How to make sure people will like your work

October 05, 2022

I received this question on Twitter recently:

“This might be an ever-present question, but how do you make sure what you make will be liked by the other person? Or when you edit, how do you make sure it is done perfect for a client or an audience?” (edited for clarity)

If I’m honest, I wonder this all the time! It doesn’t matter if you’ve won Academy awards or just graduated high school, we want people to like our work. 

There’s nothing better than playing a video for an audience and watching them react. They cry, they laugh, they groan in frustration, they stand up and cheer—it means your editing has connected and done it’s job. 

But is that response all up to chance? Is possible to guarantee people will like it? 

There are two factors at play here. 

The first factor is this: Don’t be afraid of failure. 

Lurking in the shadows of this question is worry that people won’t like our work. They’ll critique it, disparage it, give it a bad review. 

As a recovering perfectionist, I can tell you that fear will stop you dead in your tracks. 

Fear immobilizes you and tells you to never try. It then flips the script and makes you feel guilty for not trying. 

Fear is never satisfied. So don’t listen to it. 

But there is a way to answer the initial question, and that’s the second factor: Know what your audience needs.

At the core, videos that connect with their audience are ones that understand what a viewer is wanting. 

Horror movies know people want the adrenaline of fear and survival. Frontline documentaries know their viewers want deeper looks at “complex, vital and often-controversial subjects”.

Imagine if the horror film turned into a romance halfway through, or Frontline did a film the latest McFlurry flavor—neither audience would be happy. 

Every video is aimed at someone. Do you know what they expect? Do you know why they watch your videos? Do you know what emotion they need to feel?

Ask questions to discover those things. Then craft your video to hit each one.

You won’t hit the bull’s eye every time. And not every viewer will connect. 

But you’ll be a lot closer if you understand what people need from your editing.

Links for Editors

Want to learn how to edit but don’t have footage? @ThisGuyEdits has 3 options for you.

There aren’t enough podcasts about editing. So the editors for Logan Paul and Justin Beiber started one.

I’m writing An Editor’s Guide to Flat Rates. You can read it for free until it's finished.

That's a wrap

Remember, ignore that fear and ask good questions.

Have a question? Hit reply or shoot me a DM on Twitter.

Keep cutting,

- Jesse