6 Tips and Tricks for recording a captivating 100 second answer

100mentors Q&A feature is a fresh and conversational way to share your expertise as a mentor – without the extensive time commitment – to the world’s curious youth. Your time is limited – between the responsibilities of your work and professional life, it can be hard to find space in the day to pay it forward. We developed our 100 sec Q&A feature with busy experts and role models like you in mind, to make it convenient for you to leave your footprint on the world. You may still be wondering how it works, or need some tips and tricks to get started using it.

That’s what this post will share with you: a short step-by-step technical overview of the process of recording your 100sec answers on our app, plus tips and tricks to make the byte-sized video content you produce interesting, relatable, and a pleasure to watch.

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Think about 100mentors as your own personal influencer platform. What you say and share with 22,000+ of the world’s most sophisticated and inquisitive students is a way to build a new kind of influence. Here are tips and tricks for recording answers that will captivate your young and impressionable audience.

How it works

When you log into the app for the first time, you’ll be asked to select your fields of expertise. This helps the app deliver you the most relevant questions from students.

Then, you’ll be able to swipe through your question feed to choose which ones you’d like to answer. Check it out:

To get started, you can download the app on an iOS or Android device.

Now, onto our tips and tricks.

This list has been inspired by our most viewed and upvoted answers – the ones that students keep coming back to watch over and over again.

1) Select the right question – or questions – to answer. 100mentors matches you to questions based on your indicated areas of expertise in your mentor profile. Some might feel more relevant or engaging to you than others – and that’s okay! Swipe through as you would on any social platform until you see the question – or questions – that jump out at you. Choose the ones that spark creativity, or the one that you feel best qualified to answer. PS: You can also unmatch yourself with questions you don’t want to answer, or aren’t relevant to you. You’ll be prompted to share your feedback when you don’t want to answer a question: this will help us understand how to make your experience even better.

2) Before you start recording, take a minute or so to think about what you want to say in your answer. A little bit of mental prep or jotting down a few bullet points means that you’ll nail your recording on the first try!

3) Choose an interesting backdrop. Your office or lab may seem quotidian to you, but to a student interested in following in your footsteps, it’s a glimpse into the future. Whether you’re surrounded by books in your library, test tubes, or computers running algorithms, feel free to showcase your work or research space. You can also take a coffee break and get some fresh air, recording as you walk and sharing your surroundings, like our mentor in this answer.

4) Take the first few seconds to introduce yourself and what you do. Start off your video by saying your name, your job title or field of study. It will help students see that you are coming from a place of authority on the subject you’ll speak about.

5) Ask questions back to the students in your answer. We believe that the best questions and answers are part of a conversation. Great answers don’t stop that discussion – they keep it rolling. So, don’t be afraid of admitting that science hasn’t answered all the questions of the universe, or that there’s no one right answer to questions of “why…?” Sometimes, the best discussions begin when you, as an expert, give a student the prompt they need to consider something from their own perspective, by asking, “What do you think?”

6) Enjoy the experience and be yourself. Sharing your insight and expertise takes only 100 seconds, but it isn’t finite, and there’s always an opportunity to answer more questions in the future. Use your 100 second answer to share an answer that is fresh – one that comes from your unique perspective. Students log on and view your answers when your enthusiasm is most genuine.

Wrapping it up

What matters most as you answer questions is that you are making an effort to inspire a more conscious generation through inquiry. Now that you know how to do it, and you’re armed with all the tips and tricks to make recording your answers a breeze – go out there and test your influencer skills.

Are you ready to answer a student question on 100mentors, today?

Register now, or open the app to see the questions waiting for you!

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