Adding Emotions to My Creations
- Tarasekhar Padhy
- Mar 9
- 4 min read
The true value of any piece of art is emotional.
How does it make you feel?
Yes, you may use facts and stats, but if it doesn’t trigger chemical reactions in the brain, it ain’t art, just plain information presented in a soulless manner. This is one of the primary reasons AI-generated content, including images, audio, and videos, is trash.
Anyway, in the past week, I created three videos for one of my YouTube channels called Machined Nut, dedicated to Formula 1. One of them is a podcast episode and the other two are me yapping at the camera with some assistive visuals.
While reviewing those three content pieces, I discovered they could’ve used some more emotions. The subject matter in the video was correct and well presented, which may not be enough when trying to boost retention or build an audience.
In this report, I will revisit the production process to look for or create openings where emotional elements could be added.
The First Week of March 2025
Hell week.
It was one of those weeks where I had a lot on my plate, internally and externally. There was a nervous breakdown during this period but, on a positive note, I managed to execute everything as required.
The week ended yesterday, or today, depending on how you count weeks.
I published three videos during that period.
The first two were strength and weakness analyses of two potential title contenders of the upcoming 2025 Formula 1 season. The third one was a simple audio-based podcast related to the same sport.
The analyses were primarily fact-based. I mentioned the strengths and weaknesses of Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc and provided sufficient examples to prove my point. Both were published on consecutive days.
It’s about two-three days since I’ve hit publish and neither has taken off. There is a chance that people may visit these kinds of content when the respective driver is capturing the F1 headlines or maybe I need to wait slightly longer.
However, from experience, I could tell that something was lacking. If your channel has a hundred subscribers, you can know if the video is good within three days. Although there are occasions when you need to wait longer, this isn’t one of them.
Fortunately, the final video, the audio-only podcast about Liam Lawson’s debut with Red Bull Racing did hit the mark. It was something people would like to hear about and I did manage to keep the content opinionated.
Despite delivering a minimalistic auditory experience, the podcast episode has outperformed one of the two videos released earlier. This brings some tough lessons about building an audience on YouTube.
Why People Watch Sports Analyses and Commentaries
Sports analyses and commentaries provide additional information to the fans about their favorite athletes, events, and incidents. This is the primary reason why many men and women spend countless hours consuming these types of content.
Or is it?
It is significantly more plausible that sports offers a healthy way to relax and disconnect from the tough world. More than anything, the fans want a place where they can detach from their life’s problems to have a good time.
This could be getting mad at a referee or steward, appreciating an athlete’s achievement, or simply laughing at the absurdity of certain incidents.
The key goal of all non-essential content is entertainment, even if they are disguised as informative and educational.
In my context, I should have aimed to make my viewers feel a certain type of way when highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the two potential world champions. For various reasons—such as inexperience and the stressful nature of that moment—I couldn’t make it happen.
All Is Not Lost
There are certainly many positives to take away from the three videos published. The workflow was much more streamlined. The research process was primarily AI-driven, saving a tonne of time and I skipped the detailed scriptwriting stage.
Basically, I wrote a set of bullets that highlighted the key talking points, arranged them sequentially, and enriched them with facts collected from different sources. While recording, I used it as a reference.
This was an upgrade from my previous processes where I prioritized writing complete articles from a set of bullets. It served as a scriptwriting exercise that allowed me to speak more freely.
Skipping this stage expedited the overall process by a whole day!
Since I did start a post collection where I talk about Formula 1, I must find a way to keep it growing. Perhaps I will use the AI-generated video transcript to write an article.
Another noticeable upgrade was the usage of visual elements, such as pictures. Images will fade in and out of the screen based on the yap coming out of my mouth. Earlier, these assistive graphics appeared slightly inorganic, but not in the past two videos.
All things considered, I am pretty impressed with the progress so far. During a week this hectic, when I had to muster every scrap of sanity to get by, dropping three videos that exhibited my improved presentation skills was a huge win.
It is already impressive how my content quality has improved in the past few months. Interestingly, until recently, I was a casual motorsports enjoyer. Thankfully, this YouTube project has helped me dive more into the sport.
Looking Forward: Three More In The Chamber
The 2025 F1 season will feature multiple title contenders. As far as I can tell, there are five, meaning I still have to cover three remaining drivers. Those videos will contain an emotional element that will organically boost engagement.
Apart from letting the viewers know of my opinion about the concerned title contender, I shall also try to maintain a vibe for the overall broadcast. Of course, the inclusion of jokes and slightly unrelated talking points that entertain will depend on the context.
Additionally, I can speculate how the particular driver will perform through the season in a semi-sarcastic way. Maybe do it at the start or end of the video.
It seems difficult to complete all three in the next seven days. Perhaps the final video in the F1 title contender analysis series will be dropped a few days after the 2025 season opener in Albert Park, Melbourne.
Until next time,
Tara
