Screencasting advice

This is a bit difficult for me to write about screencasting "best practices" as I feel that I'm still trying to get comfortable with the whole practice myself. (I still find that it's much harder than it looks!) To someone just starting out, I would remind them of that fact. I would also encourage them to really research and make sure they invest in the best microphone/headset that they can. (I've been having a lot of trouble with mine over the past few weeks.)

I would also recommend writing out an outline and practicing the presentation at least a couple of times. (I found the more I had to re-record because of mistakes and technical difficulties, the more natural sounding I became.)

I would recommend not allowing your kids or spouse to be on the same floor where you are recording because they'll either a)make too much noise, b)inadvertently walk in and say something that will mess your whole recording up, or c) eavesdrop and then later make fun of you.

I'd also say that less is definitely more (and shorter is better for the most part.) Refraining from cursing, no matter how frustrated and aggravated you might get, is also a good habit to adopt because, in a pinch, a screencast with a couple minor mistakes might work, but one where you totally lost it won't.