Your Message Makes ALL The Difference

It’s time to film an entirely new video from scratch. But where do you begin? Do you start by setting up your project folders in your editing software? Do you grab the camera and wing it, knowing you’ll figure it out later? Or do you drive around town to find the perfect location for your epic shoot? Before we can even think about editing, gear, or locations, we need to nail down something that is foundational to everything else: the message. Your message is critical to your shoot, because it will impact all of your decisions going forward. 

Is your message more of a statement, much like a Presidential Address? If so, a single camera, talking head style video may be sufficient. Will there be dialogue between two or more people? This will call for more light, more mics, and potentially additional cameras. Maybe you’re aiming for more of a commercial with b-roll and a voiceover. Each of these video styles require different resources, locations, and preparation.

That is why it is imperative to know your message before anything else. So, how do you craft the right message? Let’s break down three simple, but important, questions that will help develop your story and choose the right process. Once these three questions are answered, the ‘how’ will reveal itself.

Critical Question #1 - Who is your audience?

The first thing we need to do is to describe your viewer. I used the word ‘describe’ intentionally because we really have to get specific here. It’s not enough to say that your message is for anyone and everyone who wants to watch it. The truth is, if you create a video for everyone, you create a video for no one.

Having come from the sales world, we used the phrase ‘Ideal Client Profile’ (ICP) to describe our prospective buyers and would capture as many details as possible so that we could build tailored presentations that spoke directly to the needs and pain points of the individual prospect. You’re going to do the same here by identifying your ICP, or in this case, Ideal Viewer Profile, and build your entire message around this one person. So what characteristics are you looking for? Here are a few questions that will get your mind on the right track:

• What challenges are they facing related to your message?
• What have they tried already?
• Where do the majority of your viewers consume video content?
• Are they looking for a quick fix, or a long-term solution?

Now this list is not all encompassing, but it should help you better understand how to address the things that are most important to your audience. Let’s use a real life example. I’d like to create a general welcome video for my website. With that in mind, my Ideal Viewer Profile may look something like this:

This message is for those who are new to video and don’t know where to start. You’re frustrated because your smartphone videos just don’t seem to match the production quality that you’re seeing online. Maybe you’ve been asked to help run social media at your local church because you have a creative side, but there’s no budget for gear. Or perhaps you work for a small company with no marketing team, and you’re just trying to fill the gap until your team expands. Either way, you don’t have the time, the funds, or frankly the need to enroll in film school. You just need some help that will last. If any of this sounds like you, you’ve come to the right place.

Critical Question #2 - Why should they care?

Once you’ve accurately described your Ideal Viewer Profile, you’ll need to address another fundamental question: What’s in it for them? In other words, why should they care about what it is you have to tell them? If you did a good job completing your homework with question #1, answering this should be obvious! They care because you have the solution to their problem!

Okay, if it’s so obvious, why am I calling this out as a critical question of its own? That part is less obvious. Theodore Roosevelt is credited for saying, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” By answering this question honestly, you will be able to tailor the voice of your message to your viewer. Is your message one of empathy? Encouragement? Criticism? Praise? 

Another way to look at this, is by ‘sitting in the pain’ with your viewer - letting them know you’ve been there too and have discovered a way to victory. Let’s see how that might play out with my welcome video example…

Hey friend, it wasn’t long ago that I was in your shoes navigating the ocean of YouTube in a desperate attempt to create professional-looking video with limited gear and even less experience. I have always been captivated by the magic of the big screen, but even more perplexed when I discovered the same illusions coming from home editing setups, and it became my mission to reverse-engineer the creative process and develop a roadmap for those who wish to do the same.

You can see how I become much more relatable because I know what it feels like to be frustrated and overwhelmed starting out in video. As a result, I’ve made it my goal to eliminate that discouragement for others. (Side note: The paragraph above comes directly from my ‘6 Steps to Building Better Video’ guide that you can download for free - hint, hint - at guidedproductions.com/bettervideoguide).

Critical Question #3 - What do they need to do or know?

Now that you know who your message is for, and why they should care about it, it’s time to give it to them! Be clear and concise here. There is no need to overcomplicate things and quite honestly, you can stick with the most elementary of storytelling frameworks: Beginning, Middle, End. Put another way, you’ll start with an introduction, highlight a few key points, then wrap it all up with a conclusion. As basic as it may seem, this is the most effective way to communicate a message through video because it’s easy to follow and allows you to reinforce certain points throughout.

In college, I had a class called Professional Selling. One assignment involved delivering a short speech to the class using this same framework, but with one additional piece of advice: 

1. Tell them what you’re going to say - intro
2. Say it - body
3. Tell them what you said - conclusion

It really is that simple. Just be sure you provide clear instructions if your message ends with a call to action (aka you want your audience to do something after the video). This could be anything from asking your viewer to comment on your video, it could be to download a free resource from your website, or maybe it’s even asking them to support you by making a purchase. Either way, make this crystal clear so that the viewer knows what they need to do next.

Now, rather than script out my whole welcome video as an example, use some creativity to develop your message based on everything discussed above. If you need some inspiration, check out any of my videos on YouTube. Now that you know my super secret formula, you’ll never view my videos the same way again!

Putting it All Together

Alrighty. You know exactly the person your message will be written for. You know the impact it will have on them and why they should care to listen. And of course, you now know what it is you’re going to say. With that information, you should be able to easily identified which video delivery style is most appropriate from the list below:

1. The Presidential Address - talking head video
2. The Interview - dialogue between two or more people
3. The Commercial - b-roll with a voiceover

Going back to my welcome video example above, this will be a talking head video as most of my videos are. I’ll be delivering a message to a single person, but only to help validate that they’ve come to the right place should they fit my description.

One last thing before you go… I love editing videos. It’s my favorite part in the entire pre-production, production, and post-production process. But I don’t shortcut the writing process just so that I can get to editing faster. You may love to write and you may hate to write. Either way, your message is the most fundamental component of your video upon which all else is built. Do the extra work now, and you’ll thank yourself later.

Until next time… go make something amazing!