A scaled solution for nonprofits looking to create video content

By Kyle Shannon

Stories are the lifeblood of social organizations. To a large degree, your ability to tell stories is directly proportional to your ability to succeed and grow. While charts and graphs of success are important, the stories of people you impact is the best proof there is.

Video is an increasingly powerful and in-demand way to share these stories, and yet a major challenge remains. How do you increase your ability to produce video content without dramatically increasing your budget?

If you want to create video, you effectively have two major options. There’s professional video, which is typically high quality but is limited in its scalability. It can be expensive, slow and logistically complicated.

On the other side of the coin is user-generated video, which seems great in theory. It’s authentic, often engaging and you can have as much as you want, since there are now billions of devices with high-quality cameras. The problem? User-generated video is completely out of your control, and the storytelling quality is unpredictable at best.

There is another option. Think of it as professional user-generated video. By using the best attributes of both professional video and user-generated video, you can create a hybrid approach to creating video content. Storyvine is a Guided Video platform that is designed to live in the space between the two worlds of Pro and User-Gen video, and will be discussed here, but there are numerous tools that can assist in the activities that must be managed to effectively scale video storytelling.

Here are two examples of Pro-UGC Video created using the Storyvine platform. The first video is from the National Association of Public Charter Schools:

Here is a grassroots presidential campaign video created with Storyvine:

Content strategy is key

Regardless of which tool(s) you use to create and manage your video content, it’s critical to understand that “more video” is not a strategy — video is simply a tool. Your content strategy should emerge organically from your goals as an organization. What are you trying to accomplish? What are your major initiatives? How are you measuring success? Who are your stakeholders and what do they need to feel taken care of and connected to the organization?

Answers to these questions will lead naturally to important content strategy questions. Who’s stories do we want to capture? Why will they share them with us? Who are the audiences for these stories? What are the communications initiatives we have in place that this video content could augment? And finally, whose job is it to create, capture, curate and connect these stories with relevant audiences?

Now you’re ready for the 4 C’s of creating video content in a scalable, sustainable way:

• Create
• Capture
• Curate
• Connect

Here’s a 3-minute video on how to create a video on Storyvine.

Step 1: Create the story program

Once you understand the kind of stories you want to capture, you can design everything from the kinds of question you want people to answer, to the visual design and branding of the videos that will be produced, to the communications you will share with your constituents to let them know their voice is important and might be reaching out.

By asking the right questions and eliciting a series of answers, you end up creating content that is consistent and well-structured. Here are some questions you might ask to get things rolling:

Intro: Share your name, location and why you got involved.

Q1: What was you most impactful experience with the program?

Q2: How has being involved with the program changed your outlook about it?

Q3: Give a shout-out to someone you engaged with who made a difference.

With Storyvine, we create a story template that consists of a VideoGuide (the coaching prompts) and a visual Storyboard of what the final video will look like. The video segments are captured via an iOS or Android mobile app that prompts the user what to say in a step-by-step capture process. The videos themselves are then “automagically” edited into a fully branded video within minutes.

Outside of Storyvine, you can use this same structured approach to improve the quality and consistency of your video content.

Step 2: Capture the video content

Because smart phones and tablets are so ubiquitous and contain high-quality cameras, you can capture content at events by having your team members capture the raw assets of answers to the prompting questions you created, or even have people film the clips selfie-style. There are a number of techniques to get the people you want to film to increase your ability to capture the stories you want.

Friends and close colleagues

With video, most people have a basic fear of looking silly. No one wants to go first. That said, once people see that others have done it and realize it’s socially safe, they’re much more willing to participate. So leverage the relationships you have with your friends, colleagues and even superfans whom you can cajole into getting the ball rolling. You can then show off their videos as examples for others to follow.

Events

Even though events can be noisy and chaotic, they are also often high concentrations of people who’s stories you want to capture. With a little bit of pre-planning, your team at the event (or even volunteers who can be trained at the beginning of the event) can “wrangle” participants at the event and capture more content than you can imagine.

Here’s a good example that was captured an education-centered event:

A lot of Storyvine clients use events as the launchpad for creating their first video content.

Gamification

We’ve had good success with clients creating “Video Challenges” where Person A films her story and then “calls out” Person B to film his. It works. So do friendly competitions for most creative stories.

Deadlines & assignments

Let people know they have one week to capture their content, and follow up with them one day before the deadline. Also, let Sally know that it’s her job to film two people this week, and hold her to it.

Build it into a process

This is by far the most effective approach. Let’s say you want people in your org to film testimonial videos. Build the video capture task right into the process, like so:

• 1. Sign person in.
• 2. Make sure person is taken care of.
• 3. Sign person out.
• 4. Ask if he or she will give us a testimonial.
• 5. If yes, film him or her.

Another variation on this theme is something like “It’s Thought Leadership Thursday”… make the creation of content an event.

Step 3: Curate the stories

If you successfully increase the quantity of video content, you now have a new challenge on your hands. Namely, who is looking at what was created and what are the criteria to determine which videos should be shared far and wide.

Our experience has been that when you use a tool like Storyvine to increase the number of videos, not every video will be perfect — and that’s OK. We see a normal bell curve of quality with the videos that come into the system. If 10 videos are created, one might not be usable, most are fine to really good, and one or two are terrific, maybe brilliant.

The highest-quality stories can even be elevated and leveraged into other kinds of content, like compilation videos of the best soundbites for a website or gala presentation.

Here are two examples of compilations created from the structured approach to capturing content as I just described. Age of Agility is a four-minute short from America Succeeds:

I Stand with PP is a 75-second short that shows the power of Planned Parenthood:

Step 4: Connect the stories to relevant audiences

The final step is relatively straightforward. In a world with as many digital channels as we have today, there are increasing number of options where you might share your newly created video content. Short videos might be used as “snackable” social content on Twitter or Instagram. Videos longer than 60 seconds might live on your website or your YouTube channel. Business-focused social networks like LinkedIn are featuring more and more video, and it’s often longer-form video.

Especially when it comes to fundraising and development efforts, don’t be shy about sending a video link directly to a person whom you feel will relate to that story. “Here’s a story of one of our people I thought you might enjoy.” That kind of personal outreach and connection will go a long way to keeping donors engaged.

Experiment and see what works for your organization. Compelling video stories will drive social engagement, and when you find a kind of video that works, make more!

Kyle Shannon is the co-founder/CEO of Storyvine, a Guided Video platform and allows companies and organizations to create professional, authentic video content … at scale. You can find him on LinkedIn or on Twitter at @kyleshannon.

The post Video storytelling to amplify the impact of your organization appeared first on Socialbrite.

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, video producers, marketing professionals, general public.

Every spring about this time TechSoup does an amazing thing for the nonprofit community: It reminds us about the importance that visual storytelling plays in advancing causes and missions. And it helps us discover and tell our own stories by showcasing the best of the best in its Digital Storytelling Challenge. (The contest prizes aside, the acclaim that comes with being awarded one of the top award winners is certainly worthwhile.)

If you have a great video that you’ve created over the past year, or if you think you can pull one together on short notice, be aware that you have nine days left to enter your video in the contest.

As TechSoup says about the competition: “Without a good story, you’re just another cause in the crowd. But a good story also needs to be told in just the right way. Digital storytelling amps up your message with technology and powerful images.”

The rules are simple: Create a short video (up to 90 seconds) or a five-image slide show and enter it by April 30 to win prizes.

TechSoup will celebrate all your hard work, great stories and new skills at an awards gala at PARISOMA in San Francisco and live streamed online – all courtesy of Wix and Eventbrite.

Not convinced yet? Megan Neff of Next Step, a 2012 challenge winner, had this to say:

“Our digital story has been invaluable in explaining what we do in a short but powerful format. We’ve used it time and again in communications with potential and current funders.”

TechSoup is using the month of April to provide intensive learning around visual stories as part of nonprofits’ marketing and fundraising strategy. On Tuesday morning, look for the Storytelling and Social Sharing tweet chat by following the hastag #TSdigs.

I hope you’ll enter the TechSoup’s 2013 Digital Storytelling Challenge to bring your cause into focus. Remember, the deadline is April 30!

The post Not too late to enter TechSoup’s Digital Storytelling Challenge appeared first on Socialbrite.

How 15-second videos are taking advocacy campaigning to the next level

This is the third part of a series on how nonprofits can use video. Also see:
• Part 1: What to consider when investing in video
• Part 2: 7 top video editing tools for nonprofits

Guest post by Mike Kondratick
Director of Strategy, See3 Communications

Nothing tells the real, impactful human stories of actual constituents like video. In the years that I spent as an advocacy program director, collecting user-generated video from our supporters – advocate stories, testimonials, and messages to legislators – was always high on the priority list.

These programs, no matter how well conceived or how good our intentions, were always difficult to manage. Folks would use a variety of ways to capture the video: Flip cams, their laptop’s camera, their smartphone, etc. The video got back to us in different ways: email, links to YouTube pages, posted to our Facebook fan page, etc. Organizing the footage to make the desired impression on potential advocates and/or legislators was a time suck. And, regardless of how well we crafted message points for our supporters to simplify the process and make it less stressful, the video that came back had varying levels of usability. In short, these programs were a hot mess.

Enter Viddy, the latest mobile-based, social video collection/sharing app. Viddy has created a platform that streamlines and simplifies video production, collection, and display. And, in my opinion, it’s the best available tool right now for advocacy organizations to make user-generated video campaigns at once easier to manage and more impactful.

This post won’t focus on the laundry list of Viddy’s features. You can find good feature-based reviews and comparisons of Viddy vs. Socialcam elsewhere. I’ll note only the features that I think make this app unique for use in the nonprofit and advocacy space.

A focus is on keeping mobile video short & simple

Viddy’s focus is on keeping mobile video short and simple — in other words, perfect for users with varying levels of experience and comfort with video. In fact, it’s been described as “the Instagram of video.” Setting up your organization’s presence couldn’t be easier. Just go to Viddy.com or download the app from the AppStore, enter a username and password, and upload your logo. (Viddy video can only be collected via mobile device, so regardless of where you sign up, you will need to download the app.) The main drawback, as of now, is the lack of an Android version, but that’s coming soon. The sign-up process for your supporters will be just as easy. Finding and following other organizations and friends requires a simple search.

The video collection process is where Viddy really shines. Response rates from advocates on video asks are low for lots of reasons — the biggest being that people are just going to be nervous capturing themselves on camera. Though Viddy can’t change this aspect of human nature, it does smash many of the other barriers.

First, it limits the length of any video to 15 seconds — a limit that does not exist on Socialcam. Some are going to look at this as a drawback, but to me it’s a key differentiator. After you spend some time looking at the video on the Viddy platform, you start to realize just how long 15 seconds really is and how much you can communicate.

Returning to my advocacy program experiences, no matter how few message points we gave people for their videos or how well-written those points were, our supporters always stressed over ‘performance’ aspects—how to combine the points, how long they needed to talk, etc. Because the video ask was still so amorphous in their minds, few attempted it. A 15-second limit provides all the structure you need. There’s only time for a name, key message points, and an ask for a legislator (or a one or two sentence story). A short time limit reduces the level of effort and stress.

Do you really need more than 15 seconds from an advocacy video?

This also got me thinking about just how many times I needed more than 15 seconds from an advocacy video. I couldn’t really think of any. Whether it was a testimonial for our program or one of our events, a message urging a legislator to support our issues, or a thank you message for a legislator, pretty much all of them could be accomplished in 15 seconds or less. And, invariably, I’d find myself having to edit down the longer videos I did get to combine them with other clips or to fit with typical short attention spans that people have with most online platforms.

Second, Viddy provides just enough in the way of production effects to improve the overall video quality without overwhelming the user. As you get ready to shoot, it gives you tools to track your audio and light levels —just enough to make sure the video looks good. After the video is completed, you have only three options (should you want them): choosing a thumbnail image, adding a visual effects package, and choosing a soundtrack.

The troubles I described above with collecting and managing the video I received? Viddy solves these as well. Each Viddy production can be tagged. So, you can give your supporters specific instructions to tag their video with your organization’s name, an issue name and/or a legislator’s name. As these videos are completed, they’ll show up in your feed (assuming you’re following your supporters). You can also search by tag to see your videos nicely grouped. The quality of the videos will also be consistent since they’ll all be generated by the higher-quality video cams available on iPhones and, soon enough, Android-powered phones.

Social sharing with Viddy, as you’d expect, is also very user-friendly. You can quickly share your advocates’ videos on your organization’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google+ page. (The one caveat I noted is sharing through your organization’s fan page. You can do this through Viddy.com using your page admin’s Facebook accounts but, from what I see, you can’t do this through the mobile app. Let me know if this is possible in the comments below.) You can also grab the embed code for your website or blog. Through the mobile interface, you can also quickly post the video to your Tumblr or share it via SMS.

To be sure, I’d like to see additional features added over time, most notably the ability to include overlays to drive additional advocacy actions. And, for Viddy to be a feasible mobilization platform the Android version will need to be reality. But once that happens, issue campaigners will have a widely available platform that:

1. Limits the stress of video collection by providing a short time limit
2. Provides for a higher level of quality by using higher-quality video cams and basic production effects
3. Makes video collection and organization drop-dead simple
4. Facilitates social media campaigns around user-generated video by making social sharing quick and easy

How can Viddy help your cause?

Think about how Viddy can build your video library and how you can roll this user-generated content into your future video projects and production. Mashups of constituent messages? Check. A wall of advocate message videos on your website? Check. A quick solution to create video contests? Check. A constant stream of simple and direct advocate testimonials? Check.

Has your organization tried Viddy for an advocacy campaign? What do you think of the overall feature set? Share your thoughts with us below!

The post Video for your cause: Get giddy over Viddy appeared first on Socialbrite.

Code for America from Inkerman Road on Vimeo.

Code for America: 5 tips on upping your video game

Code for America, a nonprofit that uses technology to transform local governments, boasts a creative, compelling promotional video that not only clearly describes its message but also engages its viewers to get involved. In just five simple steps, any nonprofit can follow its example.

Be human and personal

1Be sure to make a personal connection early in the video. Many organizations and causes have a cohort of motivated, smiling people behind it. Bring these people to the forefront and show how upbeat and promising working for the cause is! Code for America illustrates its work environment by interviewing employees about what part of the job and cause they like. People are human and social creatures and are more inclined to stick with a video if they can relate to the on-screen subjects.

Use captivating visuals

2Watching a talking head is no fun for anyone. But listening to someone speak while looking at colorful flowers or a fun work environment is far more interesting. The supplemental footage in a video that does not capture a talking head is called b-roll. For example, Code for America’s video displays a shot of the office while founder Jennifer Pahlka speaks over it.

Get creative with light

3The video’s lighting is bright and vibrant throughout. This, quite literally, illustrates Code for America’s cause in a positive light. For example, founder Jennifer Pahlka is interviewed outside, allowing her to be shot with the warmth of natural lighting. The creative use of silhouettes, close-ups and angles, by video producers Inkerman Road, provides a nice break from the traditional head and shoulders frame.

Keep it short — under 2 minutes

4The ideal length of a web video is under 2 minutes. People love video, but attention spans today are dreadfully short. This Code for America piece clocks in at 2 minutes 30 seconds. Wistia, a popular Web video hosting service, found that the completion rate for a 30 second video is close to 90 percent, but it drops to barely more than 50 percent if the video is 2 minutes. Of course, completion rate might not be critical, as long as viewers get the important bits of your message and are happy with your video. But if the call to action is in the last 10 seconds and no one watches that far, you have a problem.  Which is why it’s a really good idea to front-load the video with the call to action and other critical message elements. Whatever you want the targeted audience to walk away knowing should be at the start of the video.

Instill optimism and hope

5Code for America does not focus on what the government is doing wrong, or why its services are necessary. That would lower the mood of viewers. Instead, the organization encourages people to take action by focusing on the future and how the combination of technology and government can improve lives, ending with a positive message: “Try helping your government work better for you and see what happens.”

Did you improve your video to make it more successful? Are you interested in learning how you could? Let us know if you’d like us to analyze your video.

The post An engaging, uplifting nonprofit promo video appeared first on Socialbrite.

If you’re in the Bay Area, join me in 12 days at the 3rd Annual TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge. I was at last year’s event — where Room to Read grabbed top honors for the digital story above — and may hand out an award or two this year.

This year’s contest received 250 submissions from all over the globe, showing a flowering of talent and creativity. Check out the full playlist of videos on YouTube and gallery of photo sets on Flickr.

What: TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge Awards & Screening Party
When: Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 7 p.m. Pacific
In person: TechSoup Headquarters, 525 Brannan St., San Francisco
Online: Live-streamed on Facebook and in Second Life
Hashtag on Twitter: #tsdigs
RSVP today!

In person and online

The ceremony is being billed as a “red carpet” event! Watch the live stream if you can’t be there in person. Winners, chosen by a panel of expert judges and the community, will receive products from TechSoup’s donor partners Cisco, Adobe, Flickr Citrix, Sliderocket, Blazon,SurveyMonkey and more.

You’ll also get to meet some of the expert judges, see dozens of the best videos and photo stories, and connect with fellow digital storytellers. Light refreshments will be provided. Hope to see you there!

The post Come to the TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge appeared first on Socialbrite.

10 tips you need to know before picking up that camera

Target audience: Nonprofits, NGOs, cause organizations, social enterprises, brands, educators, video producers, Web publishers, storytellers, individuals.

Guest post by Steve Stockman
Writer/director/producer, Custom Productions, Inc.

Videos are made out of passion you have for your cause — the people you are helping, the changes that need to be made, the story that has to be told. They’re a powerful cause marketing tool. But no matter how good your cause is, one truth stands between you and successful communication: Nobody watches bad video. A poorly done video — one that bores people to the point of clicking away — gives you no chance to inspire, to inform, ask for donations, or share your passion. And if nobody watches, you might as well not bother.

The good news: stories about people, struggle, challenges and passion are entertaining — as long as you know how not to push your audience away with a lame video. Turns out that with a little bit of awareness, planning and practice, you too can make video that doesn’t suck.

Here are 10 things you need to know:

1The audience comes first. What kind of experience is your video providing for the audience? If it isn’t going to take them on a fun or emotional ride, maybe your project should be a memo instead. Give the audience a good time and they’ll love you. And vice versa.

2Video shines at communicating motion and emotion. Facts and figures? Not so much. It’s a human thing — as animals, we’re wired to pay attention to things that move (Food! Danger!) and the communications of the tribe (Is he going to hit me? Does she want sex?). If what you have to say is best said with charts and lists, it may just not be good video material.

3A good video can be summed up in a single sentence. That sentence should consist of a noun, a verb and a result. “Our executive director” is not a video. “Our executive director confronts congresspeople on the street to ask about Global Warming” is.

4Think in shots. You won’t see a lot of long, rambling shots on TV. That’s because a video needs detail and action to hold our attention. Don’t run your camera non-stop. Instead, find something interesting. Aim. Shoot. And, when it stops being interesting, stop shooting and point somewhere else. Your short shots will add up to a shorter, more professional video.

5Cut bad sound, bad lighting and bad photography. It’s disrespectful to ask your audience to suffer through dark scenes, hollow, echoing audio or brain-hurting camera bounces. Worse: They’re instant tune-outs. If it looks bad on the camera’s little screen, it won’t get better when you look at it later. Cut it from the finished video.

6Humor and music, done well, always work. People will sit through tons of drudgery for a good laugh (see the 35-year track record of “Saturday Night Live” for example). Nobody ever said about a video, “It’s too funny. I hate it.” Yet cause marketers especially shy away from humor. Don’t. The right music can be just as visceral, which is why you almost never see an unscored movie. Always try music when you edit. It’s easy enough to take out if it doesn’t work. More often than not, it will be the magic ingredient that pulls your video together.

7Keep your video short. That movie trailer you hated because it showed you the whole movie? Two minutes and thirty seconds long. Your favorite Super Bowl TV spot: 30 seconds. Average time spent looking at a Web page? 15 seconds. How long should your video be? First, this question: Does it star the Victoria’s Secret models and is Martin Scorsese directing? No? Then take the length you intuitively think it should be, and cut by two-thirds. That makes your 10 minute video more like three minutes. Which will still be too long if it isn’t great.

8You know in your heart when the shooting is bad. Your brain will try to convince you it’s OK. This is normal. Nobody wants to throw away a shot that took time to shoot or money to pay for. Trust your gut. If it feels wrong, it’s wrong. Stop. Think. Fix it. Re-light, rewrite or reshoot — whatever it takes.

9Don’t strive to go “viral.” A viral video is a response by an audience that’s so excited by your video that they urgently and quickly share it with everyone they know; or, in other words, it’s a hit. Hits take skill, vision, artistry, marketing savvy and a huge amount of luck. You can hire all but the luck — but it’s expensive and still may not work. Best not to base your strategy on going “viral.” You can still be good, though.

10If you don’t love video, don’t shoot it. You wouldn’t have people who suck at sales run your sales department. You don’t want the guy who’s bored with brain surgery cutting into your head. Add your own metaphor here … and then apply it to video.

But don’t worry! You may already have other video enthusiasts in house that you didn’t know about. For every 50 people in your organization, I’m guessing there are two with a knack for video. Since you didn’t hire them for that, you’re going to have to figure out who they are. Easiest way: Just ask! If your organization is too small to have a video hobbyist, or they’re too busy with their real jobs, hire pros. For big important projects, call the big expensive pros. (Note: Socialbrite’s new in-house expert, Lauren Major, specializes in video and multimedia production for nonprofits — and isn’t expensive.)

For day-to-day stuff, you may be able to make do with a talented recent graduate or intern from the film department of a local college. If you have a very video-centric organization and a strong website, you can train your entire staff to do videos for fun and to build community.

The post How to make cause marketing video that doesn’t suck appeared first on Socialbrite.

How your nonprofit can capture the best stories on camera

Target audience: Nonprofits, NGOs, cause organizations, social enterprises, brands, educators, video producers, Web publishers, storytellers, individuals.

This is part 2 of a two-part series on video storytelling. Also see part 1:
• How to find amazing, powerful stories for your nonprofit video

By Lindsay Oberst
Socialbrite staff

Stories are a great tool, which nonprofits too often don’t take advantage of. Whether you’re running a campaign or conveying your organization’s mission by spotlighting the people you help, you should be thinking about how to find stories that move people to action.

Once you uncover those stories, it can be hard to get people to tell them on camera and to get the details needed to make an awesome, powerful story. But by following the suggestions below, you can come away with great visual stories that should resonate with your community. And remember, a photo collage with a voiceover can be just as effective as a traditional video.

The following are tips from people who regularly make videos for social good, including Chris Yates of Huddle Productions, Cara Jones of Storytellers for Good, Tritia Pocci, who has created strategy for marketing media content, and Danielle Bernstein of Clear Films.

1Understand your goal. Think about what you want to accomplish with the video: Enlighten people about a cause? Move them to action? Don’t muddy it up with multiple missions. Have a plan.

2“Research, research, research,” Pocci said. Take the time to be inspired, know your subject and figure out what will work in your video.

3Keep it really simple. “Start with a simple storyline, get clear about the message you want to communicate and visualize the most concise way to convey this message through an interview beforehand,” Pocci said.

4 Don’t bring notes to the video session. This will help the person on camera feel more at ease and will cut down on distractions. “Subconsciously they’ll think they’re being interviewed and they’ll clam up,” Yates said. So just memorize a few key points that you want to cover. Adds Pocci: “Interviews can take on a life of their own, and sometimes that is where the magic happens.”

5Don’t have the person look directly at the camera if your subject will be sitting down. Place yourself to the left or right and have them look at you. This will help them feel more comfortable as they talk.

6Work with only a two-person crew: a videographer and an interviewer. “I generally start these conversations while the videographer is setting up and just have him or her tap me on the shoulder when the camera is rolling,” Jones said. But remember: You can be your own crew, too, and do a one-on-one interview.

7Use people who want to be on camera. “They are generally the most articulate and comfortable,” Jones said.

8For reluctant storytellers, Jones advises motivating them by providing them with a larger sense of purpose. “They may need to be reminded that by telling their story they can help the nonprofit raise funds or reach out to others in their shoes,” she said.

9Put them at ease — start the interview with a subject they feel comfortable talking about. “Even if it’s totally unrelated to the interview topic, this will help them get used to being on camera,” Jones said.

10Discuss sensitive subjects ahead of time. If you’re dealing with difficult subjects, talk beforehand to the person about what they feel comfortable talking about. “This instills a sense of trust and allows them to be prepared for difficult questions,” Jones said.

11Remind people that you have endless tape. “I always remind people that if they don’t like something they say they can start over again … and again,” Jones said. “If they are getting stuck on something, I find a different way to ask the question to put them more at ease.”

12Shoot some footage of them doing what they love to do. You can shoot them sitting down and talking with you, but you may want to break that up with shots of them doing instead of just talking — say, teaching a workshop, or working in a greenhouse.

13Look for the right chemistry. Sometimes the person with the story is not who you’d expect. Pocci cites the lead singer and lead guitarist from the hair band Poison. One has a sassy, gregarious, carefree personality, the other tends to the pensive, serious side. Which is better suited for your video?

14Spend time with people. Get to know them a bit better before you start in cold on an interview.

15Be confident. Steer the interview in the direction you want it to go. If the discussion meanders, pull it back to achieve what you want to accomplish.

16Show respect for the person telling their story. Be sure to thank them and let them know when it will appear online.

What tips do you have for getting people to tell stories?

Photo credits:
• Image at top by jsawkins
• 2nd Image by newmediaconsortium
• 3rd image by Repoort
• 4th image byDplanet::

Related

• Guide to shooting better online video (Socialbrite)

• 8 tips to help you shoot video like a pro (Socialbrite)

• 4 ways to tell a visual story for your nonprofit (Socialbrite)

• Mash up a visual story for your nonprofit (Socialbrite)

• A quick guide to multimedia software (Socialbrite)

• Complete guide to creating a video project (Socialbrite)

• More resources to help your organization create media (Socialbrite)

The post 16 tips for making video interviews come alive appeared first on Socialbrite.

Strategies for identifying stories that exemplify your organization’s mission

Target audience: Nonprofits, NGOs, cause organizations, social enterprises, brands, educators, video producers, Web publishers, storytellers, individuals.

Part 1 of a two-part series focused on using video to tell compelling stories. Also see part 2:
• 16 tips for making video interviews come alive

By Lindsay Oberst
Socialbrite staff

All too often, nonprofit organizations fail to take advantage of their greatest asset: stories.

Stories help us interact with our world and make sense of it. They link us together and shape our view of the world. Nonprofits, however, often miss the stories that surround them; the stories that can help them raise more funding, expand awareness of their cause and reach their goals.

Rob Wu is the creator of CauseVox, a platform to help nonprofits raise funds. He believes that nonprofits are missing a huge opportunity in stories.

“Generally, nonprofits use some level of storytelling but not to the fullest,” Wu said in an email. “The nonprofits that use stories in a meaningful way craft an overarching narrative of their organization and supporting stories that compel their audiences to action. Often, I hear nonprofits talk about fundraising strategies or a communications plan, but seldom do they talk about a storytelling strategy.”

Using stories is something that nonprofits can do in many areas of their work, yet videos are a particularly powerful tool. Especially considering that U.S. Internet viewers watch almost 20 hours of online video per month, according to statistics released in June.

Video storytelling draws us in by appealing to our emotions — a faraway woman with big eyes telling us about the children she can barely feed or the excitable entrepreneur full of passion for his idea. And then if done properly, video stories cause people to take action.

If your nonprofit wants to make use of stories, how can you take a step back and find the right stories that support the causes that matter to you? Here are three steps you can take to discover amazing, powerful stories to use in your own videos:

Be open to telling stories

Storytellers for Good

1When stories are part of daily work, people work in a different way. They start asking questions and listening to people more deeply.

Cara Jones founded Storytellers for Good as a platform for telling and promoting stories of people who are making a positive difference. She believes nonprofits should create a storytelling culture in the work place.

“This will have an inspirational impact on all involved,” Jones said by email.

If you want to find stories, you’ve got to weave them into your business model, always seeking them out with a method to collect them.

On the Causevox blog, Jones gives the following tips, which can help nonprofits pay attention to stories:

• Hold a monthly event where you gather your employees to share inspiring stories.
• Create an organizational story bank to record these stories.

Danielle Bernstein created Clear Films, an independent production company dedicated to social change. She also encourages the nonprofits she works with to think about the stories that surround their missions.

She carries a camera with her most of the time. With the rise of easy, handy video cameras, it’s possible for all nonprofits to equip someone on their team with a video camera.

Another thing you can do is to stimulate your creativity by watching other great videos. (Here are eight great examples of nonprofit video storytelling.)

When your nonprofit opens itself to stories, it welcomes great work even with limited resources. But you have to find the right stories that people can relate to.

Look for a story people can identify with

2As you begin to see stories around you, you’ll notice how our stories all contain common threads. Keep yourself aware of the stories that appeal to your personal emotions in some way. These stories are often can be used by nonprofits to make a difference.

“The stories that rise to the top for video purposes will be emotionally compelling,” Jones said.

“Without emotion, without that feeling, people just don’t get inspired,” Chris Yates said in a phone interview. He created Huddle Productions, which combines social media and video.

Sparking inspiration with your videos is important. However, the best videos — the ones that inspire people to act — go further and create a feeling of hope. Tragedy and transformation are key components that work well in nonprofit videos. Both of these can inspire hope when the story has a positive aspect to it.

Bernstein talked about the importance of uplifting stories. If people are going to take action after watching a video story, they need to believe that change is possible.

Pinpointing individuals is also critical. “It’s about trusting when you connect with people,” Bernstein said. “There’s always something even with different cultures.”

The charity:water campaign for clean water in Haiti.

charity: water is a wonderful example of a nonprofit using specific stories to support their efforts to bring clean water to people in developing nations. They have a section on their blog devoted to individual stories “from the field” and “from the office.” Also, they highlight stories in their videos. For example, their water campaign for Haiti uses the story of one of their workers to frame the need for help in Haiti.

As Yates said, “You’ve got to make it personal. Nobody really feels sympathy for a brand.”

Be patient and the stories will surface

3The best stories aren’t always the ones that jump out at you. Sometimes the real stories are the ones you only notice after interacting with people several times.

“It’s about taking the time to be where you need to be,” Bernstein said. “And then spending the time you need to spend.”

Yates doesn’t believe in forcing the story. He doesn’t go into an interview with specific questions. Instead, he allows the story to surface from the conversation.

“The best stories are the answers,” he said. “It’s not my story, it’s their story.”

Humans have always communicated using stories. Some stories are hundreds of years old and are still used to teach and inform people today.

How is your nonprofit organization incorporating stories into its strategy? Have you used stories in your video campaigns? Tell us in the comments below!

Coming in Part 2: Tips for getting people to tell stories on camera

PHOTO AT TOP BY Rae Allen

Related

• Use video to get to heart of your organization’s story: An interview with Cara Jones (Socialbrite)

• 8 great examples of nonprofit storytelling (Socialbrite)

• How nonprofits should be using visual storytelling (Socialbrite)

• Articles on how nonprofits can create media (Socialbrite)

The post How to find amazing, powerful stories for your nonprofit video appeared first on Socialbrite.

Guest post by Melissa Nelson
Media Production and Outreach Manager, Blackbaud

Video is a great way to engage constituents in your mission. It adds a visual element to what might be an otherwise text heavy email, blog, or website. Supporters react to hearing and seeing real people talking about issues or an organization’s mission coming to life with visual examples.

A video that actually empowers constituents to take action and interact with your organization is key to a conversational video.

First, think through the four basic steps:

1. Set the tone
2. Convey real purpose
3. Define the need
4. Inspire supporters

Then you can think holistically about the content and how your video can create conversation.

Asking for feedback is a great place to start. In your video, send an invitation for ideas and welcome feedback by asking open ended questions. Bring your viewers closer to your mission by asking them to contribute content or respond to a question. Make it easy for viewers to leave a comment. Take it a step further by interacting yourself; responding to comments makes it even more interactive.

Feedback can also come in the form of video conversations. Invite your constituents to respond with videos of their own, appear directly in your video to offer feedback, or even create their own edited video in response.

Include links back to your website in your video. A video should be a way of giving enough information to entertain and spark interest — while leaving the viewer wanting more. Reference your website graphically — and mention where a viewer can learn more, register to volunteer, or help your organization’s mission financially.

Make your videos clickable. Add interactive annotation layers to videos, and invite others to add them as well. YouTube’s annotation feature is an interactive layer of clickable text boxes. The key is to annotate with a call to action at the end of the video directing viewers to your website. Then, at the conclusion of the video, they’ll find it easy to learn more about your organization and can spend time exploring your site.

Another aspect of YouTube’s annotation feature is the community, which enables constituents to add annotations as well, thus furthering the conversation. Encourage viewers to add their own thoughts and references to your videos via annotations.

Promote your video in a variety of social media channels. If your video lives on YouTube, for example, shorten that link and share it on Facebook and Twitter, then encourage supporters to continue to grow the conversation.

Post on multiple video sharing sites. While YouTube may be the largest, there are many other video hosting sites, including Vimeo and Blip.tv. Search those out and monitor them for comments. (Use TubeMogul to upload to multiple sites at once.)

Take advantage of tagging options when you upload your video. Use at least three different tags; as a rule of thumb, choose one industry category and at least two tags to describe the content of the video. YouTube is the second largest search engine, so adding tags will help your video appear in a search.

Invoke feelings that make the viewer want to react. Include a place on your website where they can respond while watching the video. This way, they never have to stop the video or leave the site to leave a comment. Include a stream alongside the video player for discussion. For live video, Ustream.tv and Livestream.com offer a chat and social stream next to the video player.

Let’s be honest: if your video content is not something people want to watch, they won’t respond. It’s all about raising awareness and getting people involved in your mission. Start off with a good foundation and consider these tips when engaging constituents.

The post How to make your nonprofit video more social appeared first on Socialbrite.