The Project for Awesome is in just ten days, which means that you need to buckle-down and figure out what that means to you. So... what does that mean to you? Well, the world is not perfect, nor will it ever be. But, the only thing that makes it better is people working hard to make it better.

So the Project for Awesome is about you doing some work. Um, it's about you doing work to do three things, really: uh, One, to create videos that promote charities; two, to promote videos that promote charities; and three, to donate money, which isn't really work. But you probably needed to work to get the money, so there's that.

Last year, the charities promoted in the ten top voted videos got more than 30 thousand dollars, so this not like, we're talking about significance here. If you make a good enough video, people love it, you could be getting your charity a pretty meaty check here.

So, how do you make a great video? That is sort of the eternal YouTube questions isn't it. Well, do more than what I'm doing right now, which is just talking to a camera. Go somewhere, do something. Build a blanket fort, which one of the winning videos last year, he built a blanket fort while talked about how people in Latin America don't have adequate shelter.

How much video is 30 thousand dollars really worth? Employ your friends! Don't actually employ them, you don't have to pay them, but do use them. Use their talents, and if you need some body to hold a camera for you, or you need some people to fill up a room, use them!

Use music as well, but don't use copyrighted music, unless you have permission to use it. My music, for example, is available for any body to use in Project for Awesome videos. I'm also making available the instrumental track from Video Game Books which will be on my new album. Most of my music is kind of weird and upbeat, so it might not be ideal for you to use, but Video Game Books is nice and slow and comple-ti-ti-tive... completitive.

Show as much as you can. If you can get into the place where the people are actually doing the work, that is so much more powerful than actually just talking about it.

Talk with a little bit more energy than usual. I don't usually talk like the way I'm talking right now. Talk as if you're standing in front of a big group of people and you want all of 'em to hear you. Cause that's what you're doing, basically. You're standing in front of a big group of people and you want them all to hear you! Don't be fake about it, be conversational, but project, energy, power!

Use the best equipment you have access to. If that's terrible equipment, use that! There's something special about low-fi. But, if you have access to a great microphone, use a great microphone. Which, I may not be doing right now, now that I've said it...

Let's plug in my microphone, because I forgot to do that.

See how much better that sounds? It's like night and day! Sound is, surprisingly important for a video.

A good Project for Awesome video doesn't have to cost lots of money, it doesn't have to be made by a really experienced creator. What it requires more than anything is a consideration of your audience, because you're selling something.

You are selling an idea, the idea that the world is better because of the work that this organization does, and it will be even better if the people watching help that organization with their time and money.

Thank you so much for your interest in participating in the Project for Awesome. If you want more information on how to make good video, I made a video about that a long time ago. And also, there's a video of me, editing video for an hour, so you can sort of just see how I do it as a "professional."

See you on December 17th, and don't forget to be awesome.