Making Your Video Interesting
Now that you have a plan and a producer, how do you make your video interesting? There are a few ways, but the most important and most effective is to tell a story, and this applies to any video, whether it’s a blockbuster movie or an introduction to a startup.
Telling a story is the best way to keep someone interested. This doesn’t mean you need to have something plotted out intricately, in fact, that would make things overly complex. A simple story is all that’s required, and it doesn’t have to be spoken, it can be told through visuals alone.
For example, showing how your product is made or how you deliver your service should be told as a story. It’s obvious, yes, but taking the time to consider the order your video should play out is important for retaining viewers.
The easiest way to do this is just to go through your routine. If you make something it’s really easy, because you can show it from raw materials to finished product, but if you offer a service it can be more difficult.
It’s not too hard though, just a matter of sitting down and thinking about it. Say you offer a web design service. It probably won’t grab a viewer’s attention to watch lines of code building the site, but you can show a meeting with a client, planning ideas, choosing colours and styles, a little coding, the final site and someone using it.
If you wanted something a bit different to that style, you still need to tell a story. Advertisements on TV are always better when they do that. There’s a good reason people remember the classic Renault Clio ads – ‘Papa and Nicole’ told a story to the viewer, and this drew them closer to the product.
Is that Vincent Cassel?
Even the more abstract Guinness Surfers ad told a story, and entirely through visuals. It’s the key ingredient in audience retention and brand recognition for video.
Storytelling can, and should, be applied to any style of video. A tutorial is a story in some sense, because it takes the viewer through a series of steps. The ending is them learning something.
Testimonials can start with a general point ‘That company are great at what they do’. This acts as a tease for the viewer, who will think ‘What do they do, how do they do it so well, what did they do to impress this person?’ This tease grabs their interest and then you can answer their questions over the next minute or two.
The simplest way to explain storytelling then, is to tease – don’t reveal everything at the start – then slowly reveal. This can be through visuals, conversation, interview, anything. If it tells a story it will be interesting enough to engage an audience. It’s that simple.
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