Have you ever felt too intimidated about video recording to even try to get a simple message out on YouTube?

I thought so. I feel that way too. I did a quick search on Google, and these are some of the issues that were raised when making a video for any purpose.

Right off the bat, I was told to buy the most expensive camera I could afford, since the quality of the video will suffer unless the camcorder is first rate.

Next, I learned that you MUST have a tripod. But not just any tripod. The tripod has to cost at least $100 – $200 to be solid and firm enough to prevent wobbling. I was instructed to obtain a portable microphone and something called a “Lavaliere Microphone”(like I knew what that was).

Next, I was given TONS of advice on panning, zooming, editing, narration, composition, lighting – and even extensive information on how to sort and pack your equipment.

We haven’t even gotten to the question of memorization vs. cue cards, inflection, noise minimization, facial expression, and my personal favorite – STAGE FRIGHT.

All of the above would be perfectly legitimate to consider if you were planning to re-make “Gone With The Wind”, but what if you’re just trying to sell something or explain something?

If you’re like me, you understand the incredible power of YouTube and other video sites. You know that more and more internet traffic is video (52% as of this writing), and that if you want your message to get to the most pairs of eyes, you have to go video. The question some of you may be asking is: “How do I avoid all of that other nonsense mentioned above?”

That’s a great question. One thing you might consider is to buy some super expensive video editing software. Then, after slogging through a huge learning curve, you could create one of those artsy video “masterpieces” you sometimes see on YouTube. You know, with the clever messages fading in and out, or leaping in and out, or dancing around each other, all accompanied by synchronized music.

But if you just want to get across a simple sales message, you might conclude that all of the above is overkill. So why not look into “text to video” software?

If you haven’t heard of it, don’t worry. I hadn’t heard of it either until recently. But actually it’s been around for a while – only nowadays the speech sounds less robotic. The idea behind it is to simply paste or type the words you want spoken into your computer and it gets converted into audio speech.

This type of program makes creating a video as simple as writing an email. When you consider that more and more people prefer watching and listening to a message, rather than reading words on a screen, you can see the value in this.

The main question to ask is how the software handles the video portion. I would personally recommend that you choose a program that generates some kind of computer image, rather than simply flashing the words on a screen as they’re being spoken. Most viewers feel more comfortable actually seeing someone talk, and you want viewers that feel comfortable watching your message.

Learn more about a new text to video program called VideoGoRound.com at Jennifer Gordon’s site: VIDEOGOROUND.COM. Find out how VIDEOGOROUND will address these issues.