How Long Should Video Lectures Last?

Video Lecture Length

A common question for those teaching online is, "How long should my video lectures last and what format should they take?"

The short answer is, “as long as a TED talk." 18 minutes works great for lectures both in the classroom and online and these 18-minute talks follow a very simple formula:

1. Identify the through line, or main idea that you want to communicate to your students in a lecture. The through line is the main idea that carries your lecture from beginning to end. It is the most important point that you are trying to communicate to your students. It is the main idea that you want students to walk away with after you have delivered your content.

2. Using aviation language about taking off, flying, and landing an airplane, know how you are going to take off, how you are going to start your (video) lecture with an introduction. Simply, introduce the main idea in a compelling way that captures students' attention.

3. Now fly the "plane": Provide 4-6 illustrations that highlight the importance of the idea and why it matters. Mix your illustrations up using charts, images, stories, and other techniques that appeal to a broad variety of learning styles.

4. Now is perhaps the most important part. Know how you are going to land the plane so to speak. Know how you are going to close your lecture. Poor endings can ruin a good video lecture. We have all heard a sermon where the preacher doesn’t know when to stop and keeps circling “the airplane” overhead without ever giving a good conclusion. A good conclusion leaves your students with something they can digest after the lecture is over. In our Christian context, it is providing students with something they can live out in their own lives.

5. To summarize, Introduction, 4-6 good points, and a conclusion.

6. Another way to say it: Know how you will open your lecture and know how you will end it. Fill in the middle with the content you are passionate about.

This format has worked for thousands of presenters to millions of people and works very well when pre-recording video teachings in the virtual classroom (it works great in the physical classroom too followed by a discussion section).

This is an example of a well-done Video Lecture/TEDtalk on the Question of Why? Simon Sinek opens his lecture with compelling questions, answers those questions, and then summarizes why the question of why is important at the end of this video lecture.

You can learn more here along with some information about how graduate students retain information: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140313205730-5711504-the-science-behind-ted-s-18-minute-rule/