#AwesomeStorytelling – Share Your Passion With Videos
One of the most effective ways to get your audience on board with your passion is by making great storytelling videos. With social media giants like Facebook and Instagram pushing video content, now’s the time to connect visually with your viewers.
How do you do that?
With awesome storytelling, of course!
An infomercial will turn off your readers, but a compelling story will keep them hooked. Stories are great ways to teach, engage with, and create emotional responses in your audience.
You don’t have to sit in front of the camera and talk for ten minutes. As a matter of fact, that can actually be detrimental to your video’s success. Instead, incorporate other visuals that help tell your story. You can use regular things like slides, but also consider recording additional footage that enforces your story. This is called B-Roll, and it’s wonderful. If your passion is horses and horse rescue, showing B-Roll footage of horses running at dawn, or the recovery efforts of a recent rescue can lend power to your voice.
Here is a fantastic video by filmographer Peter McKinnon on how to incorporate B-Roll in your video. Some key takeaways are to use your B-Roll to help tell your story, think about how your world is a part of your passion, and use it to make your story more powerful.
If you’re camera shy, you can develop videos that incorporate B-Roll, slides, and more with a voiceover by you.
You can also take advantage of platforms and the way they push videos. Instagram Stories, for instance is a great way to show your daily passion through video. Jesse Driftwood is an excellent Instagram Stories user, and he gives some incredible tips on how to take your storytelling to the next level. Keep in mind that Instagram Stories are temporary, but you can create the video with whatever software you choose and then upload it, so your Stories stay with you. You can release them on other platforms, as well, but the daily connection with your passion can be told through daily footage, excitement for your day, and, as Jesse says, by making everyday things in your life a “character”.
Whatever way you decide to tell your story, make sure you keep these key point in mind:
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A story has a beginning, middle, and end. Whether it’s ten minutes on YouTube or fifteen seconds on Instagram Stories, you need to follow this logic. A cliffhanger now and then is okay, but do it too often, and your audience will become exasperated.
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Music is necessary. Make sure you adjust the volume levels appropriately, and that the music fits the story you tell.
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Shoot video footage with as much stabilization as possible. There is nothing more jarring than shaky cameras. There are some amazing phone and camera mounts out there. If you create “selfie” types of videos, make sure you have three points of contact with the stick and you’ll see a huge difference in the shakiness factor. You can also try a stabilization system like steadicam or any other type of gimbal device. Basically, it uses counterweights to keep your video steady so you can walk, talk, and without the jarring stepping motions.
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Put your best foot forward. In video, appearances are just as important as content. So make sure you’re camera ready before you begin.
That’s it for video storytelling! What kind of video did you want to make? Are there any areas you’d like me to expand on?
Remember that telling your passion in the form of storytelling is just one way to be awesome in storytelling.
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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.
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#BeAwesome, live video, video, Video Marketing, Video Recording
