Screencasts, where you capture in a video something that appears on your computer desktop, along with audio and/or text, are growing in popularity.  For instance, among the “how to” and business videos at YouTube.com, I’ve noticed more and more screencasts this past year. 

Camtasia software by Techsmith, is a popular choice for creating screencasts.  But during 2008 I’ve bumped into several new screencasting services. 

I’ve found a perfect use for these screencasting services: to train staff and/or create an operations manual. 

I’ve been using one service, Jing Project, to record small bits of information and instructions for my virtual staff, who are scattered in remote locations.  Sometimes you just need to “show” someone how to do something, especially anything that involves computer software or websites.  It’s easier to demonstrate what to do, all the while talking verbally, using your cursor or tools to highlight, and explaining what you are doing real time.  After all, show-and-tell is most likely how you would train an employee if he or she worked in your office.

I was compelled to try Jing Project after another entrepreneur, Travis Campbell, recommended it for training a virtual assistant.  I’d been frustrated with writing down step by step instructions for some activities, because it just takes so darn long. Trust me, that cliche about a picture being worth a thousand words is pretty accurate — especially when you have to type every one of those 1,000 words as part of your operations manual. 

Recording a 3 to 5 minute screencast is far faster.  Another advantage of screencasts is that you communicate much more clearly, too.  The recipient is able to get information in two dimensions (audio and visual) instead of just one (in writing).

Here is a Jing Project video screencast that I recorded, about how to use Jing Project:

Video Review of Jing Project

With Jing Project you simply download the app (Windows or Mac version) to your computer.  Once installed, at the top of your desktop a little yellow “bug” sits there ready for you to click a couple of buttons and start recording.  You can do video or just take a static image of your desktop.  I find that the video version is best for training purposes.  You click to start recording the video, put your headset on, and start talking and instructing. 

If you choose to do a static screen capture image, after you are done you can put text labels on the image. 

If you choose a video instead, you can save the video on your computer, FTP it to your website server to load on your Intranet, or send it to Screencast.com automatically where it is loaded online and you can share the URL.  Loading the screencast online is the most hassle-free way to send a screencast to someone.  You get a complimentary Screencast.com account with Jing Project, and 2 GB of storage.

Overall the Jing Project works well.  It’s convenient, being right there for you to launch in an instant.    It’s easy to use, requiring very little instruction other than a few buttons on the tool itself or information on the Jing Project blog. 

On the downside, you have very limited ability to edit the file using Jing Project — you’d need a video editing tool to do that.  So if you need to create edited professional videos, you’ll need something more robust — perhaps Camtasia. Also, it doesn’t play nice with WordPress, and I have not been able to embed the video code.

Also, I noticed that occasionally if I have several applications open at once, Jing Project has sometimes caused Internet Explorer 7 to freeze up.  So I wouldn’t leave the “bug” open all the time on my computer — it only takes an extra two clicks to launch anyway.

Oh, and did I mention it’s free?