Video : Old School vs New School?

A guest post.

Last week, I conducted my first workshop on video communications called “Leveraging Video for Social Change” for NetSquared at Affinity Lab. My presentation was geared towards nonprofits, but my aim was that it would be useful for product developers and small businesses as well. I covered a lot of ground in my 45 minutes, including five reasons all nonprofits should be doing video, my seven types of video formats, plus some simple do’s and don’ts. We ended by watching a few short videos and discussing their content and presentation.

Because I have a traditional journalism background (newspaper reporter) and because online video audiences have short attention spans, my central thesis was that the principles of newswriting apply to video. Every piece of organizational communications needs the 5 W’s (who, what, where, when, why) in some form to truly be effective. They needn’t be spelled out in a direct or even heavy-handed way, but the information needs to be there because that’s what the viewer cares about – why is this important to me.”

What are everyone’s thoughts on the essentials of video communications?

Greg Roth is an independent communications and creative professional in Washington DC. He is the Founder and Owner of Percy Group Communications, specializing in helping nonprofits and small businesses create more engaging content. To learn more, visit www.Percy-Group.com.