They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that's the case, then one second of video is worth 24,000 words. During my career, I had to create instructions and manuals for my colleagues and clients. Until four years ago, I followed the conventional routine of taking screenshots and writing out the instructions on a Word document. The process was quite tedious and time-consuming. Don't get me wrong; it is imperative to leave instructions behind for your daily tasks, which makes employee on-boarding easier and allows you to take time off without jeopardizing your company's operation. However, the process of creating those instructions was quite taunting for myself and my colleagues.
During my education, my IT professor, Prof. Ryan Wright, Ph.D., introduced my class to Screencast-O-Matic, which records your computer screen while you work. After downloading the program, I could record daily tasks and provide commentary FOR FREE. With the premium version, I can save my videos directly to the Screencast-O-Matic website, create a shareable link, upload the video straight to YouTube and congruently record myself through my webcam.
The shareable link allows me to send instructions to my clients quickly, the commentary allows me to provide context to the instructions, and the YouTube feed is beneficial for presentations.
Links:
Screencast-O-Matic website: https://screencast-o-matic.com/
Prof. Ryan Wright, Ph.D.'s Twitter: https://twitter.com/profrtwright?lang=en