Focus on the story - How to Create Stand out Video Scribe

Once upon a time

First things first. Your scribe needs to tell a story. It's the best way to give your audience a sense of who you are as an organisation or what you're about as a person.

In her book Resonate, Nancy Duarte says:

'Creating desire in the audience, and then showing how your ideas fill that desire, moves

people to adopt your perspective. This is the heart of a story.' 

It is your story that will allow your scribe to rise above the multitude or get through to the teenagers in your classroom. The internet is teaming with video. 100 hours are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Six billion hours are watched on YouTube every month.

What you need is a hook, a USP, a little je ne sais quoi.

An amazing discovery or fact? A problem posed then solved? Or how about a hero?


Example - hold out for a hero

If you think about it, almost every famous story follows this structure:

1. Take one likeable hero
2. Present the hero with a challenge
3. Show them overcome their challenge and emerge transformed

Your hero might be your customer. You could focus on the problems she - let's call her
Penelope - faced before she knew about your product or service. Just look how different
life is for Penelope now!


Or your hero might be Brains in IT. He recognised the key challenge you faced as an organisation and here's how he helped you conquer it. It's the story of his 'eureka!' moment.

As a teacher, your hero might be Alexander Fleming or Ian Fleming or Victor Fleming or your students themselves.

Just make sure you give your audience a beginning, middle and end - and of course, all the important stuff in between

Shout about what makes you special

So once you have your hero, you'll need a plot. We'll look at the art of scripting , but here are some important points to consider in your initial brainstorms.

The most important thing is to make your audience part of the story - like Penelope or Brains or Mr Fleming's protégés in your classroom.


Answer their questions 'what's in it for me?' and 'why should I bother?' as soon as possible. Otherwise they'll switch off. Pronto.

Unless what your business does is very niche, it may take a little bit of digging to define
your unique selling point (USP). But it can be the difference between mediocrity and magnificence.

And even if you're not scribing for business purposes, you still need to explain why your message needs to be heard. Or why the viewer shouldn't go back to those seriously cute kitten videos he was watching earlier.

It may be that you are the best at something obvious - value, quality or customer service - in which case, congratulations! You have a clear USP to shout from the rooftops

If it takes a little more thought, here are a few handy hints for a gleaming USP:

• Research your target audience and decide what their major motivators are likely to
be. Imagine what your typical customer might look like and try to speak to them with your videos.
• Find out what makes customers choose your products rather than your competitors.
Emphasise those characteristics in your video.
• Visit your competitors' sites and go through the process of buying their products
or services. Check industry forums, read reviews and ask around. What do people find irritating? What fails to meet their expectations? Make sure you meet those needs. Do it better - and advertise the fact.
• Write down all of the things that are important to you as a business. Keep cutting
the list down until you are left with your core values. Then define your
promise and make it your slogan. Proclaim it loud and clear. And deliver.


Call your audience to action

Finally, you'll want to make it crystal clear what you want people to do after watching your scribe video.

It's a cruel reality, but most people don't bother following up on things they've watched.
They'll move on to that video of a dog riding an elephant or switch the kettle on or answer the door