5 Steps to Creating a Memorable and Effective Company Video

Corporate video.

Those two words might as well be substituted by other equally exciting pairings such as root canal, boring lecture, or chalkboard nails.

Most companies just need a creative, like yourself, to take some initiative. I currently hold the title of ‘corporate sales trainer’ at my organization, yet part of my job description now includes making monthly video productions for trainings, meetings, and even company parties. It’s a great way to express my creativity, get paid to do it, and create a corporate culture of honor, respect, and professionalism.

Corporate company videos are valuable tools that leave your audience feeling educated, appreciated, and (fingers crossed) entertained. Here’s a few steps to consider before diving into your first video project.

1. Focus it. During the planning stage ask yourself ‘what do I want the viewer to feel when they watch this.’ Educated? Inspired? Appreciated? These emotionally connective words help you form your mission statement for the video. Meeting with one or two other employees for a brainstorming session may also prove helpful.
2. Mission it. Write a mission statement for the project. Here’s a sample: the purpose of the company holiday party video is to show appreciation for each employee by featuring each department in an upbeat, entertaining format.
3. Shoot it. With mission statement in hand, write two shot lists. The first list is chronological; it starts with the beginning of the video and works to the end, shot by shot. Next, compile a second list from the first list to determine the shooting order. Note: shooting scenes out of actual sequence can save much time and effort. Now it’s time to shoot it. You’ll need to make your fellow employees comfortable when you’re shooting it. Compliment and encourage!
4. Edit it. Use a simple program like Apple’s iMovie or Window’s Movie Maker to compile the clips. Editing should take a while as it’s generally a several step process. The first edit is simply to remove all the bum clips and order the video chronologically. The second edit further hones the video by making needed cuts for clarity and pacing. The third edit introduces music, if needed, transitions, titles, and end credits for a polished finish.
5. Critique it. Show the finished product to some trusted employees and/or your superior. Ask them for input. Take the criticism and make the needed changes. Remember, after working on this project over time there may be things that you may not even see or notice that are glaringly evident to a first time viewer.

I volunteered to make my first company video several years ago using my own camera, computer, and time. After my boss viewed it, he was so pleased that he provided me with all the equipment I needed to produce other videos for the company on a regular basis. Now, it’s a regular part of what I do, and it’s quite enjoyable.

What about you? Does your company have a need for your creative talents?

Why not go for it?

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Fuel for Creatives: Ideation (Part 1 of 3)

My wife got me thinking. It’s one of her gifts.We chat about her skin care line, Sugared Beauty, and sire some some ideas for the fall season.

I come alive.

Last week, an executive of a multi-million dollar company asked me for some ideas for his business. A new plan emerges from the brainstorming session.

I come alive.

I sit down to a blank computer screen to write a silly little story using a kit called The Writer’s Toolbox.

I come alive.

Are you the same way? Do you love coming up with new ideas, fresh perspectives, and that movie-plot twist on a hum-drum, same-story approach to life and business that put’s you on a thrill ride at Six Flags?

If you’re reading this you are. There’s a word for idea generation: ideation. (Spell check just told me that word doesn’t exist. You’re behind the times Mr. Spell Check.)

As creatives, ideation is the starting point, the spring board, the appetizer to sharing ourselves, via our creative expressions, with the world.

A bit of boldness: that unbirthed idea, the one that you have that just needs to be unearthed, may change the your home. Your community. Heck, it may change the entire world. That is why it is so imperative to get your idea out.

It must be shared.

What if…

• Your idea saves a business and thousands of jobs.
• Your painting changes the way people see the world.
• Your parable resonates with people, metamorphosing them into believers.

It all starts with that idea. We’ll chat about part two and part three of this creative fuel process later this week. Hint: part two doesn’t involve fear. Just sayin’.

What change can you bring today with your gift of creativity? To your kids, your business, your spouse?

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Read Fuel For Creatives: Creative Freedom (Part 2 of 3)

Two Sides of the Communication Coin

 “After all is said and done, more is said than done.” Well said Mr. Aesop Fables.

OK, so here’s the big secret. . .

I do not enjoy talking.

If you’re with me, stand up and say . . . nothing! Yeah, you know who you are. You’re the person at a party who does a lot of listening. How do they know us? By ‘they’ I mean the people who see us as walking ears.

Problem #1: I majored in speech communications and vocal music.

Problem #2: Virtually everything I have done in the ‘make a buck’ compartment of my life has had something to do with speaking.

Although I don’t love talking, I love communicating. Big difference between mere chatter and actual communication.

I love seeing that moment of connection when mutual understanding, energy, and clarity takes preeminence over just the sound of rambling words. Communicators, like myself, may not love to talk, but we do love to convey ideas, plant seeds, and foster freedom that brings a change in someone else. We also love sharing mutually in a gentle tennis match of ideation, synergy, and positive consequence.

True communication. True connection.

Lady Gaga + Warren Buffett = Tips for Business Artists

She is hanging from a chandelier, covered in stage blood, dressed in. . . what is that?Welcome to my brain when I first saw Lady Gaga perform on an awards show several years ago. I looked over at my wife, who’s also a business artist like myself, and noticed her jaw in a similarly dropped state.Warren Buffett. Ever heard of him? Well, apparently he’s a big-wig businessman, although he doesn’t consider himself one. “I am not a businessman. I am an artist,” Buffett once confessed. A wealthy artist at that: he’s worth over $47 billion according to Forbes. Some say his net worth is over $60 billion. That’s a lot or ‘illions’ either way.

We may not all be aiming to net illions with an ‘m’ or a ‘b,’ but I think we can all agree that creativity must thrive and breathe in everything we do. That said, here’s some tips brought about by inspirations of Gaga and Buffett, the unlikely dynamic duo.

Tips for Business Artists:

• Be passionate and sell what you’re selling unapologeticly. Whether products, services, or consultative information.
• Be confident and convey your love for what you do. Your prospect will only buy it if you do first.
• Grab attention and don’t let up.
• No limits. Pandora’s box what? There is no box. Let ‘er fly kiddo.
• Keep creating, reinventing, and work. I could rant on this, but I already did: creativity might be painful work. That’s why it’s called ‘work.’ Get to work, and then don’t stop. Ever.
• Don’t be afraid of what people think of your beliefs.

Now go. Do. Create. Enjoy. Share.