When I was in high school, I was one of the few and the proud dudes involved in speech at my small-town Iowa school. One of the events I participated in was improvisation, where you act out a scene with very minimal planning. The people who excelled at this were quick on their feet, improvising as they went, even if the goal ahead was unknown.
I sometimes think about high school improv when working day to day, coming up with new, efficient ideas on the fly. One of those ideas came after I recorded 1 hour and 40 minutes of interview footage for a video that would ultimately be only 6–8 minutes long. To streamline my first run-through of the footage, I exported the transcript that Adobe Premiere Pro had already generated, then copied and pasted it into ChatGPT with the following prompt:
“I just recorded an interview and have the full transcript. I need to create a concise, engaging video by pulling out only the most valuable parts.
- Identify the key moments in the transcript that provide insightful answers, compelling stories, or essential information.
- Add timestamps to these sections.
- Remove filler content like ‘ums,’ ‘ahs,’ or off-topic tangents
- Keep the flow natural and coherent.”
I then moved into the editing process, saving a good amount of time by knowing exactly what I was diving into and where the blank pauses were. Finding small ways to save time like this keeps me learning and allows me to complete more complex tasks while exerting the same amount of effort.
Other things I’m excited about:
- Ordered a new solid-state drive (SSD) so I can store more current projects at once.
- Finally got to see firsthand how much better my a7S III’s colors are compared to my a7 III (so sick).
- The videos I’m currently working on are going to turn out incredible.
Excited to keep pushing!
🔮 Inspiration from This Week
- 🍿 Video – Coros Pace 3 – Kristopher Villa cooked this video up! He’s a creator based out of Chicago. I’ve had the pleasure of spending some time with him over our last 4-5 years of keeping up online. He has got some of the best colors and best flow I see out there, and always hyped to see him continuing to create when I know his stuff takes so much effort.
- 📽️ Movie – Churchill at War – This captivating docuseries examines Winston Churchill’s pivotal role in World War II and the formative events that made him an ideal leader for the era.
🎬 My New Videos
- 🎥 YouTube – The Fastest Way to Add Chapters to YouTube Videos (FREE & Easy) – In this video, I take you through my honest 2025 desk setup, breaking down what works, what doesn’t, and how I’ve optimized my workspace for efficiency.
