It’s day 14 of #BattenVEDA which means we’re almost at the halfway point and I’m delighted to be able to tell you that the 35 vloggers who are taking part in our challenge to vlog every day in April, have produced more than 300 vlogs and come from five different continents: Asia, Australia, North America, South America, and Europe!

Some people are sticking to the calendar and others are freestyling. But the one thing they have in common is that they are all  taking on the challenge to film, edit, upload and share their vlogs for thirty days straight!

Tips and tricks

Today we thought we’d share a few quick tricks for all vloggers to take their vlogs from good to great. If you’ve got a trick you’d like to share, please feel free to leave a comment below or tweet us @Battenhall or @StephsBubble using the hashtag #BattenVEDA.

1. Stop and stare
   It’s totally normal to find yourself looking at the screen and not the camera when filming - I do it all the time! But if you can cast your gaze towards the camera instead not only will you find it a little less intimidating and distracting, you’ll also find yourself talking to the camera in the same way you might have an ordinary conversation with someone. Your viewers will thank you for it!

2. Umm... and... so…
   Do you think while you vlog? Me too! I constantly find myself filling time with words like ‘umm’ and have to remind myself that it’s okay to pause and actually stop speaking while vlogging. Although it’s daunting at first, the pauses actually help to keep your audience engaged. Let them hang on your every word… and keep them waiting for the next big thing.

3. Lights, camera, context
   Always check your surroundings when vlogging. Whether you’re filming inside or outdoors lighting is really important so be sure to check for potential reflections from lights or TV screens and glaring sun beams that want to steal your thunder. If you’re using your phone to vlog make sure your camera lens is clean as thumb prints make for fuzzy viewing. Finally, look behind you! As viewers we’re getting a window into your world, your home or city. What do you want us to see?

#BattenChat
For more tips and tricks and generally vlogging chatter, each Monday at 8pm GMT we host #BattenChat on Twitter. If you’re curious to see what we’re chatting about - don’t be shy - you’re more than welcome to join us. Simply follow @Battenhall on Twitter and use #BattenChat in every tweet to get involved. We’ve also set up a chatroom on Twubs too that brings all the tweets together in one place: http://twubs.com/battenchat. We hope to see you there!

Finally, to keep up to date with all the #BattenVEDA vlogs, check out our Twitter list of vloggers.