Technical support, training and educational screen recording videos are commonly called screencasts. These can be a powerful tool to demonstrate technical tasks, or to illustrate technical concepts that are hard to explain in words. And, the video and audio components of the video can make a "dry" topic more engaging than written instructions or static images.

Great screencasts are concise, have good audio quality, and move at a pace that is comfortable for the viewer.

To help you create great Screencasts, we've put together an article called Screencasting Best Practices. In this article you'll find plenty of information on setting up your screen before you begin to record, creating and using a script, choosing a microphone, and much more.

Here are just a few:

• If you are recording more than one video, decide on a standard set of options for your organization. For example, will your videos highlight the cursor? Should your videos all be the same size ? Will you record with a caption or system stamp?
• Practice, practice, practice. Overall, how much and how often you practice will be the key to creating professional videos. It takes practice to learn how to correctly move the cursor or open applications so they appear in the recording area. You will need to practice to get the positioning of browser windows and other applications just right.
• Perform several takes, replaying them after production to see ways of improving the video. By viewing glitches and correcting them in succeeding takes, you will eventually come up with a professional-looking video sequence that you can save.
• Be patient. Even a one-minute video can take a while to set up and record. A beginner might need 30 minutes or longer to get it right. Leave plenty of time for extra takes.

Do you have any great screencasting tips to share? If so, let us know!