Transcription
This is a micro. This is a robot is Aerogel. Shade ball. LED shoelaces. Mathematical rule book.
>> How does Veritasium make videos about everything from complicated physics principles to abstract math equations and get tens of millions of people to watch? It isn't just that he's good at explaining things. Other channels do that and don't get 100 million views. And it isn't just the visuals. Other people have those and never go viral. So, what is it? The answer is hiding in an experiment Derek ran 13 years earlier that accidentally laid out the entire formula for his YouTube channel.
It all started when he gave students a test on gravity. On [music] average, they scored >> six out of 26. >> Then he tried showing them an explainer video. >> And here's what they told me. They said, "Derek, that was a great video." These are the most common things they said. "It was clear. It was concise. [music] It was easy to understand." It's good. >> After they watched the explainer video, he retested them to see how it improved their score. >> How much did they pick up? The average on the post-test was 6.3. What happened?
>> So, then he tried showing them a different type of video. >> No one told me that it was clear. No one told me it was concise. No one said it was easy to understand. In fact, most of the time, they told me it was confusing. So, how did they go on the post-test? Well, their scores nearly doubled to 11 out of 26. Okay, it's not 26 out of 26, but it's a start.
>> The confusing video followed a formula that he would use on his channel for the next decade and a half. >> LEDs don't get their color from their plastic cover. >> Most people don't know how bicycles actually work. >> Most of us tie our shoelaces wrong. >> That was the first part of his formula right there.
>> Depending on how you present, you can change how your audience watches. >> Derek discovered this technique when one of the students said something really weird to him. It wasn't that hard to pay attention to the clear, straightforward video because I already knew what they were talking about. So, the student thought they already understood gravity, but what he didn't realize is he completely failed the test.
>> Students don't know nothing about what we're we're trying to teach them. They actually know lots of things through their interaction with the world. It just turns out that these things are wrong, scientifically speaking. So, when you present something, the student thinks they already know it.
>> However, when you start with a misconception, >> LEDs don't get their color from their plastic cover. >> Most of us tie our shoelaces wrong. >> It shows them that they don't already know, and then they want to hear how it actually works. That's the first part of the formula Derek uses to get tens of millions of views on his videos.
>> You always have to start with the misconceptions.
>> But, he doesn't just mean the beginning of the video. Look at one of the most used words in his titles is. And look at what's going on here. I thought the door was locked. I thought I was a visual learner. Why isn't he pointing to the biggest one? And speaking of misconceptions, one of the biggest misconceptions about titles and thumbnails is that they're supposed to communicate the topic. What's the topic of the video? And that's actually something that Derek used to get wrong. He was originally going to call his most viral video >> get something like throwing shade balls.
>> But, then he talked to Mr. Beast. >> He was like, "No." He suggested, "Why are there 96 million black balls on this lake?" It just goes to show how important the title and thumbnail are.
>> 90% of the time people don't click because of the topic. They click for a different reason. Take this video. When Veritasium changed the thumbnail from this to this, it went from one of his worst performing videos to his best. So, why would that make such a difference in the views? It has to do with what someone's brain is doing when they're scrolling through YouTube. And understanding that is one of the best ways to grow a channel. This is too in the weeds for most people, but we put together a five-day mini course. It's completely free. Each day's lesson a minute long, and by the end you'll understand more about YouTube than 90% of people out there. Link below.
So, the first part of the formula gets people hooked. But, Derek still had a huge problem. Look at the timestamps of his videos. He was going to have to figure out a way to keep people's interest for the entire video. Otherwise, YouTube would stop recommending them. And that's where the second part of the formula comes in. If they were going to explain how shade balls work in school, this is how it would go. They'd give you the answer and then ask you questions to test your understanding. >> Anyone raised or lowered?
>> If school was a YouTube channel, its CTR would be zero and its retention would just be an error message. But look at how Derek does it. >> So, why is LA Reservoir covered in shade balls? Well, the problem all started with bromide.
>> He does it again here. >> When I first heard about these black plastic balls reducing evaporation, it didn't seem to make any sense. I mean, wouldn't they absorb more energy and so heat up the water leading to faster evaporation? It turns out the answer is no for a number of reasons.
>> So, Derek does the opposite of school. He asks the question first, which then makes people hungry for the explanation. Most people think of Derek as a scientist, but his dream in life is something completely different. >> I didn't really want to be an engineer. I wanted to be a filmmaker. After the engineering degree, I decided to move to Australia and go to film school.
>> And that's how he found the third part of his formula. There's this classic technique that almost every movie uses to keep people's attention, long before anyone was talking about retention hacks. Look at how Derek does it here. >> Is it hard to drive in shade balls? >> It is very hard. >> Why is that? >> These are actually partially filled with water and the re- the reason they're filled with water is that at LA Reservoir, we have some really high winds. And so
>> In movies, this is called A plot, B plot. When people get tired of the A plot, he cuts to the B plot. >> [music] >> When the B plot gets too technical, he cuts back to the A plot. And so, people never get tired with learning technical information, [music] which keeps the retention high. And when the retention's high, YouTube says, "This is a great video. Recommend everyone." That's how you get 100 million views.
>> [music] >> Misconceptions, question, then explanation, A plot, B plot. That's the Veritasium formula.
>> And I'm now applying this. I've got a YouTube channel, it's called Veritasium. And I've made nearly 100 films which have been seen over 4.5 million times >> [music] >> throughout the world.
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