Half of Youtube’s users are on the platform to learn new things. At one point, the platform even  ranked above printed books and in-person activities for how Gen Z preferred to learn. For the second-most visited site on the internet, that’s a massive opportunity for anyone creating video—for your own channel or at work.

Viewers on YouTube can learn intro or advanced physics, biology, or economics. They can learn how to fix a car, paint like a Renaissance artist, or create their first video game. They can get unstuck with their editing software or learn how to write a project plan. Which is to say, no matter what you want to teach, there’s a decent chance you’ll have an audience that wants to learn.

If you’re a creator or anyone looking to share your expertise, whether it’s a tutorial, an explainer video, or something else, here are some helpful ideas to upgrade your educational content.

1. Find a “so what?”

It’s easy for instructors to get caught up in the fine details of conveying information and forget to ask why it matters. An easy creative refrain is to repeatedly ask the question “why would somebody care about this?” Even when the overall answer seems simple—somebody wants to learn to style their outfits better—it’s easy to lose sight of that when you’re in the weeds of, say, fabric type or belt choice. 

This is especially true for topics like science and math, or for anything business-related. The most memorable teachers are the ones who can connect their subjects to the everyday lives and curiosities of their students. 

2. Convey wonder 

Sometimes it’s hard to connect some subjects to people’s lives. Instead, you can do the next best thing: infect people with curiosity. Channels like Crash Course do a great job of conveying a sense of wonder in topics like biology. That sense of astonishment about the world around us can be contagious. Even if you’re not teaching about the foundations of life, enthusiasm and reverence for a topic can go much further than a matter-of-fact explanation.

3. Mix it up

That’s the advice of teacher-turned-YouTuber Mr. Beat.

“At least once every minute or so, I break up the educational content with a jingle, a bad joke, a meme, or just some kind of change to keep the viewer's attention,” he says.

Creators may feel like comedy isn’t their forte, but remember jokes don’t need to be worthy of raucous laughter. They can work well if they just lighten the mood or break the tension. Even a small outtake can do the trick. 

“There should be just as much emphasis on changing up the audio (tone of voice, pace of voice, etc.) as changing the video, as many people listen to videos these days while they do other things,” Beat said.

4. Pivot with questions

Educational videos tend to jump from one point to the next by simply saying so. “Next, we'll learn how to master your audio,” for instance. 

Consider trying to raise questions to the viewer to keep them engaged from one point to the next. “But now that your edit is done, what if it still sounds bad? Tinny or echo-y? Well for that, let’s talk about mastering,” as a better example. You could also skip the question and go for an exciting promise. Consider “If your audio sounds like THIS, I'll show you how to make it sound like THIS.” 

Questions might also address counterpoints (when making an argument) or appear in a more narrative format (the classic: how are they going to get out of this one?).

5. Drive curiosity with hypothetical scenarios

Many educational creators use hypothetical scenarios to drive their script and engage their viewer. Consider this video from ASAPScience, which asks a basic question: What if we eliminated all mosquitos?

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The entire video is not about this single scenario. Instead, it answers the prompt and pivots to highlight new research: a novel way to stop the spread of mosquito-borne disease with bacteria. But “What if we infected every mosquito with a bacteria to stop Dengue Fever” doesn’t have quite the ring to it. While this video quickly pivots away from the actual question, many creators will base entire videos on the concept (Like this video from In a Nutshell).

6. Upgrade your graphics

Most educational videos need some kind of empirical backing to establish their credibility. It might be data, published papers, news articles, photos, or even just screen captures. If you’re not doing that, consider implementing more visual aids.

But if you are, take this as an opportunity to upgrade the way you show papers and articles.

A new creator might show a static screenshot of an article they’re discussing for a few seconds. If you’re at this point, try adding a subtle zoom or pan (like a Ken Burns documentary). You might also add small animations to highlight specific key words or phrases. (Here’s how to do that in Descript).

If you’re already using zoom and pan animations, consider new ways to add depth and motion. In this video, creators Colin and Samir skip the pans and zooms and instead go for dynamic cuts between close-ups of individual words, quick highlight animations, and manipulating text colors to draw attention. There’s no one right answer, but even if you’re not a skilled animator, there are motion libraries like Envato and Motion Array with great templates to bring static images to life.

7. Be authentic and conversational

The best educational creators come off as authentic and casual while delivering great information. 

“Any story hits you harder if the person delivering it doesn’t sound like a news robot but, in fact, sounds like a real person having the reactions a real person would,” legendary radio host Ira Glass says.

The truth is, being “authentic” while recording is a skill in itself. It’s very difficult to read off a script while seeming like oneself. I have no doubt that Glass’s down-to-earth style of narration was heavily practiced, despite its authentic feel. Even in my own work, I constantly struggle to sound more like myself while stressing the right words and taking the right pauses.

Some of the problem, though, stems from the writing. We do not write like we talk. While it’s still a good idea to avoid filler phrases like “as a matter of fact” or “at the end of the day,” allow yourself to cheat a little, especially with words like “so” or even a deliberate “uh” or “um.”

Despite being somewhat rehearsed, the practiced authentic you should still be you. Faking a personality on YouTube is a recipe for disaster.