The Art of Storytelling and View Retention 

marques has become a really good interviewer. i remember when he was a nervous kid interviewing kobe.

Creators I’d love to see interviewed: 1. Grace Randolph - Beyond The Trailer 2. Kara and Nate - Travel Vlog 3. Trixie Mattel - Trixie Cosmetics

Matt d'avella, director of The minimalists, would be a great guest: his insights on minimalism and storytelling, and cameras as well (connecting these subjects with tech or not) would make the show very interesting. I think Johnny Harris would be awesome as well. Both of you talking about cameras and maybe something related to big tech politics or privacy in the digital age wold be fantastic. Great video as always!

00:02 Advice from RU-vid creators may not always apply to all genres 02:07 Good storytelling requires causation between beats 04:19 Good storytelling builds tension and releases it. 06:24 Creating niche content for a specific audience 08:29 Creators' biggest complaint is inability to A/B test thumbnails 10:25 A/B testing thumbnails would be useful 12:18 Packaging video for reviews is a challenge 14:20 RU-vid creators should not rely solely on AdSense for revenue.

Marques has been doing storytelling on his videos for a long time without realizing it. That’s why his videos are great.

man, colin and samir are one of the best in explaining and giving reasons to questions, very in-depth!

It's funny to hear Marques talk about struggling to instill narrative into his videos given that, in my opinion, he's kind of already hit it out of the park. Every time he does one of those "talking to himself" intros, I am almost *instantly* drawn in. As it is in and of itself an awesome sort of "brand" in terms of video style. And is always a fun intro into the premise of the video, without ever overstaying its welcome. And even when he does something other than that, like just staring at the Sisyphus Table as the intro to the Dope Tech video on it. It's just enough to attract someone with "storytelling" without having to weave a proper narrative throughout the video, beyond simply making good on whatever the premise of the video is (e.g. Is the product good? Is X worth it?) All that to say, you're doing a great job Marques. And I think you may well already be on your way to making good on narrative in your videos.

I agree with Marques on this one. His honesty is what has kept me, and I'm sure many others, loyal to his channel. When there's a boring product, he doesn't sensationalize it to something it's not. 4:14 this explanation is what also makes a great salesman. Though he's not selling us this stuff, you feel he's genuinely just here to give you information about the new tech as opposed to just making it dramatic for views. And it's that realness that keeps me engaged. I know I won't be wasting my next 3-10min on nonsense opinions. Most people watching his videos are here for information and logical thinkers, even those of us who love a good story. I love storytelling and cinematography but when I want to learn about a piece of equipment, that part of my brain switches off.

Apple used storytelling to promote their products. They just found a way to combine storytelling, marketing, and advertising then package them together in a product.

It’s great to see Marques branching out like this. He’s as excellent as an interviewer as he is a tech reviewer.

Hearing you guys mention the thumbnail and title changes that people frequently make is great because as a viewer I know that if I watch a video and it's thumbnail and title change to where I click it again later, I immediately click off when I realize it's the same video, so it's nice to hear that there are people trying to avoid doing that too often.

Gerald from Gerald Undone would be great since he's so tech oriented and can talk about the the studio with an level of expertise that I feel like many creators could only dream of matching.

Marques: "I'm pretty decently mobile & althetic" Also Marques: is recognized as one of the best defensive Ultimate Frisbee players on the planet

Awesome episode! It would be cool to see some of the music creator RU-vidrs. I have a feeling that many of them are wildly tech informed.

MrWhoseTheBoss does it very well. The story telling part.

The picture and sound quality on this video is just perfect…

Thank you for sharing this type of content with us, so much to learn from you guys and your guests.

This is so upper-level! I wish I would have known everything that is involved in having a channel. Every potential creator needs to be informed of your conversation! Thank you!

You can insert a narrative in a tech review. The issue many people have is that they visualize a story as being one type, the classic arc style story. There are NO-ARC stories. Also in America we tend to focus on the traditional 3-act structure. In Japan they tell stories from a 4 act structure. My point, there are different ways to tell the same story.

Anyone else got good video recommendations for how to tell and craft a story? Kinda how these guys broke it down in the beginning? They made it make a lot of sense.

This is super helpful! I've been realllly bad about crafting a good storyline to my content. I get lots of positive comments saying it's helpful, but I think I need to get better about making it have a compelling story arc so people will feel more engaged.

Love for you guys to talk to Ali Abdaal. Especialy with him just announcing his book.

I am really amazed how insightful this short video has been, taught me an important key aspect of story telling.. greatful for stumbling on this video by accident

This is such good info! I feel like so many people try to nail down the exact method when really it just depends on the situation. I do really agree with the better the idea the easier the thumbnail and title are!

This is something that I am learning to improve my water fitness videos! Thanks!

THIS VIDEO WAS SO VALUABLE TO SOMEONE LIKE ME!!! A total novice, but this video has me looking at RU-vid in a totally different way. Nothing but respect! 🙌🏾🔥🙌🏾 Grateful

Something I wish Marques did on his main channel is a more direct comparison between the Flagships and "Fine" phones but way less expensive phones, I feel like camara quality defines a good phone more than anything but I dont take that many photos...

Thank you once again for sharing this. Working on my storytelling in the coming months 🙂

Great crossover guys!!

8:34 - I was literally thinking about this earlier today (and many times prior). I can't understand why RU-vid doesn't implement an A/B testing feature for thumbnails. Creators and their videos live and die by their thumbnails, especially when the video is first launched. Would be nice to randomly serve up two options simultaneously and choose a winner.

Wow storytelling is pretty intresting. Im going to try to apply it to gaming

The biggest pain point that smaller channels have no recourse for, is being falsely flagged. Ex: I gave away hundreds of dollars worth of in-game assets on a live stream without receiving anything in return. Next day.. warning for spam/fraudulent activity / deceptive practices. It's a serious accusation with no way to have an actual human being review the content or even listen to you.

9:20 packaging the story into a thumbnail is the most important role when creating

Incredible insights! We've been applying similar techniques to our own 'The Guestbook - Haunted Manor' series, but these are very short. It's fascinating how a good story can transport us anywhere.

So true. I have to remind myself of this every time I watch videos that offer "advice".

MR BEAST 1 on 1 and get him to try making a tech review video, and then you try making one of his videos.

Great insight from Colin and Samir, thanks for the video! 9:07

@mrmobile I cannot stress this enough. Immaculate screenplay and thorough pacing and I think that’s the most ideal example of narrative and technical showcasing; in one bite.

I almost skipped the video but Im so glad I didnt! The storytelling piece is marvelous 👏🏾

I definitely would like to see a conversation between you guys and Pewdiepie

13:10 knowing your formats or buckets direct your packaging

Yes you can do story telling with a tech product. It's your reason for purchasing it and the manufacturers reason for creating it or upgrading it.

Loved this one. Thanks

Interview helped alot with how I should structure my videos

This is so true and helpful.i agree with the concept of storytelling to get the audience attention but telling a story about tech is something else

Love this conversation.

Please leave the link for full podcast RU-vid channel video in description.

Thank you guys 😎👍

I'd love to see Dieter and Vjeran from The Verge... the geeking out about tech, vídeo and drones would be Epic!

I am with Marquez on this one. If I am looking at a review I want to get the important info right away and not have to listen to fluff.

Bro do you, be you. U are a superstar and amazing keep going, U are so humble and your sense of humor is the coolest.Mob love G ❤️💪remember never let people's opinion determine who you are and stop you from what you wanna be 👊

Thank you for this conversation. Couldn't stop taking notes. This information is useful and applicable to every person, as its not about only making effective videos, its aboit effective human communication. A story told with love

Interesting. I definitely agree, it’s hard to come up with a title and thumbnail ahead of time for a review.

Mr beast will be cool to see

This was really insightful

I never knew I wanted a creators only Mr. Beast challenge. Now I do.

Great video! I think you should bring on Flossy Carter and discuss the differences between your tech review formats

Flossy Carter and White Shoes. Simplest & effective reviewer on RU-vid. Proves that personality trumps production.

3:01 a great story is a dance of causation

The advice from blue hat dude is from the South Park creators writing seminar they held. I'd check that one out for advice for compelling storytelling instead.

Thanks for the content! =)

Great video!!😊

i'd deff would like to be on a podcast episode! All i do is enjoy the art of being a film creator!

This was a great video although I'd really like them to explain the principles behind storytelling. That would really help asipring creators like myself to understand how to create,edit and package a video from start to finish. But I still apperciate the time and effort you guys put in making this content.

Brilliant, they rooked us the moment they started to disagree.

I would like to see the full interview! A link to it (in a pinned comment) would help. Please.

With all the tech stuff that I am geeking out on another creator that you should have on the show is some one that is just starting off on the actual nitty gritty of you tube. He has changed everything to focus on RU-vid for 2024. He's had a impressive back story, working in the automotive world as a mehanic and restoration specialistist, hes been in the medical field doing backdoor IT stuff for Kaiser and supervisor at UCLA health. With all that technical skill, love for vehicles and using tech to further explain things on his channel , he is now a full time automotive detailer that is using the Think Media 1k challenge to be the first mobile detailer to have technical content for the consumer as well as tutorials in the future. Most importantly he is as eager to speak to you guys and bring an amazing conversation to your channel..,..Yes you figured it out, its me. I am in los Angeles/Van nuys.. amazing insight on this episode too ... seriously. talk to you guys soon.

Thank you for this!! :-)

Ok now we need a Mr Beast x MKBHD collaboration

nice interview

Very helpful information

How do devices get tailored to age groups, people with physical challenges, cognitive challenges and who is ignored ?

And not just that, Mister Mobile has series on his channels wherein he writes a whole new script for a device WAYYYYY ancient and then it creates for a MUCH MUCH MUCH more better tech review than your average (not you all, MKBHD) unboxing, hawk eye pov video.

I learned a lot from this. 👍🏾

You mentioned that this was a "clip" but I didn't see a link to the entire interview. Did I miss it or did you not include it?

Creators I'd like to see on the show: 1. Matti Haapoja 2. Potato Jet 3. Kara and Nate 4. Drew Binsky 5. Lost Leblanc

Peter McKinnon, Maxx Chewning, Christian Guzman.

wonder why maques’ mic is different or is it just the same shure mic without the foam sleeve?

I'd love to see you interview Darrel Eves

4:44 tension and release are fundations for storytelling

someone related to wearables - dc rainmaker. and someone making nextgen transport content (maybe ev's maybe even more broad) - like transport evolved.

People might also watch because of who reviewing it like LinusTechTips, MKBHD, Mrwhosetheboss, etc because they have high standard and their personality.

The art of jangling keys in front of children

Looking forward to seeing Peter McKinnon on the podcast

Master: “Interesting” Pupil: Thought bubble…”Am I right”

Mr Beast retains the ages between basically any toddler with opened eyes till late 20is.If I watch a video on a channel & somehow watched their next video & each time I feel like I'm being hooked & manipulated, then it gets old quickly. Everything in life can never ever be that interesting that each thing always has to have a beginning/mission, conflict and resolution. Some stories & just mundane & real & should be told as such. Failure to do so, you're just being fake and disengenuous.

I would like to see someone in the fashion space like Daniel Simmons

The thing with thumbnails, especially MKBHD that has millions watching daily, using Studio's Live feature, you can see the result of changing a video's thumbnail in real-time! I believe a channel like Marques' could definitely hire a Chief Of Thumbnails (COT), whose job is entirely about picking and optimising the BEST thumbnail for each video (Same apples to TITLES), and watching the result of that. Like I have one video with a CTR of 58% and I'm like HOW?! The average is apparently 5-6% Lol. I should study that one and see if I can duplicate that insane percentage...but views on this channel is so low, that it feels like it would be a waste of time to test that.

@2:22 I'm confused at the response to Marquess first question. The example given was a story, but a question, a good question at that, a good tactic, but that wasn't a story. Am I missing something here? Also when it comes to advise in any field, can someone show me where Samir advise is being CARRIED OUT in Tech channel?

Great video

Jonathon Morrison

Sick Studio

I see that you applied this in your Pro-i video

wow marques with the gem 2 minutes in

Marques, the product in your review example, the product is the story The scope of your story is usually outlined in title of video?

Don’t forget to introduce the guests - I have no idea who these guests are or why they should be here.

Modern Millie or Samurai Matcha! 🎉

You should totally have Joe Scott on your podcast!

2:45 Story telling

Do you any creators that have a motivational podcast that can give advice? I'm new to the podcast scene