Get supporters involved by sharing your story through pictures

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketers.

The Internet is slowly but surely becoming one big picture book.

Instagram and Pinterest have grown at astronomical rates precicely because they allow people to easily create, curate and share pictures. And Facebook has placed more importance on pictures, with cover images, full screen viewing and newsfeed preferences.

Photos are huge but simply posting photos is not enough. You have to post stories!

A powerful story in a photo earns every one of those thousand words:

• By making people take action.
• By getting people angry.
• By reenergizing volunteers.
• By moving the needle.

Here are 10 tips for creating photos that tell stories:

1Show action. Forget the chummy picture of volunteers with their arms around each other. There’s no story in that. Instead take pictures of them doing what they do.

2Show relationships. Include more than one person in your photos, or maybe a person and their dog like Best Friends Animal Society does. This way, you embed “relationship” into the photo, which will trigger all sorts of emotions in in the viewer.

3Get people angry. The New York Times found that anger, awe and anxiety are the top emotions associated with sharing. Create images that get people angry like this one from the Humane Society of the United States:

4Use infographics. Any combination of information and image used to tell a story can be incredibly powerful. Idealware’s new report, Infographics for Outreach, Advocacy, and Marketing is a super useful guide to understanding and creating infographics.

5Use black and white. You can use Photoshop or Touch Color to tell a story by coloring part of a black and white photo, a la Pleasantville:

6Use words. Many times a picture needs a few words to help the viewer along in the story, like in this photo from the Trevor Project.

One of my favorite iPhone apps for adding text to pictures is Over by Potluck, which allows you to easily add text to photos, like so:

7Use location. Are people growing organic vegetables on a farm? Are they building a house for a family in need? If so, show it.

8Use your fans. Encourage your fans and followers to share their stories in the form of pictures. Create a photo contest, or just pay attention when they post photos to your Facebook page.

9Show contrast. Take something familiar and turn it on its head to tell a story, like Oreo did with its gay pride cookie.

10Show a beginning, middle and end. Create a series of photos that show a beginning, middle and end. For example, imagine a person who lost a leg entering a rehab center, then working with a physical therapist for weeks and finally going home to be with family.

You can post these these photos one by one, or create a single image that includes entire story (ideally you would do both).

Let your heart be your guide

We are storytellers by nature, so our best tool for creating great stories is our hearts. Tune into yours and listen carefully.

If you listen carefully, you will begin to hear a great story. Then post it on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest to see if it speaks as loudly to your community.

What’s your No. 1 tip for telling stories with pictures?

The post 10 tips for creating photos that tell stories appeared first on Socialbrite.

Should your organization incorporate audio into your digital communications toolkit?

Guest post by Will Coley
Producer-Founder, Aquifer Media

If nonprofits want to learn how to create content that both engages audiences and creates devoted supporters, we need look no further than the gold standard offered each day by public radio. Think about it: Radio producers can create stories that keep us in the car for “driveway moments” even when we’ve reached home, just so we can hear the ending.

Public radio has created legions of devotees who give money for something they can already get for free. At the same time, we’re in the middle of a renaissance of digital audio online and via mobile technology.

To take advantage of this exciting and pivotal moment, nonprofits should consider adding audio storytelling to your digital communications toolkit. Here’s why.

Listening (or why audio is special)

Listen to this 3 1/2 minute clip from WNYC and think about what you can see in your mind’s eye.

Can’t you almost see what reporter Marianne McCune is experiencing? Radio requires listeners to use their imagination, bringing us emotionally closer to the story. Add to this that audio is often more intimate than other media. We often listen alone or on headphones, putting these voices directly inside our skulls. Audio is also better suited to our busy multitasking lives: I can listen at the gym, while washing dishes or checking email.

Another thing to consider about the WNYC story above: I doubt that Margaret Maynard would have let the reporter into her apartment with a video camera (she was in her house dress after all). A microphone is far less intimidating and in some ways offers a level of confidentiality. Without a camera in the way, it’s far easier for the interviewer to maintain eye contact with the person being interviewed. Because of this, I think people open up in different ways and get to the heart of the story even more quickly.

Storytelling

Listen to this one-minute “sonic i.d.” from Atlantic Public Media on Cape Cod.

Even in these 60 seconds, there is an anecdote that reveals the mechanics of effective storytelling.

Our brains are hard-wired for stories: We can’t stop ourselves from listening or watching a compelling story. But what is a good story?

Ira Glass says that the structure of every story on “This American Life” is a “series of actions where someone says ‘This happened, then this happened then this happened’ and then there’s a moment of reflection about what that sequence means and then onto the next sequence of actions.” This “moment of reflection” also interests Harvard professor Marshal Ganz because it reveals shared values that knit us together. Because of this, he argues the personal stories of individuals responding to challenges (“Story of Self”) is the bedrock of effective community organizing.

Character is most important to independent radio producer Samantha Broun, who has worked on multimedia projects with nonprofits. “I have found that the most powerful testimonial I can provide for nonprofits is a story of someone (a character) whose life has been effected by that organization. No talking heads. No scripted bits. But real, raw, emotional tape from a person whose life has been changed.”

To tell the story of your organization’s work, look for the individual experiences of a program participant or a supporter that illustrate the values you’re working for. At the same time, respect their ownership of stories and think of “facilitating” others in telling their stories directly to a larger audience online.

Producing

Listen to this story I made about Antoine Jenkins canvassing for Barack Obama in Las Vegas, Nev.:

Like many other radio producers, I used a digital recorder, headphones and an omnidirectional microphone. Many reporters are now using smart phones to record audio, especially in situations where bulky recording equipment isn’t feasible. SoundCloud’s app on iPhone and Droid is an incredibly easy way to record and post directly to the Web and other social media (think Instagram for audio). This could be a great tool for nonprofits to use at community events or gatherings.

Here are two practical tips I’ve learned from recording interviews:

1. Get close to what you’re recording but not too close. It’s best to place your microphone or smartphone four inches below the mouth of the interview subject, aka ice cream cone distance. This helps you avoid recording the popping that the P sound often makes.
2. Be aware of surrounding noise. Ambient noise can often be an important part of radio stories, especially when you’re capturing live action. But for interviews not directly related to action, it’s best to record in a quiet non-echoey space and later gather ambient sounds. Carpets and drapes often help absorb sound. Wearing headphones helps ensure that you get great sound with digital recorders.

To edit the audio you gather, you’ll need audio editing software. GarageBand and Audacity are free. I use Hindenberg but many radio producers prefer Pro Tools or Audition. To learn more about producing great radio stories, check out Transom.org and Rob Rosenthal’s Howsound podcast. Rob teaches the excellent Transom Story Workshop (which I attended in 2011 to start learning the art of radio storytelling).

Sharing

Listen to this one-minute story “First Love and 27 Other Firsts” by my radio-producing friend Whitney Jones.

This story has been a hit on Cowbird, an online story sharing community. Whitney also shared it on SoundCloud and thePublic Radio Exchange. You can embed tracks from these sites on other websites like blogs.

As part of a project funded by SoundCloud, I embedded stories on this website to honor Studs Terkel’s book. I see these as “audio blog posts” or “audio posts” rather than a “podcast.” Not only does it sound less intimidating and time intensive, a “post” or “story” implies a one-off that’s part of a larger content strategy using other media. Also with SoundCloud, listeners can subscribe for updates via RSS and iTunes.

Public Radio Exchange is a great platform to get your stories directly on public radio. Whitney sold his story to the Public Radio Remix, KFAI and Third Coast Festival/Re:sound. Obviously stories from your organization won’t sell if they’re straight up promotions or advocacy. To help navigate journalistic concerns, you could invite an experienced independent radio producer to help tell your story and market it through PRX.

So in short: Just do it! Experiment! Start listening, storytelling, producing and sharing audio stories and see if something miraculous happens.

For an even more audiovisual presentation of this information, check out this Prezi.

Related on Socialbrite

• 8 great examples of nonprofit storytelling
• 10 secrets to video storytelling success
• Creating video and media: A roundup of resources
• How to find amazing, powerful stories for your nonprofit video
• How nonprofits should be using visual storytelling
• Visual storytelling checklist

The post What nonprofits can learn from public radio about storytelling appeared first on Socialbrite.

5 steps to get you soaring on Skype or Google Hangout

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, educators, journalists, video producers.

Guest post by Derek Singleton
Software Advice

These days, recording a professional-looking Web video interview is becoming easier and cheaper. However, it’s still easy to get things like lighting, studio set-up and the background wrong.

It’s now easier than ever to conduct video interviews or conversations over Skype or Google Hangout. If you want to interview a thought leader in your sector, or if you want to have your executive director or CEO sit down for an Internet interview, take the right steps to make it look good.

You have a lot of software options. For Skype, the Evaer Skype video recorder and Pamela for Skype both work on PCs and ecamm‘s Call Recorder for Skype is a good option for Macs. VIDBlaster is another solid choice. With Google Hangout, every Hangout On Air is automatically saved to your YouTube account.

At Software Advice we shoot a lot of Web video, and we wanted to share tips we’ve learned from trial and error along the way.

Here are five key areas to focus on to help you create great Web videos.

Getting the studio ready

1For Skype video calling, you’ll be sitting at a computer while engaging a colleague or colleagues. Think about your shooting area as a studio and consider its various components: the camera, microphone, background, and lighting, and how you will account for each. While you’re setting up your studio, it’s important to limit the framing of the video to yourself and a solid background as you don’t want other items in the room entering your shot.

Pick a quality webcam

2While it may be tempting to stick with your computer’s built-in webcam, chances are that your webcam will shoot low-quality video. Since many people out on the Web are starting to expect high-definition video, it’s a good idea to go out and get a webcam that can shoot and record in HD.

If you don’t have a built-in webcam that can shoot in HD, we recommend checking out the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 for Windows and Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 for Mac. One advantage of these webcams is that they also record decent audio.

Get the right sound

3You have several options available for getting a decent sound for your Web videos. The first is to use a good HD webcam (like the Logitech models recommended above) that can record audio. If you want to go with this approach, select one that has dual microphones because it will capture the audio better.

Your second option is to pick a USB microphone (see right) that can connect to your computer to improve the sound. We like Blue Microphone’s Snowball ($68) because it offers great sound for price, or you can upgrade to their Yeti ($106) for even higher quality sound. If that’s not your style, you can always go the route of a headset or lapel mic. One thing to note, however, is that these will likely be visible in your video.

Lighting

4Lighting is a big area of focus when trying to get your video to appear professional. If you don’t have the right lighting, colors will dull and there will be shadows in your face. Neither is desirable.

At Software Advice, we rely on two small desk lamps that cost $23 each and use copy paper diffusers to light our foreground. We also use a three-piece lighting kit to light our backdrop (see figure in step 5). One side note about lighting: Dim your computer screen as much as possible to avoid getting lighting from your monitor into the shot. Below you can see examples of good lighting versus poor lighting.

Studio set-up

5Use Skype to preview your shot (#1) and adjust your lighting as needed. You’re looking to evenly light your face. The main light (#2) is your primary light source, while the fill light (#3) comes from the other direction, generally less intense, to bring down the shadows created by the main light.

Two desk lamps ($23 each) with copy paper taped in front of them to act as diffusers (as shown below) are highly effective at providing additional soft light for your webcam — just keep an eye on heat. You may need up to three back lights (#4) to light your backdrop (#5). Other backgrounds can be used but avoid too much activity as it can negatively impact video quality.

There you have five areas that we focus on to create great, professional-looking Web videos without breaking the bank.

Do you have any tips you’d like to provide? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

This originally appeared at Lauren’s blog, Major Multimedia.

Related

• Storytelling Tips From the Experts at Pixar (Socialbrite)

• Video & multimedia tutorials (Socialbrite)

The post How to create high-quality Web video interviews appeared first on Socialbrite.

How to edit video in house with tools that fit your expertise

This is the second of a three-part series on nonprofits’ use of video. Also see:
• Part 1: What to consider when investing in video
• Part 3: Video for your cause: Getting giddy over Viddy

Guest post by Kyle Henri Andrei
Idealware

Before the digital revolution, videos — like still photographs — were actually shot on film. Editing them involved cutting out individual frames and splicing the filmstrip back together, a tedious and expensive process that resulted in lots of little plastic squares on the cutting room floor. You also had to move through all previous footage to reach the scenes you wanted to edit, more or less requiring you to edit the film in the order in which you shot it.

Today, software makes editing digital footage faster, easier and much more affordable, and puts it within reach of anyone with a personal computer. Even better, digital video editing is “nonlinear,” which means you can access the scenes you want to edit directly. This helps speed up the process, especially for a short, Internet-ready video for which you just need to trim off the ends and add a title screen or two.

Video editing: Tailor your video to your audience

You’ll never shoot a perfect video from start to finish in one take. A phone might ring, the wind could pick up, the sun could cause glare, or a dog might start barking. Editing lets you cull the best parts from several takes and combine them into one — or, more simply, cut the bad parts out of a single take.

How much do you need to edit your footage? It depends on what type of video you’re making, or who your audience will be. A video to show your donors at a fundraising gala may require a professional touch, but a guerrilla- or documentary-style video — a quick and simple one designed for the Internet that forgos high production values in favor of a spontaneous look and feel — doesn’t need to be polished and perfect. You might just add some titles or credits and trim out unnecessary bits, like when your talent forgot a line or stuttered while speaking.

It is possible to over-edit your video. All of the software options we discuss come with special effects that can enhance your video. Don’t overuse them — a little goes a long way. Some effects look cheap and gimmicky and will distract the audience from your message, while others — like dissolves, which let you transition between clips, and fades to black — can be used safely with some regularity.

Different tools offer different approaches to editing and degrees of usability. Let’s look at them one at a time.

The free tools: Free video hosting and remixing

There are several free or very low-cost solutions that let you make short videos or slideshows with minimal edits.

Animoto: Quick, easy & slick slide show

1Free for nonprofits, Animoto is not technically video-editing software but a website that allows you to create professional-looking slide shows quickly and easily by uploading and arranging your photos. The site also includes a library of licensed, rights-cleared music you can add to your slideshow, as well as a variety of themes and backgrounds. Although Animoto won’t solve all your video needs, a polished slideshow can be a great way to thank donors, volunteers and other supporters online or at a gala or other event.

YouTube: Basic editing features do the job

2YouTube, the popular streaming video site, now provides a handful of editing features. You can add up to seven of your previously uploaded videos into a basic timeline, trim them and add transitions, titles and other effects to create a new video. These features probably won’t be the best choice for those planning on creating a lot of videos but are a compelling option for organizations that need to edit videos infrequently.

In addition, mobile devices that shoot video, like smartphones and tablets, have started to offer basic editing functionality, and mobile apps can add more features. However, the built-in microphones are designed for phone calls, not videos, and the audio quality suffers as a result. Some small cameras also allow you edit videos on-screen and offer higher audio and video quality than smartphones. They might be attractive low-cost options for beginners looking to make a few short videos.

Beginner tools: Free & pre-installed? Go for it!

These are generally free or low-cost options that may already be installed on your computer. They’re good ways to get your feet wet with video editing.

Windows Movie Maker: A good introduction to editing features

3Windows Movie Maker (pre-installed on all Windows PCs, or a free download from Microsoft) is a good tool for people just getting started with editing, and the prevalence of Windows computers means you may already have it in your home. Movie Maker handles basic tasks well, like trimming clips and adding titles, transitions and soundtracks but offers limited file options for exporting edited videos or converting clips and files from one format to another.

iMovie: Get in the serious lane

4Apple computers have a long history of being used for creative purposes, including editing video. iMovie (pre-installed on Apple computers, or $50 as part of iLife), pre-installed on all recent Macs, is a surprisingly powerful and easy-to-use editing program designed for beginners. While Apple computers have grown in popularity, they are still uncommon in nonprofit offices. If your organization has one, this is a logical choice for editing your videos.

Adobe Premiere Elements: A step up from Movie Maker

5With an interface similar to iMovie’s, Adobe Premiere Elements ($99 retail, $15 on TechSoup) is an affordable and beginner-friendly editing tool. It’s a step up from Windows Movie Maker that offers more advanced functions and allows for importing and exporting many more different video file types. While iMovie users should have little trouble adjusting, Premiere Elements requires a longer learning curve than Movie Maker.

More advanced tools

While more expensive and technically demanding than the beginner tools, these options also provide more powerful features and greater flexibility for experienced and power users.

Adobe Premiere Pro: A good choice for professionals
6A significant step up in price and features, Adobe Premiere Pro ($799, $60 on TechSoup as a component of Adobe CS5) has little in common with Premiere Elements and uses a substantially different interface. It works well with other Adobe products, including the Creative Suite and After Effects, which, if used correctly, can create high-quality special effects for your video. Several blockbuster Hollywood films have been edited using this software, which means it’s certainly feature-rich enough for most nonprofits.

Final Cut Pro X: Top of class

7Final Cut Pro X ($300 for Apple computers) has long been the leading alternative to more expensive editing software like Avid, and a logical progression from introductory software like iMovie. With the release of Final Cut Pro X, Apple has geared the professional-level software to a wider consumer base, simplifying the interface, which will be familiar to iMovie users, and making it more accessible to the average nonprofit user. (The previous consumer-level, discounted version, Final Cut Express, has been discontinued by Apple, but can still be found for under $200 on some websites and continues to be supported.)

Other high-end solutions

If you’re skilled or savvy enough and have high-end video production needs — and a budget to support them — there are numerous video solutions available on the market. Avid Technology makes the most well-known, including the core of its product suite, Media Composer, which costs several thousand dollars and requires a powerful computer to run it properly. Avid also has a range of lower-priced solutions, but if your need for video editing is sufficient enough to need such tools, you’re likely better off contracting a professional video editor.

This article originally appeared on Idealware and is republished under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial No Derivatives license.

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Matanya’s Hope tells stories of Kenyan schoolchildren through photos & video

Multimedia storytelling can be an incredibly powerful tool for your organization to attract funders, motivate volunteers and demonstrate the power of your message.

Our friends at Matanya’s Hope asked us to create a visual story for their nonprofit by seamlessly blending photos and video footage that they have captured over the past several years with original interviews, music and graphics we developed.

Founded in 2005 by Illinois native Michelle Stark, Matanya’s Hope is a nonprofit dedicated to educating children in Kenya. Last summer I accompanied Michelle to Matanya Primary School and saw the destitution these children and their families face: severe poverty, hunger, lack of clothing. And I realized why Michelle is dedicating her life to this cause.

For nonprofits and other organizations looking to capture their stories through powerful imagery, here are some simple tips for creating professional-looking video:

• Use “b-roll” (stills & video)
• Incorporate stock music
• Use narration or background sounds

How to incorporate b-roll

By using B-roll – still photographs and short video clips referencing what the interviewees are talking about – you can make the video much more interesting than by solely using “talking heads” (straight interviews of people talking without any additional footage). As we are hearing Michelle talking about the children with “no shoes and torn and tattered clothing,” the still photographs visually reinforce what the interviewee is saying. B-roll also allows us to edit the interviews without a noticeable cut (“jump-cut”) in the action or picture on screen.

Use background music to add texture

Background music was also selected to set the mood of the video. Royalty-free music can be purchased online from a number of stock music websites for a modest charge. One of my favorites is Triple Scoop Music. There are also a slew of free sites offering rights-cleared music, generally using Creative Commons — see Socialbrite’s Free Music Directory.

For the Matanya’s Hope video, we licensed a song from a local Kenyan composer we discovered while we were there filming the video.

Narration and background sound round out the piece

Using natural, or ambient, sound captured while videotaping b-roll is another effective way to make the storytelling more compelling. Background sounds of children talking in a classroom help create a more natural, captivating video. Natural sounds can also be useful in making transitions or in reinforcing a point the speaker is making.

Next up: We’ll share our learnings on professional interviewing techniques.

And please make a donation to support Matanya’s Hope’s efforts to educate children in this region of Kenya. All net proceeds from the sale or leasing of photographs from the Matanya’s Hope gallery will go directly to the children of Kenya this charity supports.

Related on Socialbrite

• Online advocacy video best practices
• How to find amazing, powerful stories for your nonprofit video
• How nonprofits should be using visual storytelling
• 10 secrets to video storytelling success

The post Techniques to add dazzle to your advocacy video appeared first on Socialbrite.