Prompting AI: Getting the Best Results from Vyond Go

We often hear from customers that the hardest part about creating videos is getting started. It’s the perfect kind of challenge for generative AI. Enter Vyond Go, the industry’s first AI-powered script and video creator.

By now, Vyond Go has been out in the wild for weeks. And whether you’ve had a chance to take it for a test drive yet or not, we wanted to give you a look under the hood and offer some tips on getting the most from this powerful tool. 

To create a video with Vyond Go, you’ll enter a text prompt to describe your topic, then click on options in the interface to choose the vibe, format, layout, and location you’d like for your video. Within seconds, you’ll have a fully editable video and script that you can tweak on the spot with Quick Edit, or else bring into Vyond Studio for deeper customization.

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The benefit of integrated AI

If text-based AI tools are the ignition, prompts are the keys. 

If you’ve experimented with standalone AI tools like ChatGPT to create video scripts, you know that your outputs are only as good as the prompts you provide. And great prompts require adding a significant amount of detail.

With Vyond Go (which is powered by ChatGPT), we’ve streamlined and simplified the prompting process by conveniently building a number of important factors directly into our platform. 

Let’s take a look, starting from the top.

How to get the most out of Vyond Go

Topic

This is where you’ll give the most detailed, text-based input. The prompt you enter will affect the draft script you get. (Don’t enter details here about the vibe, format, or layout/location you want – you’ll select those later, via the interface.) 

There are two ways you can use Vyond Go here.

1. You can enter a general description of what you’re looking for and rely on AI to deliver a result based on its vast internet training data, or 
2. If you’ve got specific details you’d like included in your video — say, talking points or steps in a procedure — you can paste those into your prompt, along with the general description of what you’re looking for.

Either way, we’ve found that adding at least 50 words for your topic prompt gets the best results.

Keep these tips in mind: 

• Language: Enter a prompt in your preferred language to get a draft script in English—or choose among 70+ languages if you’re a Professional or Enterprise user.
• Length: You can enter as many as 4,000 characters, or about ~700 words; however, note that longer, “stream of consciousness”-type prompts may yield a lower-quality result.
• Structure: Structured prompts are helpful to the AI model and get better outputs. For example: “Create an L&D video based on the below text: [paste in source material for the model to base your video on]”. 
• Duration: specifying a duration in your prompt ( e.g. “write a 60-second video”) doesn’t work…yet. However, including longer sets of talking points in your prompt will yield longer videos.
• Data points: if you have authentic stats and facts about your topic handy, cut and paste them into your prompt. This helps reduce the chance that the AI will pull in an unverified internet stat (or make something up).
• Edit and verify: always run a quality check on your script (are these facts accurate? Is this content tailored appropriately to my target audience? etc.)

Vibe

The vibe you select — formal, informative, casual, playful — will affect your video’s background music, as well as the characters’ personalities and way of speaking. 

Vyond Go features four vibes, which translate to the following speech and character personality outputs:

Keep these tips in mind: 

• Each vibe has its own list of options for background music — a track will be added for you at random. If you’d prefer a different track, you can always adjust that in Vyond Studio.
• If you’re including specific talking points in your topic prompt, make sure they fit with the vibe you select. For example, if your prompt includes details about a major organizational change at a bank, choosing a “Playful” vibe probably won’t give you the results you’re after. 
• On the other hand, if you enter a very short, generic topic prompt, Vyond Go will rely on the vibe you choose for more guidance on what to include in the script. So with a “Casual” vibe, entering a simple prompt like “reorganization” might give you a script draft that opens with, “Hey, guys! I have some exciting news to share about our company!”—which may or may not suit the tone you’re going for.

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Format

At the time of writing, you can choose one of seven formats for your video. All formats can work as either Talking Head (1 character) or Conversation (2 characters) layouts. 

Here’s an overview of each format type, along with suggestions for key things to include in your topic prompt to generate the best results.

Keep these tips in mind: 

• If you’re including specific talking points in your topic prompt, match them with the type of format you select. For example, if you choose “Announcement” for a product launch, you’ll want to include a date/time, details about what’s launching, where people can go for questions, etc. Or if you choose “How-to,” be sure to include details about what process you’ll explain and the steps you want included.
• If you enter a very generic topic prompt like “birds,” then Vyond Go will look to the format you choose for more guidance on what to include in the script. So for “birds,” had you chosen “Anecdote,” it will create a personal story related to birds; if “Debate,” it will come up with arguments for and against something related to birds: like how they’re amazing creatures with incredible abilities.

Layout

At the time of writing, Vyond Go supports three layouts: Conversation (two characters in dialogue), Talking Head (one character addressing the audience), and Narration (simple backgrounds and text).

These video types define the number of characters to feature and whether characters should have a conversation between themselves or talk to the audience.

Each layout offers its own templates, with different combinations of locations and characters, so you don’t need to include those details in your topic prompt. 

We’ll continue to add new locations for more variety – just as we do with other templates and assets in Vyond.

Keep these tips in mind: 

• Right now, you can’t specify a different number of characters in your topic prompt in attempt to override the format settings

• If you need a location that’s not available in Vyond Go but is available in Vyond Studio, it’s currently possible to edit your video using the alternate location. You can replace every scene with your desired template and relink the text-to-speech clips to the correct characters. 

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Writing AI prompts for Vyond Go: best practices summary

• Prompt length: For topic prompts, enter at least 50 words (and up to ~700 maximum).
• Prompt structure: Structured prompts are helpful to the AI model and get better outputs
  • For example: “Create an HR video based on the below text: [paste in source material for the model to base your video on]”. 
  • Longer, “stream of consciousness”-type prompts will have a lower-quality result
• Duration: Don’t try to specify a duration for your video — the model can’t yet heed duration as a parameter ( e.g. “write a 60-second video”). But adding lengthier talking points in your prompt will yield longer videos. 
• Number of characters: Don’t try to specify a different number of characters in your topic prompt attempting to override the format settings — it’s not effective yet.
• Data points: Include authentic stats and facts about your topic in your prompt, if you’ve got them. This helps reduce the chance that the AI will pull in an unverified internet stat (or make something up).
• Match talking points to format and vibe: If you’re including specific talking points in your topic prompt, match them with the type of format and vibe you select. For example, if you choose “Announcement” for a product launch, you’ll want to include a date/time, details about what’s launching, where people can go for questions, etc. — keeping in mind the appropriate vibe you selected for what you’re announcing. Or if you choose “How-to,” be sure to include details about what process you’ll explain and the steps you want included, aligned to your chosen vibe.
• Format dictates direction where needed: If you enter a very generic topic prompt like “birds,” then Vyond Go will look to the format you choose for more guidance on what to include in the script. So for “birds,” had you chosen “Anecdote,” it will create a personal story related to birds; if “Debate,” it will come up with arguments for and against something related to birds: like how they’re amazing creatures with incredible abilities. 
• Edit and verify: always run a quality check on your script (are these facts accurate? Is this content tailored appropriately to my target audience? etc.)

Sample topic prompts and videos by content type

We tried out a few sample topic prompts to illustrate the guidance above. Here’s how the output videos turned out – plus the parameters and topic prompt we used to get there.

HR 

Vibe: Formal

Format: Anecdote

Layout: Conversation

Prompt:

• Lessons from a First-Time Manager with an Underperforming Team Member
• Grace was a first-time manager at HipTech, a tech company in Austin
• In her new role, she inherited a team of accountants, and one of her team members was not performing well.
• Grace learned: she should have addressed performance issues right away, that it’s OK to ask for help from her peers who are managers, and to trust her instincts even though she’s new to managing.

Raw video output:

Notes:

The characters, location, and flow worked well. Vyond Go added relevant details we hadn’t included, such as offering the employee resources, and an ultimate outcome: that the employee turned things around.

L&D

Vibe: Casual

Format: How-to

Layout: Conversation

Prompt:

(language cut and pasted from a Vyond Resource post)

How L&D professionals can create digital media that is accessible and inclusive

1. Add closed captions

Closed captions—a textual display of what’s being said, with the ability to be toggled off— help people with hearing and visual impairments understand and enjoy the video content you create. The captions are also necessary for making 508-compliant video content. If you’re making any content for a government agency, the content must be 508-compliant.

Closed captions are an overlay on top of a completed video, as pictured above in this video from Virtual Care for Kids. If captions are built into the video itself, they are called“open captions.” There is no way for viewers to turn off open captions and it’s not possible for screen-reading software to understand them.

With a third-party tool, you can add proper closed captions to any video. Research your options for captioning apps and keep in mind that some programs are platform-specific. For example, Clipomatic or iPhone Clips work well for Instagram Stories.

2. Be mindful of video design

The design of a video itself is a huge factor in how accessible the content is. The wrong design choices can exclude audiences with certain disabilities. For example, if someone in your audience has a visual impairment, an overly-busy video could be difficult to interpret. But there are a couple of ways you can ensure that your video design is friendly to your entire audience.
Keep text away from where closed captions will be. Cluttered screen text can be difficult to read for those who require closed captions. When placing text, keep in mind where closed captions will appear in order to prevent this from occurring.
Ensure that your videos are safe for those with photo sensitivities by avoiding the flash threshold. If videos have quick transitions or bright flashes in succession, they can cross the general flash threshold and cause epileptic seizures. Avoiding flashing effects is also helpful in consideration of people with ADHD, autism, and those in concussion recovery.
Be mindful of your color choices.
Consider representation in your content. Can you cast or include disabled people or animated characters? This won’t make your content inherently more accessible, but it will help disabled viewers see themselves represented in your message.

3. Use alt text on thumbnails

Alt text is copy that both supplements and even replaces an image when necessary. Alt text makes it possible for those with vision impairments to enjoy images and fully digest your content. A screen-reading program will read alt text where the image should be, giving a visually impaired listener an idea of what the image represents. This is equally true for video thumbnails that might be placed on an article.

Alt text also helps with general readability if the image doesn’t load. If a user has an outdated browser or poor connection, the alt text will display in place of the image and ensure that the overall experience isn’t affected.

4. Transcribe visual or auditory media

For those with any kind of visual or learning impairment, videos on their own may not be enough. A transcript of what is said in the video makes it possible for people to slow down and learn at their own pace.

Use a third-party app or integration to transcribe your recorded videos. Transcribe, Rev, and Express Scribe are three great options to start with.

5. Make the right color choices in video
Color vision deficiency affects nearly 7.4% of the population in the United States.
Those with color vision deficiency are often unable to clearly distinguish between red, blue, and green. Avoid layering red, blue, and green in visuals where the colors aren’t pertinent to understanding the message.
Use a contrast checker to make sure your text and background combinations are readable by those with color vision deficiency.

Raw video output:

Notes:

The script did a fine job of translating the talking points into a conversation between the two characters. It didn’t create a conclusion, so it currently ends abruptly after the last tip — we’d want to adjust the script to add an ending.

Sales Enablement 

Vibe: Informative

Format: Overview

Layout: Talking head – Circles

Prompt:

(talking points based on a Vyond template video)

Create an example video for sales development representatives at Zodio, showing how they can talk to prospects about Zodio’s employee engagement platform. The speaker’s name is Brad Jackson, a sales representative at Zodio.

• Brad introduces himself
• Employee engagement has a huge impact on your organization’s success.
• Engaged and connected employees help nurture a collaborative work culture, which results in innovative outcomes. 
• Zodio believes employee engagement can be fun, which is why we baked fun right into our internal communications platform.
• Zodio is a unique employee engagement tool that personalizes each employee’s experience based on their zodiac sign.
• In addition to all the features you expect of a robust employee engagement system, Zodio offers the fun sense of self that comes from astrology.
• You can participate in weekly mindfulness activities based on your zodiac sign.
• Create engaging surveys.
• Organized virtual events and games and more.
• Zodio also provides an engagement tracking feature that analyzes how employees are connecting and engaging over time.
• Want to learn more?
• Schedule a personalized demo with me to see how your company and Zodio are a match made in the stars.

Raw video output:

Notes:

Good result and usable as-is, though we might want to bring it into Vyond Studio to add screenshots of the product, Zodio. The template nicely added chapter titles.

That concludes our tour of Vyond Go! We hope these tips help you save time on video creation — and inspire you to get in there and start experimenting! 

Embrace the future of video creation with Vyond Go

As AI continues to shape the landscape of content generation, the key lies in integrating the tools that help create business-relevant, customizable, and on-brand videos Vyond Go leads the charge by seamlessly integrating AI with creative control, transforming your ideas into captivating visuals.  Dive into the possibilities with a 14-day free trial of Vyond Go.

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