android vs iPhone, or a remake vs an original?
Opposing Opinions: Do you have a friend who always has to argue with you about everything: films, values, politics? Well, don’t just save those conversations for private, invite him or her over and film a debate.
Deep Dive: Go down the rabbit hole on a topic you are really fascinated about. Dissect every song from an artist, read every book by an author, or learn about a different type of plant growing in your community. Everywhere you look, you should see opportunities to get obsessed over a topic.
Biography of Someone: It could be a famous person or it can be someone from your family. Tell their story in a way that only you can. Get interviews, do research, and find a personal connection. Every life is significant, now it is your chance to honor that.
Fun Facts: Grab a deck of questions from Trivial Pursuit and pick a fun fact to explore. Use it as a jumping-off point for exploring an interesting topic. Share it with viewers who might not have known that they were interested in this fact.
Timeline of a Topic: Pick any topic and trace the lineage and better understand how it has gotten to this point. Where did it begin, has it hit critical mass, and how has it evolved over the years?
9. Be a Fan and a Critic
Fanfiction: Continue a story of one of your favorite movie characters or explore the life of some secondary character in a television show that you enjoy. Use their existing storyline to guide where you toward an interesting YouTube video about how they could have evolved.
Re-edit: Use your editing skills to recreate a classic movie scene, allowing it to have a completely different tone. Or mashup footage from a variety of sources to create an original piece of video content.
Speculation of Unreleased Entertainment: There are always rumors of upcoming movies, music, and books from famous filmmakers, musicians, and authors. Speculate on what the new release can possibly be about. Generate buzz and excitement and consider what you would do if you were put into the shoes of those famous creators.
Spotlight on the Best: In every field, there are those that are considered world-class. How did they get there, what support did they get, and how are they working to stay at the top? Highlight their achievements and see what we can anticipate from them in the future.
Commentary: Can you offer insights into a particular piece of work? Share it with the world and add another dimension to what the viewers have already seen.
Spotlight on Something Not So Popular: Is there something you adore that nobody really knows about? You can be the one to help this become mainstream.
Tribute: Pay tribute to a personality or an event from the past. Help people remember the significance of what happened from the past through your YouTube video.
Shoutout: Like sending out a thank you card, use YouTube to publicly thank someone for doing something awesome! It’s like you are giving a toast to someone in front of the whole Internet, what an honor.
Summarize a Book, Movie, or TV Show: Give the Coles note summary of a book, a movie, or TV show. Challenge yourself to make a summary that is as interesting as the actual source material.
“Best of” Video: Select the best scenes from your favorite actor or the best plays from your favorite athlete and compile it into a video that highlights all the best moments.
10. Create Entertainment
Fails: Don’t get embarrassed, get views. Embrace your shortcomings and accept that everybody has failed at something. Be careful and don’t get hurt too bad though.
Parody: Channel your Key of Awesome and create your own parody of something from pop culture. If you parody something trending, it can help you catch the wave of popularity and bring in views as all eyes are currently on that topic.
Break Something: There is nothing like watching something get destroyed. Maybe that’s why the Will it Blend videos got so popular. No matter how we resist it, we enjoy seeing the destruction.
Time Lapse: The growth of a plant, the flow of traffic, the rise and fall of the sun through your eyes. In this fast pace world, it’s fun to see organized chaos at a rapid rate.
Screen Sharing: Let people watch you play a video game or give a tour of your desktop. Share your screen as you write a poem.
Cinematography: There is always a place for beautiful cinematography on YouTube. Tell a great story about your life or your city with great moving images.
Short subject documentary: Pick a topic that matters and explore in through the structure of a documentary. Remember that when making a documentary, think about it as making a movie – you are not there to lecture them. Can you get peopleriled up as Michael Moore does? Can you encourage people to take action? If yes, then you are ready to start making documentary-style YouTube videos.
Lip-sync: Can’t sing but feel you have a musical gift to give to the world, well, they will never put you on the billboards for what you can do lip-syncing, but you can make a pretty entertaining YouTube video through this medium. It doesn’t even have to be music either, take Bad Lip Reading .
Impressions: A good impression is always worth a good laugh, and a bad one is almost as good. Give it a shot, pull up videos of some of your favorite celebrities, and film yourself attempting to mimic their voice, characteristics and expressions.
Sketch Comedy, Short Film, or Role Play: Do you have characters and scenes in mind that will be perfect for SNL? Well, instead of having to go through Lorne Michaels, create the character yourself and publish your comedy sketch on YouTube.
Interview: Find a subject matter experts and ask them interesting questions about their profession and areas of interest.
Games: Play a game with your friends or other YouTubers and allow the competitiveness, frustration, and hilarity to ensue.
Okay! How do you feel?
I bet you are bursting and ready to create your next video. Onwards! Remember, whatever idea you pick, be sure to give it your own flair. That is what YouTube is all about. Got another YouTube video idea you want to share? Let the Filmora.io community know in the comments.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Ideas are the fuel for your YouTube channel, and you are running on empty. Out of video ideas or in need of fresh new ideas? No worries. This article is truly a definitive list of YouTube video ideas.
Bookmark this post, so whenever you need a content idea, you can quickly reference it. After you finish reading, you will be ready to make your next video.
Make Creative YouTube Videos with Wondershare Filmora
Wondershare Filmora is a great tool and known for its creativity in video files. You can always make use of features on Filmora that would help you to tweak your videos in any way. Be it the effects, overlays, or transitions, Filmora has all the tools and features available to make creative content for your YouTube channel. The best advantage of having Filmora in the tool list is that it has some inbuilt templates which are easy enough to be implemented and embed on the YouTube Videos.
1. Content Idea Resources
Before we go deeper into the search to find you the best topics for YouTube, let’s take a quick look at some tools that may help you warm up and get your creative juices flowing.
Portent’s Content Title Idea Generator: Put in one of your keywords in this content idea generator and it will come up with an interesting title for you.
We The Unicorn’s Video Idea Generator Quiz: Answer this multiple-choice quiz and allow the algorithm to suggest a YouTube video idea that best suits your style.
701 YouTube Video Ideas [eBook]: You’ll save time brainstorming, be able to post consistently, and grow your YouTube channel faster with this book of ideas.
As you can see, coming up with ideas doesn’t have to be an agonizing drag. It’s all about flexing your creativity muscle and we are here to help you do it. Are you ready to be inspired? Great! Let’s begin this list:
2. Showcase Who You Are
Talk About Yourself: Introduce yourself to the world. You can answer 10 of the most common ice breaker questions you get at social gatherings: “Who are you?” “What do you do for a living?” “What are your hobbies?” In this video, you get to decide how you want to showcase yourself to your audience.
Reviews: Do you have opinions? Of course, you do. Movie trailers, popular YouTube videos, products such as makeup, gadgets, and toys, you have thoughts on everything. It’s more than content creation, it’s critical thinking. Understanding why you like or dislike something is not only helpful for other people like you, but it’s also helpful for you to know your own preferences. It’s a little exercise in self-discovery.
Day in a Life: Bring the audience with you on a day of your life. Show people what it is like to walk in your shoes from morning to night. How do you commute to school or work? What do you have for lunch? What obstacles do you encounter throughout the day? You’ll be surprised what will happen as your day unfolds.
Top 10: People love lists because it’s a simple rundown. When you set your video as a list, the viewer knows exactly what they are getting, and familiarity with the format will make it more likely to be clicked. While you can make a top 12 or top 16 list, it is shown that picking a number ending on “0” will yield the best results .
Routines: What do you do when you get ready for school or work? What do you do before bed? Discussing your routine can inspire people to lead the life you have. A routine does not mean going to an office every day , it can mean eating a new restaurant every month, doing something impulsive once a week, or appreciating what you have on a daily basis.
Reflection: You’ve come a long way and you don’t always acknowledge it. Were there a few pivotal milestones in the last five years? Were there new friends you made or new places you’ve been to? Can’t think of anything? Well, pull out your calendar and flip back a few months and a few years. Was there something you scheduled that you’ve forgotten? It was important enough for you to mark it down at the time, reflect on how it went, and what you got out of it.
Favorites: Game, food, or sports team: when you talk about your favorite things, you allow people to take a peek into the history of you. It’s easier to get people excited when you talk about something you are passionate about, so do it! Also, talking about your favorite thing allow other people who like those things to find you. This is a great way to find and build your own community
Relatonships: Your parents, your partner, your teachers, or your friends, your relationship with each of those people are different, even though you are the same person. That’s the beauty of a relationship. This makes it a great topic to share on YouTube because it shows a unique side of who you are every time you speak about another relationship you have.
Rant: The world is out to get you… not really, but there are enough annoying situations during the week to fill a weekly rant segment for your channel. Here’s a tip about ranting that you should use to avoid sounding whiny: offer a solution at the end or be funny .
Show and Tell: Like the elementary school exercise, show and tell is a terrific way to show off something interesting you have and talk about the significance of it. An old childhood toy, a new gadget, a gift from a friend: every item has a story, show and tell it.
3. Challenge Yourself
Leave Your Comfort Zone: Do something that you didn’t think you can do and film it. It might end up being a Fail, but that is how you learn. Learn a new language and talk to a native speaker. Go bungee jumping. Offer free hugs in public. Do something that makes your heart beat faster everyday and film it.
Live On A Budget: Reduce your weekly budget to $50, can you do it? How about $10? This YouTube video idea gives you perspective into your life. How will your lifestyle change when you vastly reduce your expenses? Knowing this can actually help us prepare for the worst-case scenario.
30 Day Challenge: Usually a 30-day challenge is associated with partaking in a healthy activity such as exercise or giving up a bad habit. But all that has been done, why not challenge yourself to do something different? Cook all your meals for 30 days. Take a different route to work every day for 30 days. Have a 10-minute long conversation with someone new for 30 days.
Speed Round: You think you are good at something? Well, why not try to do it as quickly as possible? Complete a round of video games as quickly as you can. Do a MasterChef mystery box challenge in your kitchen. Run from one subway station to the next , beating the tube itself.
4. Show Your Talent
Make Music: An original song, a cover, or a remix, YouTube is a fantastic platform to showcase your musical talents. Don’t forget, some of the world’s top artists began their journey on YouTube. You might be next to join the discovered on YouTube list .
Creating: Are you an artist? Show your process in making a piece. Depending on the speed in which your project takes, use a timelapse to present what you did in the most effective way.
Unusual skill: Do you have a party trick that you would love to show everyone, but don’t have a party to go to? YouTube is the place for you. Juggle, do a magic trick, dance like Christopher Walkens, whatever unusual skill you have, share it on camera, and get the accolades you so deserve.
5. Explore Your Surroundings
Tour: Your home, your office, your city. Bring your camera and take your audience on a tour of a place you know well. Show them all the hidden gems, tell them a story about the history, and be spontaneous and discover along the way.
Special Event: In any community, there is always a special event taking place, whether it be a concert, a festival, or a conference. Film the environment, interview attendees, and share the experience.
Travel: Go on a trip and bring your camera with you. Create drama by documenting all the things that didn’t go as planned… and any memorable trip will have hiccups along the way. Discover things along the way and vocalize your thoughts through the trip.
Discuss Current Events: As the environmental climate, there is also a social and political climate. Address the current state of events in your city. Are there plans to build new infrastructure? Is there a social injustice that the public should know about? You can discuss international affairs, national politics, or keep it local to start.
6. Be An Educator
Advice: Have you been through a trying experience? Do you have advice for other people setting off on the same path? Whether it’s graduating school, starting a new job, losing weight, or practicing a new skill, creating content that offers helpful advice for those seeking it will give you credibility to speak about the topic since you have gone through the situation yourself.
How to Plan Something: Did you plan a camping trip that went really well? Did you throw a surprise birthday party that went without a hitch? It doesn’t have to be anything grand but think back to something you followed successfully and explain what you did to achieve it.
Lifehacks: Do you have lifehacks? This may be the most generous gift you can share with your audience. You can save them time, energy, and a whole lot of headaches. If you have an engineering spirit, then consider how you can simplify all the little activities that make up a day. No engineering spirit? Start with these lifehacks instead.
Time Management: The responsibility of every person is slightly different, but how you manage your daily schedule. Do you write tasks down on an agenda? Do you have a calendar? What do you do when you get distracted? What is your schedule like? Do you create your own bullet journal or use a productivity app? If so, share it!
Guided Activities: For beginners, some activities are better with a guide. If the audience is unable to join an in-person class, YouTube is a wonderful online alternative for guided activities such as yoga, meditation, and other exercise or relaxation activities.
Tutorial: Is there software you use particularly well? Are you skilled in the kitchen or the garage? Can you install appliances without reading the instructions? Give a step-by-step tutorial in completing a project.
7. Share Your Beliefs and Lifestyle
Motivation: Whatever you are pursuing, know that there are many on the same path as you. If you are an aspiring dancer create content for those that are with you on the journey. Encourage them and speak authentically about the accomplishments to come. Motivation is the energy that is in circulation. The more you send out into the universe, the more will come back to you.
Pets: If you share your home with animals, then you have no shortage of content. Point the camera at your dogs, cats, and ferrets for a while and see what ridiculous scenarios they get up to.
Fitness and Food: Do you subscribe to a specific type of fitness and diet? Have you seen the results that you want to share? Yes, perfect! If no, then why not do a little experimentation. Try to include a fitness and diet regimen in your daily life and vlog about it. Who knows, it might become a healthy change.
Tattoos, Piercing, or Scars: Every tattoo, piercing, and a scar on your body probably have an interesting story behind it. Whether it is something you are proud of or something you may prefer to hide, recognizing the different marks on your body and how they represent your history is a great way to reflect and get inspired.
Document Your Journey: It’s important to set achievable goals for yourself. That’s how you can encourage progress within yourself. With a goal and a timeline in mind, it can be as simple as documenting your journey towards it. If you are working on your novel, you can do a vlog updating the viewers on your process and word count or even bringing a camera with you as your piece gets workshopped.
Holiday: We all share memories of that wonderful time of year. For some it’s a spectacle for others it’s a modest affair. How do you celebrate the holidays and is there a story to that tradition?
Career: So much of our identity is related to what we do for a living. Talking about your day job on YouTube can be tricky. Be authentic, but also use your discretion, because you don’t want to misrepresent yourself professionally to the world.
Philosophy: What is your relationship with money, weekends, and your extended family? Thinking about your values can help you explore life philosophically, thus encouraging you to live the best life possible. As you speak about your philosophy, you are bound to experience alternative views, and that is where great content materializes.
Haul: If you have some money to spend, create a haul YouTube video. Haul video involves you going on a shopping spree and bringing home a big “haul.” In essence, it is an unboxing video on steroids. This type of video generally involves fashion or groceries, but it can be related to anything in large quantity. It’s all about showing off your new stuff to the audience.
Unboxing: Got something new from Amazon? Before you open it, turn on your camera. Unboxing is an easy YouTube video idea that allows your viewers who are considering buying the item to better understand whether it is in fact the right purchase for them.
8. Nurture Your Curiosity
Build Something: IKEA furniture, a website, a LEGO miniature, a business plan. The best way to get better at something is to just do it. Use your hands and build something and capture it for YouTube.
Behind the Scenes: It’s not only the entertainment industry that offers behind the scenes content, but many businesses offer tours and open houses. Reach out to any business or organization you are curious about the inner workings and odds are there will be a day where you can pop in and have a look at what it makes the wheels turn.
Jargon and Slang: From fashion to baseball to dentistry, everything has its own set of jargon or slang. What’s a galloon? What does it mean to win the pennant? What is 3MOD? If you are interested in languages, then diving into the world of jargon and slang is an interesting one.
Deconstruct a Process: Be like Tim Ferriss by breaking down a process into parts enabling you to learn a new skill faster, whether it be language or sports or coffee . Show your viewer how to properly learn how to improve performance by simplifying.
Languages: We all want to learn a new language, but it isn’t easy. If you have a knack for languages, show it off as a skill. Help new speakers avoid common mistakes, discuss the etymology of each word, and explore all the diverse dialects.
Accents: How accents derive is a fascinating topic to explore if you are seeking good ideas for YouTube. Why do some accents sound like music while other sound abrasive? Why different neighborhoods in the same city have different accents? There are endless questions to explore. Evenconstructed languages can be analyzed for their accents.
History: Are you interested in your city, your school, or the land your office is built upon? What was it like ten years ago? A hundred years ago? An exploration of history does not have to be about Rome or Mesopotamia, it can be about your backyard
Debunking Myths: Before every MythBusters episode they warn you not to attempt any of their experiments, and we are not encouraging you to either. At least, not to their scale. There is a multitude of myths out there that can use your expert eye to explore. In your city itself, there are stories worth debunking or at least learning more about.
Compare Two Things: Need something to do on YouTube? Why not compare diets such as Paleo vs Keto, devices such as Android vs iPhone, or a remake vs an original?
Opposing Opinions: Do you have a friend who always has to argue with you about everything: films, values, politics? Well, don’t just save those conversations for private, invite him or her over and film a debate.
Deep Dive: Go down the rabbit hole on a topic you are really fascinated about. Dissect every song from an artist, read every book by an author, or learn about a different type of plant growing in your community. Everywhere you look, you should see opportunities to get obsessed over a topic.
Biography of Someone: It could be a famous person or it can be someone from your family. Tell their story in a way that only you can. Get interviews, do research, and find a personal connection. Every life is significant, now it is your chance to honor that.
Fun Facts: Grab a deck of questions from Trivial Pursuit and pick a fun fact to explore. Use it as a jumping-off point for exploring an interesting topic. Share it with viewers who might not have known that they were interested in this fact.
Timeline of a Topic: Pick any topic and trace the lineage and better understand how it has gotten to this point. Where did it begin, has it hit critical mass, and how has it evolved over the years?
9. Be a Fan and a Critic
Fanfiction: Continue a story of one of your favorite movie characters or explore the life of some secondary character in a television show that you enjoy. Use their existing storyline to guide where you toward an interesting YouTube video about how they could have evolved.
Re-edit: Use your editing skills to recreate a classic movie scene, allowing it to have a completely different tone. Or mashup footage from a variety of sources to create an original piece of video content.
Speculation of Unreleased Entertainment: There are always rumors of upcoming movies, music, and books from famous filmmakers, musicians, and authors. Speculate on what the new release can possibly be about. Generate buzz and excitement and consider what you would do if you were put into the shoes of those famous creators.
Spotlight on the Best: In every field, there are those that are considered world-class. How did they get there, what support did they get, and how are they working to stay at the top? Highlight their achievements and see what we can anticipate from them in the future.
Commentary: Can you offer insights into a particular piece of work? Share it with the world and add another dimension to what the viewers have already seen.
Spotlight on Something Not So Popular: Is there something you adore that nobody really knows about? You can be the one to help this become mainstream.
Tribute: Pay tribute to a personality or an event from the past. Help people remember the significance of what happened from the past through your YouTube video.
Shoutout: Like sending out a thank you card, use YouTube to publicly thank someone for doing something awesome! It’s like you are giving a toast to someone in front of the whole Internet, what an honor.
Summarize a Book, Movie, or TV Show: Give the Coles note summary of a book, a movie, or TV show. Challenge yourself to make a summary that is as interesting as the actual source material.
“Best of” Video: Select the best scenes from your favorite actor or the best plays from your favorite athlete and compile it into a video that highlights all the best moments.
10. Create Entertainment
Fails: Don’t get embarrassed, get views. Embrace your shortcomings and accept that everybody has failed at something. Be careful and don’t get hurt too bad though.
Parody: Channel your Key of Awesome and create your own parody of something from pop culture. If you parody something trending, it can help you catch the wave of popularity and bring in views as all eyes are currently on that topic.
Break Something: There is nothing like watching something get destroyed. Maybe that’s why the Will it Blend videos got so popular. No matter how we resist it, we enjoy seeing the destruction.
Time Lapse: The growth of a plant, the flow of traffic, the rise and fall of the sun through your eyes. In this fast pace world, it’s fun to see organized chaos at a rapid rate.
Screen Sharing: Let people watch you play a video game or give a tour of your desktop. Share your screen as you write a poem.
Cinematography: There is always a place for beautiful cinematography on YouTube. Tell a great story about your life or your city with great moving images.
Short subject documentary: Pick a topic that matters and explore in through the structure of a documentary. Remember that when making a documentary, think about it as making a movie – you are not there to lecture them. Can you get peopleriled up as Michael Moore does? Can you encourage people to take action? If yes, then you are ready to start making documentary-style YouTube videos.
Lip-sync: Can’t sing but feel you have a musical gift to give to the world, well, they will never put you on the billboards for what you can do lip-syncing, but you can make a pretty entertaining YouTube video through this medium. It doesn’t even have to be music either, take Bad Lip Reading .
Impressions: A good impression is always worth a good laugh, and a bad one is almost as good. Give it a shot, pull up videos of some of your favorite celebrities, and film yourself attempting to mimic their voice, characteristics and expressions.
Sketch Comedy, Short Film, or Role Play: Do you have characters and scenes in mind that will be perfect for SNL? Well, instead of having to go through Lorne Michaels, create the character yourself and publish your comedy sketch on YouTube.
Interview: Find a subject matter experts and ask them interesting questions about their profession and areas of interest.
Games: Play a game with your friends or other YouTubers and allow the competitiveness, frustration, and hilarity to ensue.
Okay! How do you feel?
I bet you are bursting and ready to create your next video. Onwards! Remember, whatever idea you pick, be sure to give it your own flair. That is what YouTube is all about. Got another YouTube video idea you want to share? Let the Filmora.io community know in the comments.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
- Title: "[New] Plot Twists for Success Top 3 Channel-Building Tactics"
- Author: Thomas
- Created at : 2024-05-31 12:48:46
- Updated at : 2024-06-01 12:48:46
- Link: https://youtube-help.techidaily.com/new-plot-twists-for-success-top-3-channel-building-tactics/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
