October 11, 2012

What Is Your Video Style?

photo by Shawn St. Peter – click for info

This is a guest post by Monica McCarthy.

Videos are like Manolo Blahniks. Everyone wants them, they take some getting used to, and they can turn the ho-hum into the simply fabulous (dah-ling).

More importantly, well-crafted videos can do wonders to help you share your story with your audience. The key is finding the right type of video for you and your business.

Keep in mind the goal of any engaging video is to be:

A. Informative

OR

B. Entertaining

OR

C. Both

Thus it makes sense the most common implementation of videos these days is the weekly Q & A. These are fantastic, but they aren’t the only way you can use video to help share your message.

All video formats aren’t created equal. How you should incorporate videos depends on your type of product or service.

For example:

If you’re showcasing something tangible

Anything from baked goods to jewelry to painting to knitting goes under this category. If you can taste it, touch it, smell it, or feel it, you want your audience to be able to imagine they are right there with you.

One great way to do this is to let the audience in on the process like this video my team made for Butter + Love, a local cookie company.

Or give a How-To demonstration dictating step-by-step instructions in an easy to follow format. Remember this guy?

If you’re showcasing an idea

Ideas are a little trickier to express in videos than things, but when done well, these videos can become the most powerful tools for engaging your audience.

Generally speaking, you’ll want to add some sort of visual element, in addition to simply talking to the camera.

Graphics are imperative for more complex ideas like in this video, The Crisis of Credit.

Or you can create a simple visual narrative to express your message like this video from my three-month trip to Southeast Asia.

If you’re showcasing a service

Whether you’re a business coach or a nutritionist or a lawyer, videos are an ideal way to connect with your ideal clients.

These videos need to be as relatable as possible. Personal and client success stories are effective ways to do this. The audience wants to understand how their life will be improved after working with you and why you are the perfect person for the job.

This video my team created for Michelle Ward, the When I Grow Up Coach, does just that.

And this video from former client and wellness warrior, Jessica Ainscough, beautifully depicts a day in the life.

The most important thing to remember is there is no one way to do them. You don’t need to invest in expensive equipment or pretend to take on a persona that isn’t innately YOU.

With some forethought, creativity, and practice, you’ll be on your fancy feet and strutting your stuff.

Now it’s your turn in the spotlight! What videos have you seen that are clearly informative, educational, or both? How can you incorporate these ideas for your own videos? I’d love to hear your answers as well as any questions you may have in the comments below!

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Monica McCarthy has over a decade of experience on camera as a professional actress in both Los Angeles and New York City. She recently opened her own boutique production company to help entrepreneurs, artists, coaches, and business owners create engaging videos for their websites. You can find her at ShowandTellStories.com and tweeting away @MissMMcCarthy. Her 6-week online course, Close-Up & Personal, is guaranteed to get you on-camera ready and starts October 21.

Filed Under: Buy You, For You Tagged With: , , Leave a Comment
July 25, 2012

The Art of Storytelling: Start With the Heart

“Tell Your Story” by alana in love – click for info

This is a guest post by Tiffany Silverberg.

When you are telling your brand’s story, start strong to engage your readers until the end. Consider the last time you picked up a novel or went to the movies. If the beginning didn’t hook you, chances are you left the book behind just a few pages in or left the theater feeling jilted and unsatisfied.

A good start plops you in the middle of the action.

Don’t make your reader search through a sea of words to find the point. Get to it. Place your main point, your thesis statement, your hook, at the beginning. In this way, you will not only grab hold of readers, you will touch even wayward readers with the key point.

Usually, you need to turn the story upside down.

Most tell their brand story by starting with the problem. Cancer, unemployment, illness, boredom – dominate the first paragraphs of most about pages. But as a buyer, when you go to a page of rainbows and yellow umbrellas, and find yourself in the midst of a paragraph about clouds and raindrops, chances are great you will close the window before you get to the point.

Give us a peek into the positive transformation.

Let’s go back to that novel or movie. You probably approached it at the recommendation of a trusted story that gave you a synopsis. “It’s about a girl who overcame all her fears.” “It’s about a guy’s determination to win a game.” If the recommendation only included “Her life was as lost as a rain-soaked kitten” or “It didn’t seem he could accomplish anything” – the negativity would have kept you far away.

Tell us up front what mountain you climbed, what you created, who you’ve become, and how your brand brought you there. Explore the negativity after the positive has won our hearts.

- – -
Tiffany Silverberg is Navy wife and foodie with an independent streak. As a freelance writer, she brings years of journalism and language experience to non-profits, businesses, and families, telling their stories online and offline. You can visit her website at tiffanysilverberg.com and find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Filed Under: Buy You, For You Tagged With: , , 1 Comment
April 6, 2012

cultivate your story

This is a guest post by Victoria Prozan McGlinn.

The warm breezes of spring are here to herald in new seasons of growth and possibility. Ahhh. As the brown remnants of winter become obscured by the fresh greens and pinks and yellows and whites, take time to consider how we can mirror this rebirth in our own lives.

We all have a story. We actually have many stories. The story of who we are. The story of what we do and what we want. The story of how we got to this moment in our lives. The story of what limits us. Humans communicate through storytelling. The well spun tale is one of the most powerful tools we people carry. It’s how we grow, learn, and explore. It’s crucial to our world.

What happens when those stories, our stories, hold us back instead of propel us forward? What happens when we get stuck in our story? The assumption we make is that these scripts are 100% correct each and every time we recite them, without fail.

Wait, what? They’re not? Sometimes, not.

I got stuck in my story of being a Designer and Maker.

Those capital letters on the titles were my trap. Let me explain.

As a lifelong crafter, raised by parents who also were makers, I decided to pursue making as my life’s ambition. To strengthen my skills, I completed a graphic design degree. I worked hard to earn that degree and after years of investing my time, energy, and money, I launched my business. I was officially a Designer! I screen printed my original designs on paper goods and textiles, mostly the latter. Tea towels, pillows, table runners, note cards and prints. I love making. I love designing. This was the path to the life I had always wanted. Or so I told myself.

As time passed, I could feel something wasn’t quite right. I enjoyed most aspects of what I was doing, but nothing ever felt in sync. I assumed it was because I wasn’t pushing myself enough. I just needed to get over the next hurdle (there is away a next hurdle) and then all would flow in harmony. No matter how I pushed or pulled or manipulated myself, that nagging feeling never waned. I’m a confident and capable designer, I was receiving lots of encouraging feedback, but there was always the wonder of what was missing. It just wasn’t adding up.

I began to unravel my ball of yarn. Many of the pieces and parts were right. Design? Love it, check. Making? Love it, check. Business? Love it, check. Motivation? Um, I’m not sure, I’ll have to get back to you on that.

I began to admit to myself my motivations were out of whack with my authentic self.

I was trying to be a Designer and a Maker (there’s those pesky capital letters again) when what I really wanted was to be a designer and maker.

What’s the difference? The means vs. the ends. My ego wanted my designs be my thing, but only if I got lots of external praise and appreciation. My inner vision wanted helping people to grow to be my thing, with no strings attached. My ambition to be a cool kid designer was not my authentic self. My internal “should” following this path was messing with my program, big time. I was more focused on what I was creating than why I was creating it.

When I was able to see that being a Designer was just a story I told myself over and over, I began to rewrite my story. My focus shifted from my business supporting my design and making to design and making supporting my business.

I pulled in more parts of me. I could see that my years of client relations experience was a valuable strength that I had discounted through yet another story I convinced myself to believe. All of me would be required to make my goals. I now use the entirety of my skills and talents in the pursuit of an even bigger passion of mine. To demonstrate that interconnectedness and empathy in our business and personal lives will create a kinder, more just world.

I dropped my tunnel vision by realizing my design skills and creative talents are the engine that will drive my authentic voice to where I am needed.

So I have a new story. One rooted in soul searching and authentic offerings.

Whatever story you write, read, and believe for yourself, challenge it to be sure it’s true.

And if you find your stories aren’t supporting you in the everyday and in the big picture, craft new ones.

Spring is a time for change. Use the energy of the season to weed out the discord and pain, then plant new seeds of hope, ambition, and kindness.

Plant with love.

- – -

victoria prozan mcglinnVictoria Prozan McGlinn knows imagination is your superpower. Through it, creativity and empathy are born. She works with businesses to elevate empathy as tool of unlimited change. Find more about her mission here. Say hi on Twitter or Facebook and then unleash your imagination!

Filed Under: guest posts, Plot Notes Tagged With: , , , , , , , 2 Comments
June 7, 2011

what’s your story?

This is a guest post by Brandy Walker.

Sturm and Drang leather book by TheBlackSpotBooks

For some time now, I’ve been obsessed with the power of Story.

I’m talking magnetic, raw, life-changing power. The kind of power that takes your breath away and leaves you flushed. It can bring a grown man to his knees and make a little girl giggle with delight. And the most fascinating thing is that each of us possesses our own little piece of this power.

Everyone has a story.

Sadly, most of it goes untapped. We’ll use 10% of our story, and bury the rest – convinced that no one really cares.

But they do! And to demonstrate, I’ll use a pithy little anecdote from last week.

My family and I lived out of hotels all last month. My husband joined the Army this past fall and just got orders for his first duty station. The entire journey – from broken down cars to not getting paid – has been an uphill battle. To top it off, I’m pregnant, which, as you can imagine, makes everything just a tad more difficult (mostly because I’m stubborn and loathe having to ask for help with our luggage every couple of days when we have to switch hotels and my husband is at work and I can’t lift the suitcases by myself).

Last Wednesday, I had a mini-meltdown. After finding out that we wouldn’t be able to get into our new place for yet another couple of days, and that the movers with all of our furniture wouldn’t be able to come for days after that – I burst into tears. To console myself, I waddled over to the coffee shop across the street. My eyes were still red when it was my turn to order.

“How are you today, ma’am?” Asked the pleasant barista.

I hesitated, faltered, and realized I was incapable of offering the standard, “Fine, how are you?”

“I’m awful! Heh, I’m sure you don’t care,” I self-deprecated, “But life’s too short and the day has been too crappy for niceties. My family and I just moved here and we’ve been living out of hotels for the past month. It’s just been one thing after another, you know?”

She smiled apologetically and took my order. Her kind face eased my pain somehow. I realized that, actually, she did care. She handled me a bag with the cake pop I had ordered. When I found a table, I peeked inside. To my surprise, there were two!

That simple gesture affected me deeply. I had shared a piece of myself with a stranger, and she had used her resources to make my day a little brighter. That’s power. And that’s what I hope to be about every day. It is the heart of my business.

At my core, I am a dreamer. And my current dream is to harness the power of story and use it to fight modern slavery, earn a living for myself, and teach people from all walks of life how to do the same (and hopefully much more). With my blog as my main platform and words as my tools of choice, I know I have ventured down an exciting rabbit hole.

So tell me, what’s your story?

Brandy Walker is a writer, a speaker, a spoken word artist and a modern day abolitionist. She is fascinated with living a life that truly sparkles and wants to inspire others to do the same. She blogs at brandyglows.com and tweets at @brandyglows.

Filed Under: guest posts Tagged With: , , , , 12 Comments
June 7, 2011

show & tell: what’s your loose tooth?

print by myzoetrope – click image for more info

When my sister was a little kid, she could always find a reason to share during show and tell. It went something like this:

Week 1: I have a loose tooth. Look how I can wiggle it with my tongue!
Week 2: I lost my tooth! And here it is. Look!
Week 3: Here’s the quarter the tooth fairy brought me for my tooth.
Week 4: I bought this plastic tiger with my tooth fairy money!

That’s a lot of press over one loose tooth.

She was a tiny PR machine, making the most out of every story. Sure, she liked the attention of standing up in front of the class, but she was also genuinely excited about what was going on in her little world and wanted to share it.

What’s going on in your little world? When someone asks you what’s new or what you are up to, do you light up at talking about your “loose tooth?”

Oftentimes we dread these questions. We mumble out a response downplaying what’s truly going on. We think our audience, the asker, won’t be into what we have to say. We sell ourselves short.

Tables turned: consider show and tell. Find the excitement in what’s going on in your life or business, regardless of whether you think it sounds impressive or not.

Enthusiasm is impressive.

And it changes the script. Watch:

“Well, just trying to get through the days now that baby #2 is here. I’m falling behind in my business and ready for a decent night of sleep.”

These statements may feel true, but they are laden with a case of the blahs. Shift your thoughts. Turn on the enthusiasm switch and you get something like this:

“It’s true, I’m zonked! We all are. But we’re learning how to balance with two, and I so appreciate the time I had before to work on my business. I’m really looking forward to getting into a routine so I can dive back in. I miss it!”

No sugar coating here, but plenty of enthusiasm. Which gal would you rather hang out with? Or buy from?

When you think and speak from a place of enthusiasm, you do right by yourself and your audience.

Right now, today, what are you proud of?

What are you excited about? And how can you tweak your script? I’d love for you to show and tell in the comments below.

Best,

Filed Under: Buy You, For You, creating action Tagged With: , , , 9 Comments