No. You do not need to use plugins like autoptimize to make this work.
>>would the written PDF by itself be sufficient? does it contain all the information in the videos?
The PDF contains easy steps anyone can implement to see massive performance gains really fast.
The videos are more for those who want to delve deeper and gain a better understanding of website performance without spending a lot of time researching this by themselves.
Hope this answers your questions?
And wish you a very happy new year!
Thanks!