Okay, so I'm definitely not saying that editing is everything because content will always be king, but great content and great editing, that's the magical combination that will get you hundreds of thousands and even millions of views on your reels or shorts. And so that's why in this video, I'm going to show you some of the editing tricks and techniques that I've used on my best performing shorts and reels, some of which have over a million views. And I'm going to use CapCut for desktop to show you everything. But of course you can also use the mobile version. That'll work too, no problem. You can even use the online version if you want. It's up to you. Uh, okay, and let's start with a few general tips and tricks first, before we get to the juicy secret tips, yeah? Okay, here we go. And let's start with a few general ways to present your content. What I found that works really well is first of all, showing how to do something. So how to videos, then second, showing an interesting piece of gear or equipment or a gadget, just something interesting. And then of course also show what it does and how it works. And then number three lists, five things that will blow your mind or something like that lists. And the reason why lists work so well is because. When someone watches your shorts and it's a list, well, as soon as they realize that it's a list, they'll probably want to watch it all the way till the end to see the entire list, right? It's a great way to keep the viewers engaged, to keep them watching till the end. And that's exactly what you want. And so I always try to make it clear as soon as possible that it's a list in the voiceover, but also visually. So I always use an animation or animated text. And it's super easy to do in CapCut. uh i also usually use an animated background and that's just a video clip so you know you just drop that video clip on the timeline and you can find these for free just google it and then i go to text templates and then just pick one that fits your style or the style of your short and another cool way to do this is not with an animated background but with a blurry background so whatever you're showing it doesn't matter You make the image go blurry and then you put the text on top. All you need to do is find the blur effect here in effects, drop it on your video like this and now your video will look blurry. Duh! Um yeah. Now if you find the transition from not blurry to blurry too abrupt, then you can keyframe the effect to customize it the way you want. Just set the playhead here at the beginning of the effect, hit this diamond here to create a keyframe, set the blur effect to zero, Then move the playhead, create another keyframe, and set the blur effect to whatever you want. And now the blur effect will come in gradually. See? And then just add text, just like before. The numbers of your list, for example. Looks really cool. What I also always do is add captions. I don't know, it seems like people really appreciate it. And Capcom does it automatically for you. So why wouldn't you just go to text and auto captions, create and that's it. And this is probably not what will get you those millions of views. But like I said, people appreciate it. So I think it does help a little bit. I add music to my shorts, a lot of people don't, so it's a matter of style, but I like it because you can play around with it and you can make the music add value to the short. I'll show you. For example, I add some music, a song that I like, obviously, but then whenever I say something important in the video or in the short or the reel, or I want to emphasize something, maybe something funny, I stop the music. I cut the music there where I say something interesting, important, funny, whatever. One or two times in a short or real usually does it. It's again a way to keep the viewer engaged and to keep it snappy and interesting, if you know what I mean. And now let me show you the real important stuff, or at least in my opinion. And that's the first 5 to Well, 10 seconds is already stretching it for a short or a reel. So the first 5 seconds, that's important. That's where you either reel the viewer in or you lose them. I mean, it just takes a second of hesitation or a second of the... The loser. A second of the... Well, maybe it's a loser. A second of the viewer losing interest, and he or she will just swipe away, you know? Loser. So, yeah, you have to grab their attention in the first five seconds and grab them and don't let them go. Now, how do I do that? Well, the first sentence of every short I make tells the viewer what the short is about. But it doesn't tell everything, you know, because you want them to watch everything till the end. For example, a question. Is this the best 35mm lens ever? It's a question. You know what the short is gonna be about, but you're gonna have to watch it till the end to know the answer. And to visually stimulate the viewer, I always use a cool animation to support that first sentence. Also, a text animation. I don't use the boring captions for the first five to ten seconds. I delete those and then I use one of the more interesting text animations. That's what grabs the viewers attention. Again, you have to use everything to your disposal to grab the viewers attention and never let them go for a minute. Stimulate the viewer visually. Make them curious. The first five seconds are key. Something else I also always do to grab the viewer's attention is zooms. So yeah, it's a simple digital zoom to pull the viewer in, to bring him closer to me, so I can grab him and never let him go. And I actually use these zooms throughout all my videos, but for a real or a short, I always try to put one in the first 5 to 10 seconds. And like I said, it's better to put it in the first 5 seconds. So in CapCut, just put the playhead where you want the zoom to start. Hit the little diamond to create a keyframe for scale, then move the playhead a few frames, create another keyframe for scale again, and then just scale the video. And now the video will zoom in over time. And the closer you put these keyframes together, the faster the zoom will be. And you know, creating these zooms is super easy. The difficult part is timing the zoom. That you have to practice a little bit. Okay, and then a final technique that I sometimes use is sticky text. So I stick text to an object in the first five seconds of a video. And again, it's nothing crazy. It's just a small visual stimulus for the viewer to keep them engaged. It works. So in CapCut, just put some text on your video, then go to tracking here and put that box that yellow box over the object you want to track. Hit track. And well, yeah, that's basically it. Now the text sticks to the object and it will follow that object. So there you go, a few simple things you can do to take your shorts and reels to the next level. But again, content is king, editing alone won't give you millions of views. The combination of great content and great editing, that's the magical combination. Master that combination and you'll be one step ahead of the competition. Thank you so much for watching and see you in the next one.