From Script to Screen: Crafting Your Unique YouTube Tale

10 YouTube Video Ideas for Sharing Your Personal Story

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

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YouTube is a great platform you can use not only to share your gifts and talents with the world but also to share who you are as a person. No matter how many followers you may currently have, you are an amazing person just as you are with a unique story. Here are ten YouTube video ideas to share your personal story.

• Channel Trailer
• My YouTube Story
• Draw My Life
• Snapchat/Instagram Stories Q&A
• Never Have I Ever Q&A
• Get Ready With me Q&A
• My Depression/Anxiety or Mental Health Story
• Narrated Autobiopic
• 25 Facts About Me
• YouTube Live/Webinar

1. Channel Trailer

Before posting any videos on your channel, it can be a great idea to create a “Channel Trailer” summarizing who you are and what your channel is all about.

YouTuber Shameless Maya does an excellent job of this. She created a visually appealing and engaging 1-2 minute channel trailer that explains exactly what her channel is all about. Feel free to be as creative as you want to be.

2. My YouTube Story

On Monday, May 17th, 2010, YouTube celebrated its fifth anniversary. In celebration of hitting their five-year mark, YouTube launched a “My YouTube Story” campaign, which featured fifteen YouTubers sharing how YouTube has changed their lives. Each of these videos would end with “What’s your YouTube story? Tell us by uploading a video.” Ever since that campaign, many YouTubers have shared their YouTube story, including me! After I had been on YouTube for two years, I felt it was time for me to share my own YouTube story with the world. Sharing your story is not only an opportunity for your viewers to get to know you but a way to inspire other creators to start their channels as well. We all have our reasons for why we started, so why not share them?

3. Draw My Life

“Draw My Life” is a popular video where YouTubers share their life stories through a unique series of drawings. Often YouTubers use a white dry erase board and markers so they can erase and redraw the series of their life events. Mr. Kate provides a great example of this as she is a talented artist and DIY’er. The great thing about this is you don’t have to be an artist or a great drawer. It’s a fun way to be creative and tell your story.

4. Snapchat/Instagram Stories Q&A

Who isn’t on Snapchat, Instagram, or both these days? Over the past year, I’ve seen YouTubers get creative by asking their viewers to send snaps asking questions they will answer on a Q & A video on their channel. This video idea is great because it involves live viewer participation and a chance for viewers to be seen or noticed on their favorite Youtuber’s channels. Beauty guru stars Manny MUA and Jeffrey Star did a great example of this as a collaboration.

5. Never Have I Ever Q & A

Who hasn’t played the “Never Have I Ever” game?! Playing this game as a Q & A is a great way for viewers to get to know you better with some juicy and shocking details about yourself they otherwise wouldn’t know. It’s also a great way to play and collaborate with another YouTuber. Often, the questions will be split and you have to watch both YouTubers’ videos to find out all the details. Highly popular beauty YouTuber Desi Perkins does a great example of this while playing the game with her sister in law.

6. Get Ready With Me Q & A

Get ready with me Q & As are some of my favorite videos to watch because it’s nice to see YouTubers strip-down bare-faced to do their makeup and answer popular questions. It often feels like two old friends sitting down to chat. Jenn, I’m doing a great example of this when she took to twitter asking viewers to ask her questions she would answer on her channel. Not only did she answer the questions but she gave a detailed makeup tutorial and explanation of the products she used as a 2 for 1. Even if your channel has nothing to do with makeup or fashion, some viewers can still be intrigued to learn more about your fashion and makeup style.

7. My Depression/Anxiety or Mental Health Story

Behind all their smiles and outrageous on-camera personas, there are a lot of YouTubers who are dealing with depression and anxiety. Beauty and fashion YouTuber Alyssa Forever not only shared her story on how she dealt with her depression but gave tips and ways to be happier. If you are facing depression, anxiety, or some other mental illness, it can give others hope if you share your story.

8. Narrated Autobiopic

Narrated Autobiopic videos are a great way to share your story or advice in a cinematic way. You can be as creative as you want to be. YouTuber Evelyn From the Internets posted a narrated autobiopic called “For People Who Feel Behind In Life” that comically introduces her story.

9. 25 Facts About Me Tag

This is probably one of the easiest ways to share things about yourself when starting as a YouTuber or even if you’re a veteran. Viewers are always looking to learn more interesting things about you so you are more relatable. I’ve been a fan of Vasseur Beauty for a few years now and was surprised by many of the things she shared about herself.

10. YouTube Live/Webinar

YouTube live videos are probably the best ways to interact and share your story with viewers. Viewers can ask questions on the spot. YouTuber Roberto Blake shares great live videos on how to improve your videos and things he’s learned through personal experience.

Custom Your Video with Excellent Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Making Your Own YouTube Beginnings & Endings Cheaply

How to Create YouTube Intros & End Cards - Free and Easy

Shanoon Cox

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

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Part 1: Intros

Elements of an Intro

Top Intro Sites

Creating an Intro in Filmora

Part 2: End Cards

Elements of an End Card

How To Make an End Card

Part1: Intros

Elements of an Intro

Intros should only last about five seconds, and that can be cut down to two or three if you have a larger following.

When your intro video is longer than five seconds viewers are more likely to click away. The first 15 seconds of a video is when viewers are most likely to decide to click on one of the recommended videos, or go back to their search results and choose something else. The odds of them leaving within these first 15 seconds are greater if you do not get right to the main point of your video. That is why long intro sequences are bad for your watch time.

Whether it is better to put your intro at the very beginning of your video, or after you introduce your topic, will depend on your viewers. You may want to try it both ways and then look at your retention report (found in your YouTube Creator Studio under Analytics) to see which works best for you.

Top Intro Sites

There are a few different sites where you can download animated intros, customized to include your username or logo. Here are two of the best:

FlixPress.com

This is probably the most popular intro site. There are a lot of great animated intros available for under $5, or even for free.

IntroMaker.net

This is another site with really professional looking intros for $5. They only have two free options, though.

Creating an Intro in Filmora

You can create a simple intro card in Filmora.

1. Choose your background. You may want to use a short clip as your intro, or you may just want a colored background.
2. Drag your clip or background into the video track of your timeline and trim it down to five seconds.
3. If you have a logo, import it into Filmora and drag it into your picture-in-picture track.
4. With your logo selected, click on the Green Screen icon. In the pop-up, select the background of your logo to make it transparent. For this to work your logo cannot be the same color as its background.
5. Click on the editing icon with your logo selected and choose an animation.
6. Go to the Text/Titles menu and choose an animated title that suits your channel. Drag it into your text track and edit it to include your name.
7. The last piece of your intro is sound. You can choose a song from Filmora’s library and cut it down to five seconds, or import your sound effect.
8. Export your video and save it for use in all of your other videos.

Part 2: End Cards

When your video ends, YouTube will recommend a selection of videos users may want to watch next. Often, these recommendations will not include more of your videos.

To keep viewers on your channel, you can create your End Card which recommends other content you have created.

Elements of an End Card

An end card includes clips from two or three of your videos, muted, and shrunk down to thumbnail-size. Using spotlight annotations you can make these thumbnails click-able.

It is also important that your end card includes multiple calls to action. A call to action is meant to spur a viewer to some kind of action. Writing ‘Check out this video’ above one of your thumbnails is a call to action.

You should also have a subscribe link somewhere in your end card, ideally a very noticeable button with a proven call to action like ‘Subscribe Now!’.

Some creators will leave their end cards at that and play music overtop, but it can be even more effective to include a voiceover where you ask viewers to subscribe and watch your other videos.

How To Make an End Card

1. Choose a static background. You may want to download an end card template or create one in a drawing program. If you do, make sure to include calls to action like ‘Watch more!’ and ‘Subscribe’.
2. Drag your background into your timeline at the end of your video.
3. Import two or three of your previous videos and drag them into your picture in picture tracks. Each clip should be on its track.
4. Trim the clips in your picture in picture track down to the same length as your end card.
5. Shrink your clips down to thumbnail-size by dragging their corners in the preview window.
6. Position your clips so they are spaced evenly by dragging them in the preview screen.
7. Mute your clips.
8. If your background does not include any calls to action, choose a title from the Text/Titles menu in Filmora and create at least two – one asking viewers to subscribe, and one asking them to watch your suggested videos.
9. Export your video from Filmora and upload it to YouTube.
10. Go to your Video Manager and select Annotations in the drop-down menu next to your video.
11. Go to your end card in the previewer, as that is where you want to add your annotations.
12. Click Add Annotation and add a spotlight annotation to your video. Stretch it over one of your thumbnails and then check the Link box under your Annotation’s timing. Insert a link to the video you are previewing.
13. Repeat for any other thumbnails. For your subscribe button, change where it said ‘Video’ to ‘Subscribe’ and enter your channel URL.
14. Click Apply Changes.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox