Jordan Ogren

August 25, 2021

Newsflash: Creating great content has a formula.

The steps to creating high-quality content are the same, no matter the topic.

Whether it’s content on employee engagement, the NFL, or mathematics, the way to make standout content is universal. 

I was reminded of this as I watched a 3Blue1Brown YouTube video on how to create math explainer videos. (3Blue1Brown is a math and physics YouTube channel)

He lays out five steps for structuring math explanations:
  1. Concrete before abstract
  2. Topic choice > production quality
  3. Be niche (and nice 😉)
  4. Know your genre
  5. Definitions are not the beginning

As content creators, we can easily fall into the trap of thinking that creating great content is fortuitous. Instead of realizing great content is created by intentional design.

When you move from believing that great content happens by chance to believing it is within your control, you enable rapid improvement. 

You can see out of the five tips above which your content fails to deliver on. And then improve that area.

As a reminder of the five in the context of content:

  1. Great content covers complex topics in simple ways
  2. Great content is more about how and what you say rather than the video quality
  3. Great content focuses on solving a specific problem for either a general or specific group of people
  4. Great content is created by people who have deep domain expertise.
  5. Great content makes you feel like you’ve come to the realization rather than being hand-fed

Once you realize that great content has a universal design, you begin taking lessons from every piece of content you consume.

Watching the NBA finals? Observe how they create storylines and keep your curiosity at a high.

Watching a Netflix special on sea lions? Observe the angle at which they cover the topic that keeps you coming back.

While ignorance is bliss (believing great content happens by chance), the alternative is far better.

Realize that the steps to creating great content are universal and begin improving your content through the universal content truths.

🧠 // JO

P.S. You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/ojjzXyQCzso?t=500