The Tutorial Show

Ep36: THE TUTORIAL SHOW The Art of Making Tutorials. Episode Summary: 1. How Do You Find Topics? 2. How are they made? 3. Where Do You Share Them? 4. Why Should You Make Tutorials?

Episode Summary: The art of making tutorials — how to find topics worth teaching, a real 3-step production process, and a genuine outreach script for landing influencers and high-profile guests.

What You’ll Learn

A real script for reaching out to influencers and high-profile guest candidates
Where to find genuinely good tutorial topic ideas
The 3-step process: script, record, edit
Why making tutorials is worth the time, beyond just the content itself

Ask Mike Anything: Landing Influencers and High-Profile Guests

Question: How do you get influencers and high-profile guests on your show?

Answer: Build a real relationship and connection with anyone worth having as a guest first. Start small, stay respectful — this is planting a seed, not screaming for attention or stalking someone’s feed. Comment thoughtfully on a blog post or Medium article, then another, adding genuine value. Retweet a few of their tweets. Treat the potential guest like any other person worth building a relationship with. Then send an email along these lines: “Hey [Name], I’m finding a lot of value in your content. I particularly liked your article on X, and your podcast episode about Y was spot on. I have a weekly podcast where I interview leading entrepreneurs like yourself, and I’d love to introduce you to my listeners and promote your new book. Would you be available for a 20-minute interview sometime in the next 2 months?”

What Is a Tutorial?

Simply an educational or informational lesson about a topic — think of it like a mini lesson plan from school. Bundles of tutorials can make up a full course or class. They can be audio, video, or text, and the goal is always to teach.

How to Find Topics to Teach

Look for topics that help people save time or do something better or faster. This can span a wide range, but only topics genuinely known well and relevant to content creation and podcasting make the cut. Places to find topics: questions people ask in emails, questions from listeners or online, the everyday process of running the business (share it), the applications folder on a Mac or PC (any software worth explaining?), the apps on an iPhone (any useful tips?), and inspiration from Lynda.com, Skillshare.com, and Udemy.com.

Resource tip: Trello for organizing tutorial ideas and workflow.

How to Make Tutorials

Step 1: write a script or outline. Always. Start with the end goal in mind — “In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to…” What benefit will the viewer get from watching? Recap and summarize. End with a call to action (visit the website, etc.). Pre-production tip: organize project folders ahead of time. Resource tip: Post-Haste.

Step 2: recording & production.

Live video — teaching directly in front of a camera
Screencasting — using something like Screenflow or Camtasia to record a computer or iDevice screen
A combination of both — mixing talking-head camera with screencasting, the typical approach here

Step 3: editing. Clean it up, add a logo, titles, and some music — but keep it simple. Resource tip: Wistia.

Where to Put Tutorials

Start with YouTube, make a blog post embedding the YouTube link, and use Buffer to share on social media. Big tip: give the tutorial a genuinely good title.

Why Make Tutorials?

Helps people
Lets people connect with you
Establishes authority
Drives traffic to your site and YouTube channel
Improves knowledge, teaching style, and confidence
Sharpens podcast script writing and overall delivery quality
A great networking and marketing tool

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