When creating content for events, you get one shot connect
What was the last event you went to, whether internal or external, that used video in a way you really remembered? That really captured your attention, gave you goosebumps? I really hope the answer is more positive than I think it may be…
Let’s be honest, it’s easy for event content to be all flash and no bang. Content looks cool, but it’s forgettable. There’s a sea of illuminated faces in the crowd as phones come out… There was a perfect opportunity to set your stall out, land that killer message. Connect with the audience.
How can we capture attention, land the message and ultimately drive action?
Communicating human to human
Remember, the content we’re producing is speaking to a person, just like you. They’re trying to solve a problem, advance their career, or make a difference. The opening video for your event is THE moment to make a connection, grab their attention and communicate human to human.
Ok but how do we go about doing this? Consider these top tips:
Understand your audience
We mentioned the importance of understanding audience in a previous email – have a look at the 5W technique – and when looking for the human story, audience understanding is even more important. Once we know more about our audience, we can more deeply understand their hopes, fears, dreams and anxieties.
Find the human story in your messaging
There’s far more to it than ‘sell more stuff’ or ‘be better managers’. What does ‘selling more stuff’ unlock? What’s the human lens you can put on it by using words like enabling, empowering, owning and inspiring? What human problem are you solving? How can you make your message resonate and really mean something?
Tell an honest story
Do you have a customer/stakeholder who’d be up for getting involved? Can someone tell you what your audience is enabling? Can they see the human impact of what’s at stake if they don’t act? Hearing from a customer/client who has their life changed because of what your audience has done is incredibly powerful.
It doesn’t stop there!
Finally, turn the mirror back on yourself – does the message you’re crafting resonate with you? Share it with colleagues, friends and family – what’s their response?
When we produced the opening video for Adobe’s International Women’s Day event, we knew that a film where parents interview their young children was going to be risky, but we knew we’d nailed the human connection when our client told us there were laughs, tears and applause in the room when it played! If you’d like any more information about event content, get in touch!