27 January 2020
 Categories: , Blog

Any person with desire and self-motivation can explore scores of options for formal and informal continued education. Spending time reading books alone might improve someone's knowledge of a subject. Anyone interested in learning more about ancient history certainly won't run short on books to peruse. Reading has its limitations, though. Enrolling in a well-structured continued education webinar has the potential to overcome those limitations. An author of history books could expand his/her audience by creating webinars to target the same audience as enthusiastic readers. With a capable continuing education webinar producer, the team could put together an excellent video seminar.

Re-Creating the Author's Style

Fans of a particular author feel drawn to his/her style. A live presentation can't completely duplicate the experience of reading his/her words, but the production's style should share similarities with the written works. A good film adaptation of a novel matches the book's approach. The film version of Stephen King's It doesn't radically depart from the novel stylistically. Why would a webinar based on a prose history book be any different? If the producer reads the books and deconstructs the author's style, then the producer may be able to bring the style to life in the webinar. An author known for dry humor shouldn't disappoint webinar viewers expecting dry humor in the videos.

Working Around the Author's Limitations

Authors can be excellent communicators when putting together written words. Speaking in front of a camera, however, represents a different discipline. The author's on-camera speaking and presentation skills could be weak, but replacing him/her isn't an option. After all, the selling point of the webinar focuses on a famous author running the show. A skilled producer usually knows how to highlight an author's talents while working to minimize weaknesses. Voice-over narration is one approach. 

Maximizing the Voice-Over Narration Approach

The author could describe a historical event off-camera while the camera captures still images of the scene. Ken Burns' Civil War documentary famously established using vintage artwork and illustrations to tell the visual story while a narrator spoke. The benefit here is the author can record several takes, and the producer chooses the best one. Issues related to the author's less-than-perfect on-camera appearance minimize since he/she isn't seen in voice-overs.

The Producer Search

Authors interested in bringing their creative vision to a history webinar need the right producer. Taking the necessary steps to hire the most suitable producer improves the chances the webinar turns out well.