Borrowed from Karen Thompson, this slidecast shows how to create a screencast that justifies design choices when desigining a PSA for a business writing class.

1. Deliverable 2:
Screencast
to Justify Design Choices
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© Karen Thompson ● Department of English ● University of Idaho
English 313: Business Writing

2. About Screencasts
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Screencasts capture all or a portion of a computer
screen while the author narrates what the viewer is
seeing in a voice-over audio.
Screencasts are used by businesses and
organizations for a wide variety of purposes and
viewed by both internal and external audiences.

3. How to create your screencast.
• You need a microphone, and the one in your computer
will be fine for this project.
• Your screencast must be hosted on a site that allows
users to play it without having to download the file.
• This course recommends using Screencast-O-Matic.
• It’s free, easy to use, and will host your file.
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4. • I do not accept video files (mp4, wmv etc.) in the bblearn drop box.
• Here’s why. You are practicing how to create and share these types
of files as they are shared in workplace settings.
• So, if you choose to create video file on your computer, be certain it
is uploaded to a host site and will play without a user needing to
download the file.
• Video files uploaded to bblearn will not be graded nor earn credit for
this part of the project.
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5. Screencast:
subject, audience, and purpose.
• The subject of your screencast will be a design
justification for your billboard or poster.
• The audience will be your direct supervisor at
Kirchmeier Industries, Barb Kirchmeier.
• Your purpose will be to clearly connect your
design choices to principles of graphic design
and visual rhetoric.
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6. • You are practicing how to articulate design choices
using the language of graphic design.
• Even should you never design another billboard or
poster, the transferable skill with this part of the project
is being able to communicate in professional
environments where visual design needs are being
discussed/planned.
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7. To make those connections clear, write a script and practice
it.
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The goal is not to try to
sound like a professional
broadcaster, but to practice
and develop clarity in your
presentation speaking style.

8. As you work on your script.
• Use the sketch and notes you created when
designing the layout of the billboard or poster.
• Justify the choices you made by connecting to
those principles of graphic design covered in
course materials.
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9. As you work on your script continued.
• Briefly define each design principle you have
applied and then explain how you applied it.
• Here’s an example of how a student might justify
color choices:
• According to color theory, red is associated with danger,
and I wanted the audience to be aware of the dangers of
not-vaccinating their children, so I chose this color
[explain where the color was used].
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10. Writing a clear and focused script will help
you avoid this problem:
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Rambling.
Ramblers often just focus on talking about the purpose of the billboard or
poster but fail to justify design choices or justify these by saying what the
student thought looked good, and/or naming a graphic design principle and
then just saying stuff like “as you can see I applied the principle of color
theory in my color choices.” Avoid these problems.

11. Continue to apply the principles of effective prose style when
writing the script but adapt these for the ear by keeping
sentences short.
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You should be able to say
each sentence in your script
in a single breath.

12. Your script will need:
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Introduction
About 10 seconds.
Key Points
Up to 3
minutes
Conclusion
About 10 seconds.
Timing
Introduce yourself and state what
is in the screencast.
The key points of the
screencast should be logically
structured and clearly move
between one part of the
billboard or poster to another
as you justify design choices.
Keep the conclusion
simple, and remember
to thank the audience.

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Watch the tutorial under Tools and Resources to learn how to use this
screencapture tool.

14. Do a test recording.
• Close all other programs and browser windows to
ensure you have enough memory.
• If the test recording fails, follow the troubleshooting
steps under Tools & Resources.
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Open your file, launch the screencapture tool, choose a
standard size, and position the tool over your file.
I opened my file in PPT and set
the slide background to black.
That’s because my desktop has
wallpaper that would interfere
with the screencast.
It’s difficult to get a crystal clear screencast
unless you use a video editor. So, your goal is
just to make the screencast as clear as you can
without using a video editor.
Of course, if you have that level of skill and
want to use an editor, it’s fine to do that.

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Make a short recording, and then play it back to see if the
screen size is clear enough. You may need to make a few
adjustments.

17. Delivery: continue to apply these concepts
when recording your voice-over narration.
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• Vocal variety: pitch, tone, volume,
and rate.
• Pausing.
• Diction
Exercises to help you improve your
speaking style can be found under
Tools & Resources.