[custom_adv] As you look at your footage, your goal is to balance speaker intent with the expectations of the web audience. Think about where the audience would want to be looking at different points during the talk if they were in the room — that will help you select the best camera angle to reconstruct each moment. [custom_adv] By thinking about that, you are also choosing angles that help the speaker better express his or her story.It’s important to cut between different camera angles so that the audience understands the space where the TED Talk took place. [custom_adv] But once the talk is contextualized, close-ups and medium shots hold the most meaning for the audience. It’s engaging to watch speakers’ facial expressions and body language as they speak and, with a closer view, you can just see it better. [custom_adv] Language is embodied. A speakers’ thoughts, words and breath are all revealed through their body language. Meanwhile, each speaker has a unique rhythm and cadence to their voice. [custom_adv] If you pay attention to these things, it will provide a natural rhythm for your editing and it will all feel intuitive for the audience, too. [custom_adv] One way to make the edit between two shots seem invisible is by cutting on a gesture. The viewer watches the beginning of a motion that begins in one shot and follows it as it crosses the edit and finishes in the next shot. [custom_adv] The completion of the gesture masks the edit. Here is an example of a cut made on the subtle gesture made as the speaker completes his thought and begins a new one. [custom_adv] When the word is one that is relevant to the main point of the speaker’s talk, the edit can also highlight that word and make it more memorable. [custom_adv] Framing a speaker’s words with multiple camera angles is more dynamic and interesting than holding on one camera angle for a long period of time. [custom_adv] At TED, the slides that speakers use often stay on-screen for quite a while. We try to break the slide up into sections, so that only the relevant parts of the slide are revealed in time with the speaker’s words. [custom_adv] Let’s listen to example of an edit cut on a word.The web audience has a short attention span. [custom_adv] This may or may not help in your own editing, but the point is: be methodical with directing attention. [custom_adv] The sound of a word, especially if it contains a hard consonant, can make an edit feel less obvious. [custom_adv] The sound of a word, especially if it contains a hard consonant, can make an edit feel less obvious. [custom_adv] The sound of a word, especially if it contains a hard consonant, can make an edit feel less obvious.