Shostack + Friends Blog

 

LinkedIn Learning: Producing a Video

My Linkedin Learning course is getting really strong positive feedback. Today, I want to peel back the cover a bit, and talk about how it came to be. Behind the scenes taping a LinkedIn Learning video

My Linkedin Learning course is getting really strong positive feedback. Today, I want to peel back the cover a bit, and talk about how it came to be.

Before I struck a deal with Linkedin, I talked to some of the other popular training sites. Many of them will buy you a microphone and some screen recording software, and you go to town! They even "let" you edit your own videos. Those aren't my skillsets, and I think the quality often shines through. Just not in a good way.

I had a great team at Linkedin. From conceptualizing the course and the audience, through final production, it's been a blast. Decisions that were made were made because of what's best for the student. Like doing a video course so we could show me drawing on a whiteboard, rather than showing fancy pictures and implying that that's what you need to create to threat model like the instructor.

My producer Rae worked with me, and taught me how to write for video. It's a very different form than books or blogs, and to be frank, it took effort to get me there. It took more effort to get me to warm up on camera and make good use of the teleprompter(!), and that's an ongoing learning process for me. The team I work with there manages to be supportive, directive and push without pushing too hard. They should do a masterclass in coaching and feedback.

But the results are, I think, fantastic. The version of me that's recorded is, in a very real way, better than I ever am. It's the magic of Holywood 7 takes of every sentence. The team giving me feedback on how each sounded, and what to improve.

The first course is "Learning Threat Modeling for Security Professionals."