Video used properly is the most powerful medium we have available to us. It can communicate values, emotions and sometimes even difficult concepts to viewers.
The problem is, in the corporate arena, very often video is used badly.
A case in point would be Lucy's (above) video. I mean no offense or disrespect to Lucy and her business, but her video presentation is one among many that show a misunderstanding about what video can do well and what it can't.
Lucy's video is essentially a block of bullet text (which is nearly impossible to read due to its small size) and a presenter delivering what amounts to another block of text. Text is an excellent medium for delivering large amounts of information that can be rapidly interrogated and prioritised by your customer. Text, in its traditional forms, truly works. However when presented in a video, it can very often hinder a viewer from getting the information they seek as they're forced to watch from beginning to end.
Used in conjunction with printed/web based information, video is extremely powerful.
Video is most effective as a persuasive medium. Consider how often you've seen an advert that gives you technical specification of a product beyond one or two key values. In fact some of the most effective advertising tells us nothing at all about the product itself (consider the recent Cadburys Dairy Milk ads for example).
One further thing - never underestimate your potential customers' ability to smell the cheese. We are all constantly surrounded by advertising, on TV, on billboards, in magazines, on the internet, on packaging, on our clothes etc. etc. Media has reached an extraordinary level of sophistication and your viewers are instinctively attuned to this level of sophistication. People are not easily fooled by video, should it fail to reach their expectations they are likely to be at best dismissive and at worst suspicious.
My advice to General Johnson would be to first consider what it is that you want your video to do, then consider whether you feel a video is truly the best means of achieving this.
As for presenting it yourself - I'd strongly recommend against anyone trying to deliver to camera. Despite the fact we'd all love to give it a go, TV presenting is extremely difficult to do well. There are however some very effective alternatives: Consider having a professional come and interview you. Interviews create a much more natural experience for both you (the contributor) and the viewer, as you're not pretending to be something you're not. The interview could be intercut with footage of your business activities and edited into a documentary style format that would be interesting and engaging for your viewers. Customer testimonial interviews are especially effective when done well.
Hope that helps.
what would your advise be on this area???
