Setting goals should be a priority of virtually any business owner. For a business to grow and thrive, it needs to grow in a particular direction. Establishing goals can ensure a business’s growth is consistent and leads toward a stronger version of the business for both customers and employees.

However, it’s important to set realistic goals. You’ll be more motivated to pursue goals if you believe you have a genuine chance of accomplishing them.

To ensure the goals you set for your business in 2025 are reasonable, keep the following tips in mind:

Get General

Normally, the advice is to get specific when setting business goals. That advice is absolutely valable. Often, achieving a goal is actually easier when you’re very specific about the details of what you want to accomplish.

That said, when you’re first setting goals for your business, it may help to decide what general areas of growth you want to focus on. Do you want to boost profits? Tap into an untapped market? Expand your customer base? Grow your workforce? 

You might not have the bandwidth to pursue a wide range of business goals within a single year. Thus, getting started by deciding what general categories of goals you want to focus on can help you feel that the more specific business goals you set align with your overall vision for your business.

Review Past Numbers

Ambition is an essential quality in a business owner. To survive in a competitive landscape, you need to set your sights high.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t merely assume your business will experience unparalleled growth within a year simply because you want it to happen. Once you’ve decided what general types of business goals you want to prioritize, review business records related to those goals.

For example, maybe you want to boost profits. Review your records to learn what types of growth you can expect when your profits are at their strongest. 

Doing so will help you better understand what types of profit boosts are realistic to aim for. In addition, looking back at records in this manner can help you identify steps you may have taken in the past to achieve your goals.

Write Out a Business Plan

Drafting a business plan isn’t just a step you should take when first starting your business. Some business experts recommend annual planning. The benefits of annual planning include:

• Finding opportunities to adjust or “tweak” your original plan as-needed
• Getting more specific about how you will allocate resources throughout the year
• Giving you the time to identify new areas of potential growth that you haven’t explored in the past
• Allowing you to reflect on the past year’s growth, which will hopefully provide lessons you can apply to this year

Creating an annual business plan also allows you to create a specific plan to work in conjunction with your larger plan. While the business plan you created when first starting your business can provide a general outline for how you want your business to grow over the years, an annual business plan can focus on the key details of achieving that year’s goals.

Don’t worry if you’ve never created a new business plan for the new year in the past. An annual business plan template can help you get started. Do some Googling to find one that serves your needs.

Seek Input

This tip won’t apply if you’re the only employee of your business. However, if you do have a workforce, consider polling them about their opinions on your various plans for the new year. How you do so may depend on the size of your workforce. 

If yours is a small company, you may be able to simply speak directly with your employees about this topic. For a medium-sized or large company, it may be necessary to distribute actual polls.

Regardless, there’s value in soliciting opinions from your employees when deciding what types of business goals are worth pursuing. First, your employees may offer helpful insights that can make your job easier. Second, soliciting the feedback of employees has been shown to boost employee engagement.

Prioritize

You don’t have to set just one goal for the year. However, you have to accept that you might not be able to achieve all the goals you wish to establish. 

Rank your business goals by priority once you’ve established them. If, midway through the year, you realize you won’t be able to achieve all your goals in 2025, prioritizing will help you focus on the goals that matter most.

Get Specific

Yes, this list started with the recommendation that you emphasize generalities. However, now that you’ve established exact goals, it’s helpful to break those goals down into the steps you may need to take to achieve them. 

You can modify these steps later if needed. The main point is to ensure you and your employees have clear ideas about what you need to do to achieve your goals.

A Last Point: The Importance of Communication

These tips will help you set genuinely achievable goals for your business. They apply not just in 2025, but in any year when you want to reach toward new growth.

Just remember, you need to communicate your goals effectively with your employees. They’ll be more likely to help your business achieve its goals if you can help them get as excited about these business goals as you are.

Special Hint: Use Powtoon to Communicate Business Goals Effectively

Video and similar visual content is highly engaging online. Video content is dynamic and captures an audience’s attention in ways other types of content can’t.

Consider this when planning how to communicate business goals with your employees. You may want to create a professional-quality video or slideshow focusing on your goals and how you’ll achieve them.
With templates and various other resources, Powtoon makes creating such a video easy and affordable, even if you don’t have video production experience. Sign up for free today to learn more!

The post How to Set Realistic Business Goals for 2025 appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

Anyone who generates content for social media or other such online platforms knows photos can connect with an audience in a way that text alone often can’t. However, as video content becomes increasingly ubiquitous online, many creators are discovering that it’s an even more powerful tool for connecting with followers.

That doesn’t mean videos need to consist of live-action footage to make the right impression on viewers. An affordable alternative to producing new videos is to create videos from existing photos you own or have access to. 

Content creators may create videos out of photos they already have for various reasons. Examples include (but aren’t limited to) the following:

• Linking related pictures to tell a story
• Creating a slideshow that demonstrates the value of a particular product or service
• Engaging an audience (as research indicates that, on social media, a video clip is more likely to yield high levels of engagement than many other types of content)
• Repurposing old images to create a new slideshow video

Whatever your reasons may be to make a video from photos, it’s essential to use the right tool when doing so. This is where Powtoon’s video maker comes in.

Powtoon is a video-making app and platform designed specifically for those with limited experience, budgets, or both. To make a video from photos with Powtoon, you can simply:

• Choose the right templates and themes for your brand and goal
• Importing video, audio, and other necessary media into Powtoon
• Trim and splice clips to create the desired sequence
• Add features and effects to enhance a video
• Preview and test the video, editing it if necessary
• Finalize the video to upload to your platform of choice, share it via email, etc.

That’s just a general overview. This guide explains in greater detail how to use Powtoon’s video maker to turn still photos into beautiful videos with minimal time and effort.

How to Make A Video from Photos: The Powtoon Process

Step 1: Choosing Your Templates and Prepping Content

Again, Powtoon’s creators designed the tool to ensure it would be user-friendly, helping virtually anyone create videos for various purposes. One way Powtoon’s video maker achieves this goal is by offering a range of templates and themes from which to choose.

This benefits users in several ways. First, it saves them the time they might otherwise have to spend learning how to develop their own templates from scratch. Second, the variety of themes Powtoon’s photo video maker offers allows users to select templates that align with their branded identity.

This stage is also an ideal time to begin preparing the photos you’re thinking about including in your video. Doing so involves:

• Determining what type of video you’re creating and what you wish to achieve with it
• Choosing photos and coming up with early music ideas (if you plan to add music)
• Organizing your photos to find a flow that’s ideal
• Determining if removing any photos from the sequence will allow you to shorten the final video without harming its overall quality
• Finding any stock videos you might also want to include in the final video

That last point is particularly important if you’re creating a video from photos for social media. Across virtually all popular social media platforms, such as Facebook and TikTok, the ideal video length is under one minute. However, you may be able to capture and keep the attention of an audience with a longer video on a platform such as YouTube.

Step 2: Creating the Video

Once you’ve gathered your photos and any other files you may need, it’s time to create the video itself by:

• Using Powtoon’s easy system to import your photos, audio files, video files, etc.
• Using Powtoon’s beginner-friendly video editor to sequence your photos and clips according to your plans
• Adding features and enhancements

Powtoon’s video maker offers numerous features you may add to a video, including:

• Text
• Annotations
• Captions (which could make a video more accessible to some audiences)
• Background music
• Animation

Step 3: Post-Production and Export

It’s best not to rush when publishing video content. After completing your video, review it carefully to determine if there are any ways to improve it. Ideally, you’ll also be able to share it with other trusted viewers who can provide you with helpful feedback.

Make any adjustments you believe are necessary. Once you’re happy with the completed video, all you have to do is:

• Save the video
• Download your photo video or photo slideshow
• Upload the completed file to your platform of choice

That’s all there is to it! 

All that said, while Powtoon’s drag-and-drop features, built-in templates, and various other conveniences make it an easy-to-use video maker for even those with very little video production experience, it’s still important to keep in mind that creating eye-catching videos takes practice. The more you experiment with Powtoon, including one of the best AI video generators, the more confident you’ll be in your ability to quickly and easily generate and publish quality videos your audience will love.

Use Powtoon’s Video Maker to Easily Make Videos from Photos

Whether you’re just experimenting with video in an attempt to grow your social media audience, trying to repurpose a collection of photos into an explainer video, or developing marketing content that leverages a video’s dynamic qualities, Powtoon is the perfect movie maker for you. Learn more about what it can help you accomplish by signing up today!

The post How to Make Videos from Photos Using Powtoon appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

In any industry, video content can play many roles. For instance, research indicates that video content drives more engagement on social media than blog posts and other types of content. That means video can serve as a powerful marketing tool to spread brand awareness, promote your services, and generally forge an emotional connection with your target audience.

Video can also improve the overall quality of your internal communications. With video, you can train new hires, share updates about company successes, and more.

Of course, video content also has many potential uses in your personal life. After all, a video of your recent vacation may be more appealing to your friends and family on social media than a simple picture.

However, sharing video files and posting them to certain platforms can prove challenging. After you create an impressive video, you may find the video file size is larger than you expected. You may thus be wondering how to make a video file smaller.

Large video size is a common problem. Luckily, it’s one with various potential solutions. To compress a video file without unreasonably sacrificing video quality, consider the following options:

Compress Video Files: How to Make a Video File Smaller

Edit the Video

Doing a little extra video editing is one of the simplest and potentially most effective ways to reduce the size of a video file. Quite simply, the shorter your video, the smaller the file.

After you create your content, play it back with the goal of identifying spots where you can trim the video while still providing value to your audience. Keep in mind, editing a video to make it shorter may help you achieve goals beyond simply reducing video size.

For example, perhaps you’re posting a video to Facebook to promote your brand. Research shows the ideal length for such a video is under one minute. Along with reducing file size, editing your video could improve its odds of succeeding on social media.

Try a New Format

Digital video files come in many different formats. Popular examples include:

• MP4
• MOV
• WMV
• FLV
• AVI
• AVCHD
• H.264

Some video formats result in a larger file size than others. For example, MP4 and H.264 are popular video formats that offer good quality at a relatively small file size. Try converting your video to a different file format to compress it.

Change the Bitrate

A video’s bitrate refers to the amount of data necessary to encode a second of a video. The higher the bitrate, the larger the video size. 

Reducing the bitrate will reduce the size of the file. That said, it’s important to understand that lowering the bitrate will also decrease the quality of the video. However, by making some adjustments, you may be able to strike the perfect balance between making the file more manageable and ensuring its quality doesn’t degrade too noticeably.

Change the Video Resolution

Adjusting the resolution of your video is another way to reduce its size that, like changing the bitrate, will naturally have an impact on its quality. You simply need to consider the purpose of the video when deciding whether compressing the file is worth sacrificing a certain degree of video quality.

For example, if you wish to create and share a marketing video, maintaining an impressive video resolution may be essential. You don’t want a poor-quality video representing your brand.

On the other hand, maybe you’re sharing an internal video with team members who you suspect are already loyal enough to the company that you don’t need to impress them with a stunning video every time you share one. In this case, adjusting the resolution may be an easy way to reduce the size of the file.

Use Cloud Storage

There are technical ways to share a large video file without editing the content or compressing the file itself. For instance, you could upload a video to a cloud storage service such as Google Drive or Dropbox. 

You may still need to reduce the size of the video if you plan to upload it to YouTube, post it on social media, share it via email, etc. However, uploading the file to the cloud can at least allow you to store it outside of your device, where you might not have space for the file.

Additionally, if the video consists of internal communications content, you could give all relevant team members access to it via the cloud, ensuring you don’t have to email it at all. If you don’t have to email the file or upload it to another platform, you may not have to compress it.

Use the Right Video Maker

You may have to create an impressive video before you even start to think about how to make a video file smaller. This could present its own set of challenges if you have limited video production experience and a small video production budget.

Fortunately, Powtoon’s video maker is designed exactly for someone like you. It offers templates and numerous other tools and resources to ensure creating quality video content is easy, regardless of your experience level. 

Powtoon also offers a range of export options. Once you’ve created stunning video content, you can compress your files to suit the best formats for your needs. To learn more about what Powtoon can do for you, sign up today!

The post How to Make a Video File Smaller appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

There’s no denying it: As a marketer, no matter the industry, creating video content should be among your top priorities. Per the latest research, 91% of businesses already practice video marketing to some extent. You should do the same.

Just keep in mind that such content doesn’t need to exclusively consist of live-action footage. Nor should it. An animated video can serve many purposes that, depending on the circumstances, a live-action video might not.

That said, you may understandably be wondering how to make animated marketing videos. It’s actually not as challenging (or expensive!) as you might assume. With the right animation maker, you can take advantage of the many benefits animation has to offer with ease. This guide will explain why investing in one is a smart use of your marketing budget.

Why an Animation Maker is a Critical Tool for a Marketer

Animation Can Reflect Your Brand

A brand consists of many visual elements. These include (but aren’t necessarily limited to):

• Color scheme
• Typography
• Logos
• The specific visual content featured in your marketing materials

Can you establish a branded identity with live-action footage? Absolutely. However, doing so may be easier with animated video. Using an animation maker, you can customize and control nearly all visual elements of a video, ensuring it accurately represents what makes your company unique.

You also don’t have to spend time finding actors with the right “look” for a marketing video when you work with an animation maker tool. Instead, you can feature animated characters. While you might still need to search for an actor if you plan on including voiceover audio, animating the actual characters in your video (or using characters that have been pre-animated) can still save you a lot of time.

On top of that, you won’t need to spend time or money building a set or finding the ideal location for your video. A strong animation maker will typically offer ready-to-use templates that you can modify to serve your needs, creating an animated environment that corresponds with your brand.

An Animated Video is Cost-Effective and Versatile

Be aware: this guide isn’t meant to discourage you from using live-action footage in your marketing content. Professional-looking live-action videos still play an important role in a marketing strategy. That’s unlikely to change soon.

That said, live-action video presents some limitations that animated content doesn’t present. Specifically, you might not have the budget to film the types of situations and scenarios you wish to depict in your marketing videos if you restrict yourself solely to live-action footage.

That’s not the case with animation. With an animated video maker, you can let your imagination run free when developing and releasing promotional video content. 

Animation is Adaptable

Animated videos can often be repurposed for multiple uses. Animated content can serve as animated GIFs, animated YouTube videos, social media posts, and more. 

This highlights one way in which using a strong animation maker can actually help you save money as a marketer. When you create an animated video, you’re creating a piece of content that you might use across various channels. This allows you to save money by limiting your need to create new pieces of content.

Animated Videos Can Take Many Forms

Again, animation is versatile. Thus, an animated video can take a variety of forms, such as:

• Explainer videos
• Case study videos
• Corporate videos
• Onboarding videos
• Event videos
• Instructional videos
• General brand promotion videos

That’s not an exhaustive list. The main point to understand is that, no matter what type of marketing video you plan to create, there’s a good chance you can animate it instead of filming it. 

(Of course, there are exceptions. An animated live broadcast would be exceptionally impressive and also exceptionally impossible!)

Animation is Attention-Grabbing

Remember, when you animate a video, you can exercise a huge degree of control over the viewer experience. Through animation, you can choose what to depict in a video, what types of colors to use, what types of characters your video will feature, and more.

In other words, an animation maker is a great tool to use when designing marketing content that serves to grab the attention of an audience. Being able to control all aspects of the look and feel of your video is key to generating content that sparks interest in a viewer.

Animated Video is Shareable

Technically, many types of video content are highly shareable. Surveys confirm that social media users are often more likely to share video content with friends and family than other types of content.

However, animated content may be uniquely shareable because it allows you to strike the perfect balance between sharing information your target audience would find valuable and simply providing entertainment. Thus, when you upload a piece of animation to your social media accounts or publish an ad featuring an animated video, you might be casting a much wider net than you otherwise would.

How to Make Animated Marketing Videos? Powtoon Offers the Ideal Animation Maker for You

All these points illustrate why video animation should play a major role in your marketing efforts. However, if you’re still reluctant to create your own animation simply because you don’t think it’s a skill you’ll master, it’s time to give Powtoon a try.

This all-in-one online animation maker is designed specifically for those who lack experience in creating animated video content. By starting with a template and editing it so the finished product reflects your unique company, you can easily create dynamic content without spending more than you can afford. Get started by signing up today!

The post Why an Animation Maker is a Must for Marketers appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

In the digital age, animated video content should play a major role in your marketing strategies. The benefits of animation include (but aren’t limited to) the following:

• The opportunity to promote your brand with a cartoon whose visual elements align with your company’s branded identity
• Easily creating video without needing to build sets, scout locations, hire actors, etc.
• Creating marketing content that can be repurposed for various formats and platforms (such as animated GIFs, social media ads, etc.)
• Illustrating ideas or messages that would prove challenging to illustrate through live-action footage

Those are just some examples. Best of all, you don’t need to hire a professional animator to take advantage of animated videos. With the right animated video maker, you can customize impressive animations even if you have no experience.

You simply need to ensure you work with an online animation maker or animation app that boasts truly useful features. This guide will help. 

What to Look for in an Animation Maker: Essential Features

Animated Templates

If you’re reading an article about what to look for in an animation maker for beginners, it’s safe to assume you’ve never worked in the animation industry. This lack of professional experience can understandably make the idea of creating animated, well, anything seems far more intimidating than it should.

That doesn’t need to be the case. The best way to create an animated video for a marketer who’s never animated anything before in their life is to start with a template. Starting with a ready-to-use template and working with an animation maker that guides you through each step of the process can help you feel more confident in your ability to create professional-looking videos.

Animated Characters

Again, one of the main benefits of animation is that, when you animate a video, you don’t need to devote time or money to finding the best actors or performers for a video. While you may need to find actors to do some voiceover work, that’s easier than casting actors with the ideal “look” for your goals.

Just as it’s helpful to use an animation maker that includes templates, a truly great tool will also allow you to incorporate a wide range of pre-animated characters. Being able to drag and drop built-in characters into your videos will dramatically simplify the process of animation.

Practical Elements

A library of impressive animated characters is an important feature to look for in an animation maker. That said, characters aren’t the only elements you might need to include in your own animation.

For example, explainer videos are among the most common types of videos digital marketers create. The purpose of such a video is often to illustrate how a given product or service works or how it can benefit a viewer.

If you’re creating such a video, to ensure it effectively communicates its message, you might need to include infographics, whiteboard elements, etc. You would thus want to find animation software that offers such elements.

Make a list of the types of elements you believe your animated videos will need to include. Keep this list in mind when seeking a tool for online animation. Other elements you might look for in a video animation tool include 2D animation and 3D animation elements, motion graphics, a variety of fonts for text, and anything else that can make your videos stand out among the competition.

The Option to Add Music

The idea that video content is more engaging than other forms of content isn’t a baseless assumption. Research shows that video content drives high levels of engagement on social media.

There are many reasons this may be the case. For example, compared to other types of content, video can be fairly stimulating and tap into the emotions of an audience much more effectively.

One way video may do so is through music. By pairing the right music with the right images, you can engage an audience and make your content more memorable. 

Remember this as you seek an animating and editing tool. Having the freedom to include music of your choice in an animated video is very important.

Tools to Make Animation More Accessible

Video content accessibility is becoming an increasingly vital topic of discussion as video content in general becomes more ubiquitous. When you upload an animation video to the internet, you want to be confident that as many potential audience members as possible will be able to derive value from it.

The right animation maker can boost accessibility by allowing you to include text, subtitles, audio descriptions, and other such features and elements. Look for a tool that will let you reach audience members who might otherwise struggle to engage with video content.

A Free Trial

Keeping the tips here in mind when searching for animation software will definitely help you narrow down your list of potential options. That said, the only way to know for certain that you’ve found the ideal all-in-one, user-friendly animation maker for your needs is to test it out. You shouldn’t have to risk spending money on an online animator without having the chance to experiment with it first.

When making a list of animation tools you might consider using, prioritize finding those that offer free trials. You simply want the opportunity to test a given tool out before deciding it’s the right one for you.

What to Look for in an Animation Maker: Powtoon Offers Everything You Need

Searching for an easy-to-use animation maker that you can try for free? If so, Powtoon offers just what you’re looking for. This popular video maker was designed specifically to help those with limited video production experience (and small video production budgets) create stunning video marketing content for social media, online ads, and more.

Powtoon also offers an animation maker that’s beginner-friendly while still combining a wide range of ideal features. To learn more about what it can do for you, try it free today!

The post Features to Look for in an Animation Maker appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

In a post-pandemic world, video conferencing and zoom meetings have taken over face-to-face communication and become the default. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the need for virtual meetings will only continue to grow. Whether it’s for global conferences, remote team management, or client meetings, virtual meetings have become a vital tool for modern businesses to stay connected in a rapidly changing world.

Video conferencing plays an essential part in employee collaboration and is a popular way for team members to communicate. So it is no surprise that virtual meetings can feel like they are stretching on forever, leaving little time for actual work. The constant interruption of Zoom calls, Google Meets, video conferences, and virtual presentations can make it nearly impossible to focus on the tasks at hand.

Unproductive virtual conferencing is unfortunately a notorious occurrence in the business world and can wreak havoc on employee productivity. Although there are many advantages of virtual conferencing, it has like anything else under the sun, some disadvantages when overused.

Let’s dive into the disadvantages of virtual communication and explore how Powtoon Capture, a free screen recorder, helps with many of those challenges.

1.  Participants Can Experience Technical Issues

Phrases like “Can you see my screen?”, “I don’t hear you!”, and “Please mute your mics!” have become all too familiar to us in the world of virtual meetings, with everyone scrambling to ensure that their technology is working as it should.

Video conferencing apps such as zoom, google meet and slack all have one thing in common. They require technology….and technology can suffer from malfunctions. Such issues can be a real bummer for virtual meetings, wasting valuable time and causing unnecessary frustration. Zoom lags, network issues, and technical glitches such as bad video or audio quality can quickly derail a video conference and interfere with the team’s productivity. 

Screen recording is one of the many tools that can be used to share new information with colleges without having to meet up. With screen recording, you can capture and record your screen and webcam and create narrated presentations that you can share with colleagues via email, slack, or other channels. The great thing about screen recording is that you can create content without the technical issues and communication barriers that can arise during video conferencing. It allows you to carefully prepare a presentation and ensure that it is delivered in a clear, concise manner, without interruptions, distractions, and other technical problems that often accompany live meetings. 

2. Meeting Fatigue 

Another con of video conferencing is that it can lead to meeting fatigue. Video communication can be a useful tool for employee communication and collaboration especially when it comes to remote teams. But excessive usage can lead to meeting fatigue, decreased productivity, and interfere with work-life balance.

Sitting for long periods in front of a computer can be tiring and lead to physical discomfort or strain. Many participants also feel the urge to multitask while video chatting. So not only are they trying to focus on the business meeting, but they are also doing a million other tasks on the side which can be exhausting. 

To avoid meeting fatigue, it’s important to have a balance between video conferences and other types of communication. 

Types of communication such as email, short video updates, in-person meetings, and screen recordings are all great options to minimize the virtual meeting madness. 

A face-to-face meeting is sometimes the better alternative. Especially for sensitive conversations in-person meetings allow attendees to interact and communicate with one another in ways that they can’t do over a video call. 

However, if in-person meetings are not an option then you can always opt for screen recording. This works whether you need to report financial stats, share new product launches, or discuss updated policies. By sending colleagues a recorded video presentation you give them the choice to access the information at their own pace and on their own schedule. Rather than being forced to sit through a live virtual meeting, participants can watch the video when it is convenient for them. 

2. The Challenge of Finding the Appropriate Meeting Time For Everyone Involved

Finding a suitable meeting time on Google Calendar for everyone involved can be a challenging task, especially when there are multiple participants with varying schedules and time zones. The delicate dance of scheduling meetings requires a lot of coordination and communication which makes it a real challenge to make sure everyone is available. 

If you find yourself in a situation where you just can’t seem to get everyone together for a meeting, screen recordings can be a lifesaver! Whether it’s because of conflicting schedules or different time zones, sometimes it’s just impossible to coordinate a live meeting that works for everyone. But with screen recordings, you can still share your ideas and information with your colleagues and team members, no matter where they are or what time zone they’re in. It’s a great way to stay connected and keep the lines of communication open, even when live meetings aren’t possible.

3. Background Problems 

During virtual meetings, background problems like poor lighting or background noise can be major distractions and disrupt the flow of the meeting. It can be frustrating for both the presenter and the participants when they are struggling to hear or see what’s going on. 

Screen recording allows you to control the environment in which you create the content, which can help to address issues such as poor lighting and background noise. By ensuring that the audio and visual quality are optimal, you make it easier for the audience to see and hear the content being presented. 

4. Constant Distractions

Participants in virtual meetings find themselves often distracted by the constant pings and dings from personal or work communication channels, their surroundings, or other tasks that they still need to complete. 

By sharing screen recordings instead, participants can review the content on their own time and ensure that they have a clear understanding of what was discussed. This can also serve as a useful reference for future discussions and prevent miscommunication.

5. Communication Challenges 

It seems like the moment someone starts talking on a video conference, someone else’s dog starts barking in the background or a baby starts crying, and before you know it, everyone is speaking on top of each other. It’s like a verbal traffic jam! Add in the technical issues like mute mishaps, poor internet connections, and unexpected computer glitches, and it can feel like you’re in the middle of a virtual tornado. On top of all that nonverbal cues such as body language and facial expressions are harder to read on camera, which can make communication on video calls much more challenging. As attendees grow more and more frustrated important points get missed or misunderstood. A true recipe for a virtual disaster. 

With pre-recorded content, you can ensure that your message is clear and concise the first time.  You avoid talking over others and definitely won’t forget to mention certain information. 

Overcome The Meeting Madness with Powtoon Capture

Video conferencing is here to stay and will continue to play an important role in employee communication. Just like any other tool, it comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Some downsides such as communication challenges, meeting fatigue, technical issues, and time zone challenges can be avoided by utilizing a screen recording tool. A screen recording tool such as Powtoon Capture provides a flexible, accessible way to share information, can help streamline communication, enhance productivity, and ensure that everyone is on the same page, no matter where they are. Download Powtoon Capture and start communicating effectively today! 

PS: Looking to add a touch of creativity to your screen recordings? With Powtoon, you can take your recordings to the next level by editing, animating, and customizing them to suit your preferences. By signing up for Powtoon, you’ll gain access to an array of powerful tools that enable you to personalize your screen recordings like never before. From tweaking the timing to adding unique visual effects, Powtoon’s Studio has everything you need to create engaging and professional-grade videos. So why wait? Sign up now and start creating screen recordings that truly stand out!

The post The Disadvantages of Video Conferencing appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

Asynchronous communication has become increasingly popular in recent years, particularly with the rise of remote work and global teams. But with so many communication methods available, it can be challenging to choose the right one. 

The debate between synchronous and asynchronous communication has been a topic of discussion for a while now. What is the best and most effective method of getting your message across – is it through synchronous or asynchronous communication? It’s a battle between immediacy and flexibility, real-time and on-your-own-time.

But what are these two types of communication and how do they differ? But most importantly how does screen recording come into all of this? 

Differences Between Synchronous vs Asynchronous Communication

Synchronous communication involves real-time communication where all parties are present and communicating simultaneously. It’s ideal for people who are in the same time zones and have compatible work schedules. Examples of synchronous communication include phone calls, video conferences, and instant messaging. Asynchronous communication is communication where there is a delay between sending and receiving messages. Examples of asynchronous communication include email, voice messages, video messaging, and discussion forums.

Unlike synchronous communication, which requires all parties to be present and communicate simultaneously, asynchronous communication allows participants to communicate on their own time. This makes it an ideal communication method when participants are in different time zones or have busy schedules.

Benefits and Challenges of Synchronous Communication

Synchronous communication has several benefits such as the ability to receive immediate feedback, speak in person, build personal relationships, and collaborate in real-time.

However, it also comes with its own set of challenges. One of the biggest challenges of synchronous communication is coordinating schedules and time zones. When all parties need to be present and communicating at the same time, it can be difficult to find a time that works for everyone, especially when working with teams across different regions or countries.

Synchronous communication can also be less flexible than asynchronous communication. When communicating in real-time, there is little opportunity for participants to review or revise their messages before sending them, which can lead to misunderstandings or miscommunications. Synchronous communication can also be more difficult for introverted or shy individuals who may struggle to speak up in front of multiple people.

Benefits and Challenges of Asynchronous Communication

Asynchronous communication has several benefits, including the ability to communicate on your own time, avoid interrupting others and have a written record of conversations.

One of the challenges of asynchronous communication is that it can be less personal than synchronous communication. Without real-time interaction, participants may miss out on nonverbal cues and the personal connection that comes with face-to-face communication or real-time conversations.

In addition, asynchronous communication can also lead to delays in decision-making and problem-solving, as participants may take longer to respond or may miss important updates or information if they are not checking their messages regularly.

One of the biggest challenges of asynchronous communication is the potential for miscommunication or misunderstandings due to the lack of immediate feedback. When participants are communicating asynchronously, there is no opportunity for clarification or follow-up questions in real time, which can lead to confusion or misinterpretation of messages. This is where screen recordings can be a game-changer.

Screen Recording for Asynchronous Communication

A Screen recorder such as Powtoon Capture allows you to capture your screen and voice and record messages, presentations, and demos in your own time, making it the perfect tool for asynchronous communication. Whether you’re demonstrating how to use a new software program, explaining a complex project, or providing feedback on a document, screen recordings make it easy to communicate your message clearly and effectively.

Since your screen recordings can be shared asynchronously it allows participants to watch and respond to the recording on their own time. This not only makes communication more efficient but also allows participants to review the recording as many times as they need to fully understand the message.

How to Choose Between Synch and Asynch

When deciding between synchronous and asynchronous communication, ask yourself the following questions:

Who needs to receive this information and are they available in real-time or not?

Sometimes holding a meeting in person, or in real time is not an option. That’s where Powoton Capture comes into play! Easily record your screen, webcam, or both. Record your presentations, lectures, or meetings, and share them with your audience asynchronously. That way your viewers can watch and respond to the recording on their own time. This not only makes communication more efficient but also allows participants to review the recording as many times as they need to fully understand the message.

In addition, Powtoon Capture offers a variety of features that make it easy to create engaging and interactive recordings. You can add text, images, animations, and other multimedia elements to your recording, making it more engaging and dynamic. You can also edit your recording after you’ve created it, allowing you to refine and perfect your message before sharing it with your audience. 

Is participation or interaction required to achieve a certain outcome?

Meetings such as feedback and brainstorming sessions, or other collaborative activities typically require active participation and interaction among participants in order to achieve the desired outcomes.  However, it’s important to note that not all communication needs to be interactive in order to be effective. Sometimes, asynchronous communication, such as sending a message or a screen recording, can be just as effective for certain types of communication, such as providing updates, presenting demos, or sharing reports.

Do you need an immediate response or is a delayed response acceptable?

For some types of communication, such as emergency notifications or time-sensitive requests, an immediate response is necessary. In these cases, synchronous communication methods, such as phone calls or video conferencing, may be more appropriate than asynchronous methods, as they allow for immediate feedback and response.

However, for other types of communication, such as sharing information or providing updates, a delayed response may be acceptable. In these cases emailing screen recordings can be useful as they allow participants to respond at their own pace and on their own time.

How complex is your message? Is there room for misinterpretation?

The complexity of your message and the potential for misinterpretation are important factors to consider when choosing a communication method.

If your message is complex and requires a detailed explanation, visuals, or demos, asynchronous communication methods, such as written documents or screen recordings, may be more appropriate than synchronous methods. This is because asynchronous communication allows participants to review and process information at their own pace, which can help reduce the risk of misinterpretation. 

Seamless Asynchronous Communication With Powtoon Capture

Effective communication is critical for any department, company, or organization to succeed. When deciding between synchronous and asynchronous communication, consider the factors mentioned above and choose the method that best suits your needs.

A screen recorder such as Powtoon Captures is the perfect tool for your asynchronous communication. Not only does it allow you to record your screen, but with Powtoon Capture you can simultaneously record your camera as well. By recording your camera along with your screen, you can add a personal touch to your presentation and connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Download Powtoon Capture today and start creating engaging and effective screen recordings that capture your audience’s attention!

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It might seem daunting to create content and edit a video to make it look professional and engaging. But I’ll let you in on a little secret! If you are working with the right software, software that is simple and easy to use that produces professional results every time, video creation and editing is going to become your new hobby and only mode of communication! 

And that’s where Powtoon comes in! Ranked highly by G2, one of the top peer-to-peer review sites, we are proud to announce that Powtoon has been granted multiple awards across a variety of categories in the creation space. 

So why not use one of the industry leaders in video content and creation to transform your communications. Here’s a look at what Powtoon is ranking for:

Content Creation

What is at the core of any video? It isn’t the animation and the fun colors and sounds, but the actual content itself. You want to make sure that the software you are working with either provides inspiration or can service the amount of content you wish to include in your video. Whether you have a pre-existing idea or need a little bit of guidance, content is key! 

Powtoon has been awarded as both a leader and high performer in content! Powtoon received the award for Enterprise Leader for Content Creation as well as being a High Performer for E-Learning Content. 

Presentation Quality 

It is the presentation software which allows businesses and clients to create clear, engaging and informative presentations, an important tool for any enterprise. When creating a presentation or video demonstration, don’t settle for less than the professional and quality outcomes. 

The key is having an easy-to-use software if you are a beginner video creator, as well as a software that provides experts with everything they need to produce a quality video. You want to make sure that the download quality is clear and precise.

Look no further than Powtoon, awarded High Performer Enterprise for Presentation. 

Animation

What is the most enjoyable part of creating a video? Adding in all the animation – the twists and turns, the ups and downs, the appearances and disappearances. Animation is what dazzles, excites and engages your audience, keeping them entertained and informed. You want to make sure the video presentation platform you have selected provides you an endless variety of animation options that give your video that little extra something.  

And who better to be awarded Leader in Animation than Powtoon! Powtoon prides itself on its endless animation possibilities, growing from the most simple movements to intrinsic motions of objects, customized characters, text and more, integrating a variety of styles and themes to suit any need. 

Course Authoring 

The time has come to shred all those long documents that put people to sleep! Excite your new employees, prospective clients and more with video presentations. Prepare educational material courses, whether it is onboarding a new employee or a demonstration of a new IT software. Ditch the documents and create videos, and revolutionize your general communications to be more accessible and easily understood. 

And what is the best platform to use for course authoring? Powtoon! Awarded Leader in Course Authoring! 

Start working with the best!

Start your video content and creation journey now, with one of the industry’s leading platforms, Powtoon! Go on! You will never look back! 

The post Powtoon Leads G2’s Best Software Awards in 2022 appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

So you have come to the decision to make an epic video creation of your insanely awesome idea, and now you have to decide which is the best online video editor. Tough choices right? How are you supposed to know what to look for in order to determine which is the best online video editor?

Well good thing we are about to run through what are the ultimate features of the best online video editor! 

User Friendly

One of the most important features of an online video editor, regardless of what the interface includes, it needs to be user friendly. There is no point having all the fancy tools if you sit there staring at the screen wondering how to begin. Having a simple, user friendly and easy to use interface defines a great online video editor. Something as simple as a platform offering a drag and drop editing feature makes it the best kind of platform to work with!

Additionally, having access to guides and tutorials helping navigate the interface is really important in ensuring you have a seamless experience creating your video. 

Accessibility 

With the normality of a hybrid workforce, or you are away on vacation and didn’t bring your laptop with you, you want to make sure you always have access to your video editing platform. The ability to access your video editing platform from any gadget, anywhere, anytime allows you to continue your video editing with ease!

Tools

Obviously what are the main things you are looking for in the best online video editor? The tools it includes! This means access to videos, images and audio in order to spruce up your video creation. 

When creating a video you want to make sure you can express your idea visually and with the right audio background. Importing external videos is a feature of a good online video editor, as it gives you the ability to explore all the options of being able to visually portray your idea. Additionally, having access to a library of images on the interface itself, as well as being able to upload your own from an external source allows for maximal creativity. 

And what completes a great video? The audio background. The best online video editors will have an array of audio choices to have in the background of your video, or better yet the ability to voice record, which is a great feature when creating an infographic style video. When creating a video you want to make sure there is no limit to your creativity! That is the mark of the best online video editors. What kind of creative elements are features you should be looking out for? 

Having an array of templates already created and ready for you to edit and make into your own is a great feature as it gives you a baseline and direction as to how you want to present your video. Having unlimited animations is also a creative and fun way to bring your video to life, and the best online video editor will offer an array of animations to jazz up your video. 

Other cool features would include the ability to screen record your video, for example Powtoon’s Screen Capture is a creative way to express yourself, with the ability to record both yourself and your screen at the same time! 

Ability to Share

After creating your awesome video, where is the fun in it if you can’t share it around? What makes an online video editor the best online video editor is the feature and ability to share your creation around. You don’t limit your sharing abilities. The best online video editor would allow for you to post your video on all social media platforms, or for you to download and share via Whatsapp, email or any other method you can think of! 

And now you are ready to decide

Now with your handy dandy guide to the ultimate features of the best online video editors, you can now make your decision. And a little helping hand in the process, Powtoon is here offering all of the ultimate features, just to make your decision a little easier

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