Portfolio videos aren’t just restricted to certain industries and jobs anymore. They’re catching on and rightly so, considering video is one of the most engaging mediums of content consumption. Over 59% of marketing executives say they would rather watch a video than consume the same information by reading.
So, if you want to stand out in the professional space, it is a good idea to present your work experience and achievements in the form of a video rather than relying on a resume alone – this is called a portfolio video.
And if you’re wondering how you can go about creating a portfolio video without spending too much time or having the technical know-how to edit a video, then this article will help. We will take you through the step-by-step process of creating a stunning portfolio video online, using an intuitive video editor like InVideo, even if you have no prior video editing experience.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
1. Planning your portfolio video
2. Picking out videos for your portfolio
3. Finding a template: Our top recommendations
4. Customizing the portfolio template
Let's get into it!
1. Planning your portfolio video
The very first step is planning out what your portfolio video will look like. Usually, when you’re sending this to potential clients and employers, they don’t have a lot of time to go through lengthy videos and websites. Keeping things as interesting and concise as possible is important if you want to get noticed and in order to do that you need to plan.
One way to do that is by narrowing down your portfolio video to a specific niche that you offer. Ask yourself what kind of gigs you’re trying to land and what are the skills that will help you get those. But if you’re someone with more than one skill and you’re offering a variety of services, you can always make more than one portfolio video! For example, if you’re a photographer, you may want to work for niches like wildlife photography, food photography, wedding photography, etc. It would be best to have separate portfolio videos for these niches because you’ll most likely have different clients for different niches and sending them a lot of information might not help you land the gig.
Check out this portfolio video by a video editor. He starts with introducing the name of his business and states the object and then goes on to showcase all the different video editing skills he has to offer – and he does all of this in under a minute.
You can also create a stunning portfolio video like this one using one of the hundreds of portfolio video templates on InVideo. But before you begin creating, here’s how you can plan what to include in your video:
1. Shortlist the information you want to showcase: Your potential employees or clients will want to know more about you, your background, the skill set, your strengths and how to get in touch with you. So ensure you include information about your work experience, your skill set, your education/training, and your contact details.
2. Create a short script: Creating a script is a great way to plan out everything your video needs and also keep it short. If you don’t know how to create a script, check out this guide by InVideo to get started.
3. Select your best work: You want to showcase some of your best work to your potential employer. So select 7-10 project samples to showcase and keep them ready.
4. Decide on a Call to Action: What do you want the potential client or employer to do after they’ve seen your video? Should they email you for more information or can they directly call you? Plan out these details.
5. Decide on the design of your portfolio: Plan out what kind of look you are going for and accordingly decide your fonts and color palettes. Make sure that they are not too flashy or too boring. InVideo’s video portfolio templates will make your task easier here.
Once you have a rough plan for how to make your portfolio video, the next step is reviewing all of your work or samples and then putting together the best of your pieces for your portfolio video.
2. Picking out videos for your portfolio
Once you’ve planned out what your portfolio video should look like, you now want to go ahead and finalize all the clips and images you want to include in your portfolio video.
The first thing you need to do is make sure that you’re showing your best work. The purpose of your portfolio video is to impress your potential employers and clients, so putting your best foot forward is the way to go. Next, you have to make sure that you include work that highlights your unique style. In a sea of potential employees, you must have a USP to stand out and be the one that lands the gig! The last thing you need to do is add projects that you enjoyed the most, because those are the type of gigs that you would want to be hired for again.
Some pieces of work you can include to show your range and capabilities are:
- A project that generated notable ROI metrics
- Your favorite project
- A challenging project that had a short deadline
- A project that garnered industry accolades
- A project that shows specific industry experience (healthcare, retail, or finance, for example) that relates to the work or position you’re pursuing
The pieces should not only be an excellent representation of what you have done in the past, but also what you want to focus on in the future. This portfolio video by an editor is a great example of this:
3. Finding a template for your portfolio: Our top recommendations
Now that you have planned your portfolio and selected the pieces that you want to showcase, the next step is to head over to InVideo to find a template that best suits your needs. Here are our top 5 recommendations:
1. Multipurpose 3D Slideshow Portfolio Video Template
Click here to use this template
If you are not someone who is comfortable shooting video, this 3D slideshow portfolio video template is a great tool because you can use images to showcase your work experience and strengths. The animation of the images helps make it more compelling and dynamic. Simply replace the stock images with your own, change the text and switch up the music to make it your own.
2. Minimalist Portfolio Video Template
Click here to use this template
This is a great design for anyone in the media or video-related fields with its animated graphics and bright color palette. The best part is that it’s just 41 seconds, which means you can use it to showcase your best work and keep the viewer’s attention throughout. All you’ll need to do is replace the existing videos with your own in order to put your best foot forward.
3. Multimedia Portfolio Video Template
Click here to use this template
In addition to using images or videos, if you want to use the magic of motion graphics to tell your story, then this is a great template to use. With animated elements, bright colors and clean fonts, this template can really help you put your best foot forward. You can add an image of your final projects, and you can even add a video of you at work or leading your team! These things leave a lasting impression on employers and clients, especially when you can fit everything into a bite-sized video.
4. Simple Portfolio Video Template
Click here to use this template
Keep things simple and clean with this text-heavy portfolio video template that uses simple images, animated text and graphics to create an impactful video that will immediately engage your potential clients and employers. What is great is that despite being text-heavy, this video keeps everything readable and easily consumable, which is very important if you want to convey a large chunk of information in a short span of time. You can of course change the pink and white color palette and also tweak the fonts to make it suited to your needs
5. Animated Statistics Portfolio Video Template
Click here to use this template
If you work in a field that relies heavily on data or numbers, you don’t necessarily have to share boring charts and CVs to showcase your skill. Use this animated statistics portfolio video template instead. Simply tweak it slightly to suit your exact use case and you’re ready to go.
How to find other templates on InVideo
If you didn’t find a template to your liking in the list above, don’t worry, there are hundreds of other portfolio video templates on InVideo. Here’s how you can look for them.
Start by logging in or signing up for an InVideo account and then search for ‘portfolio’ or portfolio video in the templates section on the homepage open up all of the available templates.
To see which template suits your needs best, simply hover over a template and click on the down arrow that appears to watch it.
Once you’ve decided which template you like, simply click on ‘Use this template’, and it will take you to InVideo’s editor, where you can tweak it to fit your needs.
4. Customizing the portfolio template on InVideo
Now that you’ve picked your template, it’s time to start customizing it and making it your own. Here’s how you can do that:
Step 1: Once you are in the editor, begin by uploading your own clips and images that you will use to replace the stock media in the template. Click on Uploads in the left panel and add your clips to the editor.
Step 2: For the first slide, it would be best to add your strongest project. Choose the clip that you find fitting and drag and drop it onto the canvas. Then click on the Replace option to add it to the template.
In case your video is longer than the length of the scene, you can trim it using the trimmer option that pops up. Simply click Trim video to fit the scene to get an exact match or drag the end points to select a scene you want to include.
Step 3: To edit the placeholder text in this template, simply click on the text box on the canvas and type in your own text. For more help, check out this tutorial to learn more about how to add and edit text on your video.
Step 4: If you want you can change the music on your template, begin by deleting the current track that comes with the template, and then adding new music from InVideo’s stock library. To delete the video, hover over the audio track and on Edit, and then click on Delete.
To add the new audio file, simply go to Music to access InVideo’s free library of royalty-free music and sound effects! Select one that you’d like to add to your video and then just hover over the song of your choice and click on the + sign to add it to your video.
Step 5: Repeat the processes from Steps 2 and 3 in all the next scenes of your portfolio video template.
Step 6: Drag and drop your logo onto the logo section on the top right corner of your template and add any other branding information you want. At the end of this template, there are slots to plug in your website and social media handles, which can be super helpful for potential clients to access your other platforms.
Step 7: If you want, you can change the color palette of the video by clicking on the Colors tab in the left menu panel. You can select from the given color palettes or make your own in the My Palettes section.
Once you click Apply, you can see that it changes on the template of your portfolio video.
Step 8: Once your portfolio video seems complete, you can preview the entire video to check for any errors or edits. If everything’s okay, you can click export and your video will soon be ready for you to download!
After clicking on Export, your video will start to render. Once that’s done, you can just click on Download to save the video to your device or directly Share Video to your social media platforms from here! Now you’re all done!
Wrapping Up
A portfolio video is a unique and creative way to showcase your skills and get in touch with potential clients and with a resource like InVideo they are easier than ever to create. If you want to level up beyond the basic editing you just learnt, check out our video editing tips and learn how to add cool effects to your videos to make them more engaging.
And if you prefer learning via videos, you definitely should check out our YouTube channel where we share daily video creation tips and tricks, the latest video trends and ideas, and help you make more money as a video creator.
This post was written by Yashvi and edited by Adete from Team InVideo
