8 Common Mistakes in DIY Video Reviews and How to Avoid Them

Nobody expects you to have a Hollywood-level quality if you’re filming in your room, but no matter how honest and useful your opinion is, bad production will kill it.

People won’t stick around unless the video is pleasant to watch. It doesn’t take too much to make your videos watchable, though—clear audio, decent lighting, background that’s not too busy, and being somewhat eloquent. If your content is good, that’s all you really need when it comes to production.

But as you probably already know, many videos aren’t like this, which is why you click out before the first 15 seconds have passed. And whether you want to admit it or not, you’ve had viewers who didn’t want to bother with your content because the quality was subpar.

Luckily, there are ways of avoiding these mistakes (that almost everybody makes at some point or another).

Errors That Put a Damper on Video Quality

Fancy tools like an AI talking head video maker and animated images are great, but they won’t do much on their own; not if you don’t have all the basics, anyway.

Here are the biggest mistakes you can make and how not to make them.

Poor Audio Quality

Bad sound is the fastest way to lose views.

You can get away with a video that’s a little grainy, but if your voice sounds like you’re talking in a well or if it’s drowned out by traffic, people won’t bother with it. Yes, your laptop has a built-in mic, and so does your phone, but that won’t cut it for a video review.

You don’t need to invest thousands into it. A cheap USB or clip-on mic is perfectly fine, and it’ll give you clean audio your viewers will actually enjoy.

Inconsistent Lighting

Have you ever watched a video where brightness keeps going up and down, and where shadows cover half the product? That’s considered bad lighting.

Every type of content will look like amateur hour if the lighting is bad, and if all you’re working with is daylight, your videos aren’t the best.

Please use a couple of inexpensive LED lights or a ring light. Stick to one type of color so your video isn’t patchy, and set the lights at an angle so your face and the product are evenly lit.

Busy Background

What’s in the background of your video isn’t insignificant, and it can ruin the video.

If your room is messy or if you have random posters on your wall, it’s distracting. Do you really want a random person looking at your laundry basket instead of listening to what you have to say?

Please keep it clean and simple. A blank wall is totally fine, as is a curtain, a tidy desk, or even a single plant. If you want props, that’s okay, but they should fit the theme of the video.

Bad Pacing

Our attention spans are shrinking, which means your viewers don’t want to sit through long intros and hear you ramble about whatever. Get to the point! Also, make sure not to rush through important details because it will make your content shallow.

Pacing is about balance. Make your intro quick, get to the product fast. Stay on point and don’t use filler to make the video longer. When you start editing, cut out dead space and phrases you’ve repeated to make the flow smooth.

Lack of Clear Structure

If you randomly jump from one detail to another, it makes the content hard to follow. One minute you’re on design, the next you’re on price, and then you go back to features. Honestly, it’s a confusing mess.

You want a clear structure, like chapters in a book. Introduction, features, pros and cons, and final thoughts. That’s it.

Use simple transitions so your viewers know where you’re going and, if you need to, script the video before filming.

Using Jargon Too Much

You know what bitrate is? Great, pat yourself on the back. FPS, latency, refresh rate, aperture… Good for you, but if someone has to pause your video in order to check what a specific term means, they won’t come back.

Please keep it simple. Explain technical stuff in plain words (e.g., ‘explain as if I were 5), or use comparisons with which the reader/listener can connect (e.g., some everyday situations).

Here’s an example: instead of just saying “HDR “, which can come off as a bit technically-heavy to some, and they wouldn’t object because of the fear of being ridiculed, just say (or add) “it basically means brighter colors and deeper blacks.”

This way, people of all levels of understanding on the topic can get it, and it doesn’t sound overly simple for the more expert-level ones, because they might never have said it that way, so they’ll also find it interesting. Win-win.

Conclusion

If you don’t have fancy/expensive gear or a full-blown studio setup, that’s okay. There are still ways for you to make a quality video, don’t worry!

But to do that, you need to get the basics right and avoid the stuff that makes viewers roll their eyes, get confused, and click off.

Audio, lighting, pacing, and editing are the ‘big four’ things that you need to cover right. Other than that, you’ll all be in the details (e.g., simple backdrop, clear structure – things like that).