Have you seen this video yet?


Over 5 million people have already watched it on YouTube and it's not surprising. It's got spirit, warmth, it makes you feel good and it's for a good cause. A wonderful mix of elements to fuel its popularity. Best of all, it's done by a non-profit for not a lot of money (thanks to Elaine Fogel at MarketingProfs Daily Fix for calling this out).

But I'm left wanting more. Clearly the video is intended to generate Breast Cancer awareness. That's great, but where's the link to help people who have an urge to act when they're done watching? How about a visual at the end that says we do this to support Breast Cancer, what do you do? Do you want to help? To find our more, visit any of these websites.

If you've ever wondered about appearing to exploit good will by including that kind of appeal in one of your videos, remember there's a big difference between exploitation and explanation. People do want to help and explaining how they can do that makes sense in that context.

Why stop there? There are other possibilities for utilizing the video footage. What's the "backstory" on how this all came about? Interestingly, ABC World News did their own story on this and filled in the pieces. For example, there is the story about the manufacturer who came up with the idea for the pink gloves and is now donating the proceeds from those glove sales to fund mammograms for women who can't afford them.  And how did Providence St Vincent's get involved? All we know is they decided to join in. There must be more to this story than that.

I'd also repackage the Providence video and include some of the outtakes where it didn't go just right the first time, sprinkle in a few quick soundbites with participants about why they're participating, maybe even their anxieties about dancing (as expressed in the ABC story). Another great video that would additionally showcase the humanity and spirit of that medical center. Hey, if I lived in Providence I'd want to make sure they were my hospital based on what their video conveys.

So here's a question for you? What other stories are lurking around the outtakes from your last video production that you can use to capture human interest, caring, ingenuity, a sense of humor or further product or service value?

There's never been a better time to tell a good business story. And you probably have a lot of them waiting to be told.

This may be the year of Twitter but it's also the year of video. Well-known bloggers blog about it, professional journals dedicate whole issues to the topic and even Nielsen monitors the meteoric growth of online video. Yes, indeed, video is the killer app.

Maybe you've already started posting videos to YouTube, sprinkled them into your website or are using them as vehicles to distribute FAQ's and CEO conversations. Great, as long as you avoid a fatal mistake when you produce your videos: don't make them longer than five minutes. Go even shorter if possible.

Don't believe me? Think about it. You're asking very busy people, with limited attention spans and lots and lots of content options, to spend their valuable time watching your videos. Whether they're employees or customers, there's a good possibility they are now watching your video on a teeny-weeny smartphone screen. Even with larger laptop screen real estate, it's still a time commitment to sit and watch for longer than five minutes, uninterrupted. And, no offense, you're probably not offering them the kind of entertainment value that will sustain 10 minutes of their time.

Want more proof? Eighteen of the top 20 viral videos on Unruly Media's Viral Video Chart this week clock in at less than five minutes. In fact, over the past week that I've tracked their daily Top 20 video list, 27 out of the 30 Top Viral Videos ran less than five minutes. Obviously, this isn't the reason these videos became viral hit wonders, but it is an interesting common denominator nonetheless.

But what do you do if you need to go over that five-minute threshold? Maybe you have a 27-minute conference video you need to post on your website, so now what? Here are two solutions, one a little more involved than the other:

• Edit the tape into shorter clips according to content. For example, a short video highlighting a  customer testimonial, the CEO spelling out his vision, a partner talking about a Go-To-Market strategy. You can edit them in-house quite easily or use a local production house which can do the edits quickly and inexpensively
  
• Simply give a brief bulleted list online of viewing times when these significant moments occur, i.e., @1:25 into the tape CEO delivers vision, @ 4:32 Partner X talks about GTM strategy, etc. This approach will at least enable your viewers to fast-forward to the sections that interest them.
  

Video is a powerful communications tool. It engages, it connects, it immerses, if you don't enage in overkill . To that end, here's one of the best pieces of advice I learned early on in my producer career:  always leave them wanting more.

There's never been a better time to tell a good, tight business story on video.

If attention is the critical step in generating awareness, then relevance is the giant magnet that keeps people attracted to, engaged and connected with your company, your product and stories.

Being relevant is another way of saying your content is meaningful and pertinent, which is no easy feat these days.  So, if you are lucky enough to grab someone's attention, can you hold onto them?

Yes, and one of the clues just might come from what's happening on the hyperlocal news scene.

You've seen the headlines. Hyperlocal and local are the new buzzwords, the new "it" kids on the uber hot web scene. While mainly focused on news initiatives, these developments are worth watching for any marketer and not just as another place to park  ad dollars.

Hyperlocal and local information are targeted at readers and viewers where they live, work, play. Mashable has a great piece with lots of specific examples but here's what it comes down to: hyperlocal is very specific information marrying social media and news that's often crowdsourced and valuable because it is so pertinent to people's lives. Little league scores. The latest gossip about a stalled recycling project. Perhaps not setting your chimes on fire but very interesting to the folks who live in those communities.

And that's the link to you if you're in marketing or public relations. Hyperlocal is about delivering relevant information. It's the boring weekly community newspaper suddenly alive and very timely. True, advertisers have been micro-targeting their messages for years, but with the addition of social media, you have more opportunities than ever to consistently hit the mark in what you say and how you say it.

So what are they doing in hyperlocal that just might be relevant for you?

• Timely - have you updated your website, included a new video comment from a pleased customer? Is your information fresh and current or the same for the past 3 months?
  
• Context - does your customer really care about a new business process if you're talking to them through a Facebook page?
  
• Crowdsourced - sure you can continue to use surveys but what about asking questions on Twitter so you get valuable feedback and input on what people really want to hear from you?
  
• Mashing it up - are you relying on only one form of media or are you looking at multiple avenues of reach through traditional and new media? Are you only posting videos on YouTube?
  
• Appointment media - have you built in enough motivation for people to consciously return to your content?  After all, that's all you can ask isn't it, to attract people and then hope they come back again and again? 

Here's the bottom line: the marketers who are going to succeed will need to more finely hone their mix of content with the context of where and how it gets delivered. So I'd keep watching what they do in hyperlocal for more clues on how you can engage through sustainable conversations.

What can a 40-year-old children's television program teach marketers? Plenty, especially when it comes to relevance. 

So today's post is brought to you by the letter "R" from the folks at Sesame Street.  They've kept their show relevant all of these years, even with increasing competition from video games, online activities and even new TV shows.

Let's see what the gang at Sesame Street did to reach their 40th anniversary with no signs of losing any steam.

1. Remain true to your vision.  Sesame Street's ongoing mission has been to educate kids and they've remained true to their endgoal. No new visions, no new mission statements. They may have tweaked their style and tools from time to time, but they have consistently remained true to their core.
2. Know your audience. The Sesame Street gang is designed to draw on multi-cultural experiences and engage an audience of children from diverse backgrounds. And they have continued to expand that universe of viewers with shows in all parts of the world and in multiple languages. Sesame Street messages translate globally. Sweet.
   
3. Create a shared experience. Their goal was always to involve parents, to have them share the learning experience with their children. And it's worked, helped along, no doubt, by the clever pop culture parodies and double play on words that adults enjoy as much as their kids.
4. Humanize your messages. Sesame Street created a winning formula to teach kids and keep them engaged by using real emotions including humor and empathy and curiosity, to name just a few. How different it would have all turned out had they used a more pedagogical approach and failed to talk to kids like kids.
5. Use technology to enhance your message. At Sesame Street, it's never been about using the latest technology just to use the latest technology. Rather, it's about the combination of video, live animation, real human characters and website to deliver the most meaningful experience for their audience. 

Last but not least, Sesame Street has created a generation of enduring fans who now watch the show with their kids (and grandkids in many cases). That's real staying power. That's timeless relevance. That's one helluva great marketing lesson.


There's never been a better time to tell a good business story. How do you keep yours relevant?

This one belongs in the what were they thinking category.

Kellogg is claiming their Cocoa Krispies cereal can help boost kids' immunity against the H1N1 virus. Yes, you read that right. Kellogg has taken the sugar-coated message and stretched it into new territory that defies description.

The message, on the front of the box, states: "Now helps support your child's IMMUNITY."

Critics, to no one's surprise, are in full battle mode, claiming the company is simply trying to capitalize on parents' H1N1 fears.

So, you have to wonder, what was going through the corporate brains at Kellogg when they came up with this message? Did they really think it would pass the test of credible and verifiable?

In their lame attempt at defending their message, Kellogg claims they developed the product in response to consumers asking for more positive nutrition. This includes boosting the amount of antioxidant vitamins A, C and E  which are important contributors to the body's immune capabilities.

Junk science? Probably. Junk messaging?  Most assuredly.

So what should we take away from this story?

1. Wanting to assert your relevance is a valid strategy but find a legitimate way to become a part of the conversation.
2. For every action, there is a reaction. Or to put it another way: your messages don't live in a vacuum. Strain credulity and suffer the consequences.
   
3. People infer other messages from the ones you put out. In this case, it might be that Kellogg is desperate to sell cereal.
   
4. You can't control your message after it's out there, but you sure can control it before it's out there.
   

What we'll never know is how this message idea got sold into management in the first place. Too bad they forgot there's no message re-do's when it comes to lack of credibility.

Your company is in a smackdown with a partner now turned competitor. Do your employees know how to handle the issue when asked? Are they telling customers one thing and saying another to bloggers or partners, analysts and on their own blogs?

Nothing can derail a company faster than inconsistency. The irony is you probably have the FAQ's that address how to delicately position all sorts of topics. The only problem is that most people haven't seen them or they are buried in their inbox.

Video is the solution. Put the FAQ on video. Have someone conversationally deliver the salient points that need to be addressed in those tricky scenarios. There are four compelling reasons to do so:

1. Humanizing Effect. How much easier to listen to someone deliver a conversational response than to read a three-paragraph answer that no one can be expected to remember.
2. Stand Out Factor:  The FAQ takes on a personality and moves beyond simply being a Word doc. 
3. Consistency Enforcer: If it's easier to use....and find.... it's easier to get people to properly address the issues
4. Credibility Check: Now there's no excuse not to hear how corporate-speak the answers sound.

Obviously what you don't want to do is to have the FAQ become a 15-minute production. Keep it short and sweet and it will become a FWV (Frequently Watched Video) and, more importantly, a critical tool in helping you maintain a consistent story.

For many companies, getting the CEO on TV is still a great opportunity to tell the company or product story. Unfortunately, these stories don't always have a happy ending.

One of the biggest mistakes that will torpedo a broadcast interview is not making your product immediately relevant for the audience. A recent example of this: Sir James Dyson, the debonair British inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, who was on the Today Show to pitch his newest creation - the bladeless fan.

To put it bluntly, Sir James blew it. Big time. He had two minutes of quality airtime with not one but three anchors. Even with their softball questions, he still didn't make the case for why anyone should pony up almost $300 for his new cool product. Instead of talking about enhanced safety features and cooling efficiencies, Dyson went the tech route, ignoring the anchors' blatant clues to take a more practical direction.



Sure, you can say Dyson obviously has an upscale audience in mind for his fan. But he was speaking to Middle ‘Merica on morning TV, where it's safe to assume the majority of those viewers are not the early adopter crowd. So, in my book, he failed.

Dyson's loss, however, is your gain. Here's what you can learn from his fail:

• Shiny new objects don't automatically translate into value without making that connection
  

• You can't fall in love with the Wow factor and forget to ask why anyone would buy your product

• Listen to the questions people ask– sometimes they offer up accurate clues for how to connect more effectively
  

The major takeaway from this story: speak your customer's language. It doesn't matter if we're talking about TV interviews or social media, the ability to connect your ideas and have them be relevant and meaningful for your audience is a must-have ability. Everything else is rapidly becoming table-stakes.

When was the last time you asked someone if they have seen or heard any good content lately?

You didn't need to think too long about your answer did you?

Let's face it, content is just another word for stuff. Information is stuff.  It is data, statistics and facts which are sterile, abstract and devoid of personality.

Content makes all of that creative "stuff" you're putting out there sound like a commodity. Nuts and bolts are a commodity. Seen one, seen 'em all. Not a whole lot of differentiation there.

But much of what we now collectively call content is different. At least it started out that way. When did movies, books and music become content? When Martin Scorcese spends two years of his life making a movie, do we really believe he's thinking of it as content? When Bruce Springsteen is in the studio laying down tracks for a new album, is he hearing content in his head? C'mon.

So why should any of us approach how we're communicating, creating and reaching out to establish relationships as simply a commodity play, a/k/a content? OK, not every effort can be a masterpiece of brilliance, insight or inspiration, but it better have more value than a bunch of nails.


So what's a marketer or PR practitioner to do? For starters, like any good marketers, let's spot an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade. The demand to generate content means there's more of it out there, so the chances of it being perceived as a commodity increase exponentially. But that also means your creative efforts have more of a chance to shine if you approach each effort as a do-or-die opportunity to create an immediate bond with your audience.  

Content becomes the aggregate of everything that's sitting on your website. But each individual effort remains special. Your stories, ebooks, webinars, podcasts and video interviews become more than just informational commodities. They make it or break it based on relevance, awe, moments of inspiration, challenge, emotional tugs, personality. Anything that will draw like a magnet. 

If you need inspiration for how to create magnets, here are a few suggestions. For how to write better copy or create a headline that screams read me, you'll want to check out copyblogger for some great advice on "headline fail." Do you need an incentive package to ramp up your overall creative output? Then be sure to check out Conversation Agent where Valeria Maltoni consistently gives excellent advice on putting more context and meaning into what you put "out there."

And if it's creative spark you're looking for when it comes to telling a better story,  you can't do better than listening to Don Hewitt, the man who invented the art of video storytelling with CBS' 60 Minutes. His advice: if you can get someone to say "I didn't know that" you've done your job. You've created more than content. You've created a memorable moment.

So what will you have? A moment or a page of content? A website with a side of personality or a content commodity play? How do you approach it? Do you think about it as content or a series of individual efforts? Is it about generating content or producing something of real value?

 Are you practicing one-armed marketing? Are you still waiting for the media to cover your story? Are you still banking on your PR firm to make the right connections to get that story covered or establish that all-important blogger relationship?

If your only strategy is to sit on the side lines and outsource your story to others, you are practicing marketing with one arm tied behind your back. This is a call to action for DIY story generation and distribution,

We all know the msm options are shrinking by the day. We also know the Internet is a big fat pipe with lots of distribution possibilities. So, why aren't more companies proactively taking charge of their storytelling?

Some enterprises are already doing that. You may have heard the news last week that the Los Angeles Kings hired a former sports reporter to write about the team on their web site. Reactions ranged from smart move to laments about the demise of objective journalism. The Kings aren't the first team to do this nor will they be the last. You want your team stories covered and the media options are scant, do it yourself. Kudos.

But for every Kings team there are other companies sitting passively on the sidelines waiting for someone else to tell their stories. I think the fear of needing to produce hard metrics and substantiate ROI has a lot to do with this. But I also know that, too often, there isn't a company process in place to generate the right kinds of stories that can be told directly on websites, Facebook pages and other social media options.

Where does your company weigh in on this? Do you need some incentives for where to find the right types of stories? Do you have a storytelling process in place?

Let's start the process by making it easier to create those stories. Stories can be more than hard news about product launches and company financial results. They can be more than interesting customer case studies. What if we re-brand the entire concept of story around Clay Shirky's idea of "creating a shared experience." What story possibilities does that open up? What experiences can you share based on best practices, customer insights, or even quirky, off-beat stories that showcase the human side of your company?

Need more incentive than that? Here are some suggestions for putting more process around DIY story generation:

• Hold a weekly story meeting with marketing, PR, customer intelligence and any other team members who can bring a mix of perspectives.
• Set a goal of five new story ideas per week and then assign people to develop them.
• Create a Wiki so folks can input their ideas to further develop stories. 
  
• Recognize that some people on the team are better storytellers than others and let them run with the ball. Others will be better at placing stories or listening to social media conversations. Don't have everyone doing the same thing.
• Think about ways you can repurpose a story, i.e., a customer case study that also could be told a different way on Facebook or as part of a CRM discussion.

Final but not to be overlooked point: the key to any good story is relevance. Please remember to always ask yourselves how and why your audience is going to find your story interesting and worthwhile. Their commitment to read or watch means they need that payoff in the end.

There's never been a better time to tell a good business story.

The word story is in serious need of a PR job. Its strategic role in business communications is often seriously undervalued by the C-suite and, on top of that, "story" suffers from multiple definition disorder.

Let's start with the multiple definitions.  I've heard executives ask "what's my story" when they really mean "what's my point of view" for the 65-slide PowerPoint they've been asked to present. Ask a proponent of "corporate storytelling" what it is and you could get the archetype and universal themes explanation, which is a tad too touchy-feely for those C-suite denizens. Talk to a reporter about "story" and you'll get yet another perspective on connecting the dots and putting things into context. And let us not forget that reporters often question what PR practitioners are thinking when they pitch their company's story.

To add more confusion, you say story and someone else says narrative. This one is easier to resolve if we think about both terms as essentially recounting or delivering a sequence of events.

So where does all of this take us? We need a more more multi-purpose definition of business storytelling, one that leads to more opportunities for narrative engagement with various publics. I propose borrowing liberally from Clay Shirky who talks about journalism as being "about more than the dissemination of news; it's about the creation of shared awareness." (italics mine). This is an amazingly helpful definition if you're in the business of getting your company's story out "there," anywhere. It helps us expand the concept of what a story is and how to tell it.

If you've seen any of David Meerman Scott's excellent video blog posts with GM executives, you'll quickly see how stories can evolve and play out. GM had the smarts to contact David after he wrote a blog post critical of them back in June. What resulted are several video interviews that demonstrate how sharing experiences and telling stories can humanize a company.




What impressed me about David's GM interviews is the conversational dynamic. No GM corporate pitches, no heavy-handed "messaging" and starched sound-bites. It's an authentic, shared exchange of ideas with some candid and critical self-appraisals. It's the way people talk to one another through social media and that, to me, is the larger story that plays out throughout all of David's GM conversations.

There's a reason I end all of my blog posts with the message that There has never been a better time to tell a good business story. I really do believe that the opportunities have never been greater for telling your story, regardless of the size of your company. It's the how you're going to tell it that's the key.

So how are you going to tell your next story? Can you expand your definition of what a story is? How will you create that shared experience with your audience?

Since I've received several requests for more information about how slick a company video should look, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a different angle on story slickness.

Stories that appear too polished and packaged, with extreme close-ups of speakers and over-use of music, will often deliver a very different message from the one you're hoping to communicate: inauthentic. Overly-produced videos run counter to the current social media environment and the pressure for companies to be more conversational in how they communicate.

Here's a healthcare video that's a good example of what we're talking about. Produced by a for-profit patient safety education company, it's one of a series of videos being sold to hospitals for staff education purposes as well as also running on YouTube. As you will quickly see, it's professionally produced and while the production values themselves are solid, I think they end up undermining the real impact of the message.



So what do you think? Does this feel like authentic storytelling to you? Would it have felt more genuine if the interviews didn't seem quite so staged? What about the music? Did it drive home the message or was it too sappy? And how about the length of the video? Did it hold you or would you have been more interested if it was about two minutes shorter?

Although this video is specifically targeted to hospital employees, it serves as a reminder of how a good story can quickly be undermined if you try to over-produce it. This was an emotional story with a compelling message. Unfortunately, I think the full impact was obscured by the way it was staged. Don't let the lure of video and the fun of using effects, music and camera angles get in the way of your message and the story that's transporting it to your viewers.

Love to hear your thoughts on this one.

There's never been a better time to tell a good business story.

Having a video that goes viral is at the top of many marketer's lists these days. And why not? A viral video is like the Energizer Bunny, it just keeps going and going.

How do you orchestrate one of these viral wonders? Can you make it happen? Can you create the right format and content and then just sit back and wait for the online acceleration?

In Part One of viral videos, we looked at the link between creating a hook and the desired state of "viraldom." Hooks are the secret sauce that fuel viral propagation. Hooks sustain viewer interest which can generate that precious Word of Mouth. I love the Samsung HD video challenge because it's got just the kind of hook that grabs you and doesn't let go until the last frame. Here, see for yourself why this one video has well over 1 million hits. Sweet.





AdAge has an interesting take on what Samsung did. They call it social video marketing and define it as the "use of video as the central organizing element for social interaction and storytelling online." And interactive it was, with boatloads of comments from people trying to figure it out.

Here's where this Samsung story gets even more interesting. Rather than stop with the initial video, Samsung then cleverly embedded some of those viewer comments into a follow-up making of video. Mashed-up digital storytelling and inventive. And, by the way, each of these visual narratives worked together to generate more eyeballs. Getting a case of viral envy yet?




An ad agency produced both of these Samsung videos. But, critically important to their success, they are not packaged as super-slick ads. They come across as more of a story and less like marketing material. Putting on my PR and journalism hats, I don't see any reason why PR couldn't be creating video stories like these and upload them to YouTube as well as the company website.

If you find the right one-two story punch, you can definitely amplify the WOM potential. In fact, you could also get an added boost from the media, eager to showcase their tech and product savvy with just these types of short video clips. AdAge jumped right on these videos. Why stop there?

With that in mind, here are a few take-away questions, particularly geared to my colleagues in PR, to get your creatives juices flowing as you gear up for the typical post-September new business promotional push.

• What types of stories can you create that put your product into the spotlight in an engaging way, beyond the typical customer testimonial or straightforward product demo?
  
• Can you identify at least two possible story hooks?
  
• Is there a follow-up video possibility to continue the storyline?
• How will video make this a better story?
  
• Can you think of two or three additional uses of your videos for sales, marketing or training that will help you make the ROI case stronger?
  

There's never been a better time to tell a good business story.

Can you pre-plan a story on video to go viral? Is it possible to create something with the sole purpose of making it one of the viral stars of the week or month?

The simple answer is no, you can't. It might seem that way if you look at highly successful viral marketing campaigns like the Will It Blend? series of videos that put Blendec's industrial-strength blenders on the map. With over 83 million views on YouTube, it's the stuff of marketing dreams.



What makes a video like Blendtech spread like wildfire online is a hook - a quintessential element of good storytelling. Hooks work because they are two-way, with you pulling in the audience and, most importantly, the audience then sinking their teeth into your story because you've sustained their interest. Viral and hooks go hand in hand.

In the case of Blendtech, it's the element of surprise where we can't resist sending someone else the video with the CEO in a lab coat who's grinding up all of this weird stuff in a blender . Other times, it can be a how did they do that? hook that sucks us in by challenging our skill and intellect.


This Samsung camera trick has captured a huge YouTube following because it's different, compelling and it really does hook you. It's very well-done and you want others to see it as well. Over 750,000 people viewed this video because it's clever and that's noteworthy because hooks are more than gimmicks that simply beckon and then disappoint.

Hooks must be part of a sustainable storyline if they are going to work. Both the Blendtech and Samsung videos are successful because they do maintain your interest. In addition, they have a few other creative features working in their favor.

• Both videos use show-and-tell as a storytelling motif but they've added elements of fun, challenge and surprise
• Both videos showcase the product, you see them in action and they have starring roles, not easily done without appearing to sell outright
• Both videos are under three minutes which is just enough time to ask for a viewing commitment and not overstay your welcome
  

In Part Two of Going Viral, we'll take a closer look at how you can sustain the viral momentum once you've got that enviable word-of-mouth going.

There's never been a better time to tell a good business story.

When you're producing a story on video, how slick should it look? Do you need to spend big money to produce it? Should you bring in a professional crew with high-def gear, lights and gels or should you do it yourself with a hand-held and go for the more natural touch?

These are all great questions to pursue and they are starting to come up with greater frequency as PR and marketing teams begin to experiment more with digital storytelling.

So which is it? Well, the answer depends in part on who your target audience is, the size of your budget (naturally) as well as the type of story you're telling. But, I'll tell you from experience, that if you're going for authentic storytelling, you can never go wrong with a more natural, less super-produced look and feel.

Here, have a look for yourself at these two different approaches to the same story.


Two very different storytelling styles. One of these videos is nothing but stand-up, the other is pure voice-over. One is obviously a corporate production and the other is, well, not sure. It appears to be amateur but who knows. (We'll touch on that issue another day.)

Back to today's storyline: Which of these videos engaged you more? Which one seemed more interesting to watch, fun, something you'd be inclined to socialize (ah, the magic word) with someone else? BTW, if the last (longer) video looks familiar, that's because I featured it in a previous post to point out the challenges inherent in capturing the wow factor of a new technology for an audience.

Do you have time to stick around for one more example?
Lest you think that it's obvious you should never do another story with anyone on camera for the entire time, let's look at one more example. This time, it's still about a soda dispenser, but with a different look and approach to telling the story.


So, a few key take-aways for you to ponder:

• Let the technology be an actor in the story, not just a prop
  
• Keep stand-up on-camera moments shorter
  
• Have your on-camera storyteller be actively engaged with the technology
• Delivery is important.... delivery is important... delivery is important
  
• Try your next few videos in-house, shoot for a more casual feel and go hand-held and you'll have the right mix for a desirable outcome: more engaging and authentic
  

There's never been a better time to tell a good business story...your story.

One of the questions I hear repeatedly from PR and marketing folks is how to find a business story that's not just the run of the mill product announcement or customer testimonial.

It's a great topic to explore because with the ubiquity of cool video tools like Flip and the iPhone 3GS camera, there's an even more compelling need to differentiate your stories and give them some personality and hooks. It's a theme I've beat the drum for in other posts here.

Sometimes we can find the inspiration to tell different kinds of stories by looking at other stories. And those story clues aren't always in the most logical of places.

Case in point: msnbc.com's Elkhart Project, which is a year-long look at the impact of the recession as seen through the eyes of the people of Elkhart, Indiana (and their cows, horses and other denizens).


OK, you're thinking, that's nice. But???? So here's why you might be interested: the producers have done an excellent job of taking a national story and making it personal and immediately relevant to everyone. That's good storytelling. And the story structure is creative - blogs, slideshows, videos, print stories. A great 2.0 mash-up using basic and digital tools. Compelling storytelling. And clues, lots of them, for you to morph.

What if you gave a video camera to one of your customers and had them document, for six months or a year, how they're solving a problem using your technology/product/service? What if you gave them a few cameras and had their employees tell their stories using your stuff? What if you gave several customers cameras and let them loose and then mixed up their stories with some of your stories? What kinds of stories could you create?

We're not talking about Speilberg-quality cinema. Go hand-held, think YouTube. Think 2-minute stories, not just talking heads extolling the virtues of your product. Think original, creative, real, not polished.

There's never been a better time to tell a business story.

I'm sure the gentleman showcasing the Freestyle is a stand-up guy. And that's the problem for the viewer. He's standing up for far too long, about two and a half minutes too long. Even if this video was produced as a training video, there are some important take-aways about how to create an interesting story on video:

1. Keep the video to 1:30 minutes. Remember this is the Age of Twitter and ADD.
2. If you've got sexy technology, show people using it and having fun with it.
3. Put an intro at the top so your video has more reach. For example, what if Steve from BSquared had simply said, "have you ever wanted a diet vanilla cherry coke instead of just a can of coke?"

Video is a great storytelling medium. So think story, action, viewer engagement and you'll generate more interest and hopefully eyeballs.

Taking some time off and will pick up the conversation in a few weeks. So please make sure to stop by again.

Sometimes you know going into a conversation that you've got a tough topic to explain. Maybe it's a complex subject that will take some time to unravel. Or maybe it's a new category of product your company is introducing but the media and Wall Street will seek existing categories to describe it for you.

You need a handle. More specifically, your audience will need a handle on how to interpret and position what you're saying.

You've probably heard the expression help me get a handle on this. It's a familiar metaphor people use when they need help in understanding something. Handles are essential tools to use in interviews and conversations because they give people the ability to quickly internalize your ideas in familiar ways.

Here's a good example: President Obama, in unveiling his financial overhaul program, referred to it as the "rules of the road." That's a handle. In spite of the obvious complexity of this governmental regulation, you get immediately what he's after. More importantly, so did the media covering his comments. It gave them an easy handle on how to categorize or position it.

Reporters crave handles because it makes their jobs easier. As a matter of fact, given all of the information that we ingest daily, who wouldn't want a handle to latch on to quickly?

So let's look more closely at handles. They can be metaphors like give me a hand with this or their heads are spinning. Or they can be well-known categories that help people position your ideas into something they already understand like public safety or public relations or productivity software.

What all good handles have in common is a minimal use of familiar words that open the door for your audience to quickly grasp what you're saying. In other words, they demystify and position at the same time.

Obama is masterful at using handles. While talking to the Wall Street Journal he framed his administration's approach as "a light touch" to immediately create a stark contrast to detractors who say he's meddling. Turns out his "light touch" was the right touch because, sure enough, it ended up in the headline. That's a successful handle and it only took him two words.

Obviously Obama's team pre-planned that one. And that's the key to successfully helping your listeners get a handle. So, to that end, here are a few quick pointers to get your creative juices pumping for your next tricky conversation:

1. Adjectives - "light" touch. Is there an adjective that can help you sell an idea? Adjectives can act as powerful handles.
   
2. Metaphors - what's your equivalent of "rules of the road" to explain a new corporate policy?
3. Categories - can you use an existing label or category to position your new product or policy before the press or your audience do it for you?

In case you're wondering, handles also make handy-dandy soundbites because they are short, colorful and they can quickly open the door to your listener's mind.

Is it ever a good strategy to let your audience figure out what you mean when you're answering a question?

Simple answer: No.

Case in point: Bank of America Chief Ken Lewis' testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday. When asked if the Fed or Treasury Department pressured the bank to acquire Merrill Lynch, Lewis said "it was difficult to find the exact right word... it's just best to describe it and let people come to (their own) conclusions."

Wrong answer. It's never a good strategy to let people come to their own conclusions. People will fill in the words for you. In this case, the word is pressured, the very word Lewis did not want to give them. Interestingly, I've yet to see anyone attribute the word pressure in a direct quote from Lewis yet headlines and news accounts are reporting just that.

Cynics would say Lewis knew exactly what he was doing. He didn't want to offend Fed or Treasury officials so he let House members and the press do his dirty work for him by reporting that he was pressured.

That might well be. But if you happened to be watching TV yesterday when the hearings were taking place or if you just read one of the news accounts, you might have a very different reaction.

Lewis sounded like he was trying to dodge the issue. No accountability. He sounded like he was waffling by saying he couldn't come up with the right word. Is that credible? Is it possible no one on his PR team thought to prep him on the answer to this question? Probably not.

Here's the bottom line: if you're ever in the situation where someone asks you a pointed or loaded question, you shouldn't repeat their language but at least give them something. Maybe the word we're looking for here is nuance.

Simple is tough to do. It's one of life's ironies that the art of simplifying a complex idea into a crisp thought is anything but simple.

It's also ironic that business leaders often insist on making things sound complicated because they're convinced it makes them sound smarter.

If you work for one of these executives or you happen to be an executive of that persuasion, please purchase a copy of Alan Webber's Rules of Thumb and flip to Rule#34: Simplicity is the new currency.

Webber has compiled a list of 52 rules culled from his days as co-founder of Fast Company and other points in his life. The book is a great read, but for the sake of simplicity, we'll stay focused on his 34th rule about simplicity.

It's hardly a new idea but Webber's timing is of the moment since the ability to keep it simple is more in demand than ever. Simplicity is the antidote to a world overflowing with complexity. There's power in mastering the art of making things simple. Customers want solutions that make their lives easier. And who doesn't want complex ideas demystified and stripped down into 15-second chunks of information? Better yet, can you say it in 140 characters?

So where do you start? How can you perfect the art of simplifying without sounding too simple? How about a few easy steps to explore the potential rewards of being able to say more with less?

• Slim down your email so it fits in the subject header (this makes an interesting team exercise, btw)
  
• Cut to the chase with voicemail messages no longer than 30 seconds
• Practice 45-second responses during a weekly staff meeting (also a great benchmark for any executive answering a question)
• Don't add that one extra word to your messaging document or next press release

Look at it this way. If simplicity is the new currency at least you'll have some money in the bank while the other currency is still in short supply.

There's been a lot of speculation of late about whether NPR will save the news and become the future of mainstream media.

Since NPR's listener numbers are climbing, they are obviously doing something right. One example is their mastery in telling stories. And it's all the more fascinating because NPR is radio, the medium without video, that offers such rich lessons in how to package and tell stories with personality and style.

Their Planet Money series is an excellent example in how to take a complex wonky topic like collateralized debt obligations and make it not only understandable but enjoyable to listen to and want to learn more. That's tough to do without pictures to simplify the topic.

NPR also excels in letting people tell their own stories. Listeners tune in because people bond over stories, sharing life's challenges, obstacles overcome and the joys of success in business and in their lives. Whether it's an interview with a newsmaker or a farmer who bet his 401K on the farm, people talking to other people drives much of how they tell their stories.

Final point worth mentioning: NPR is also creating a community by letting listeners mix up their own podcasts as a further means of extending their reach and keeping them involved.

Here's how what NPR is doing can help you. Do you have someone on your team who can take a complex business topic and make it interesting? Can you do it as a podcast or a video on your website? Can you get a few customers together to talk about a common business challenge and videotape it for your website? Can you edit their conversations into 2-minute audio or video clips? Could you ask some of your customers to submit their own stories to share on your website?

NPR's formula proves that if you tell good stories people will come and hopefully stick around.

Video is a powerful communications tool with enormous potential for corporate storytelling IF you think about it as a story and not content.

That's right, you can't use the word content and story in the same sentence. Content sounds dispassionate and clinical. Content is marketing collateral and one-way messaging. Content isn't conversational. People don't sit around and talk about content on Facebook or when they're watching or sharing YouTube videos.

But people do watch stories and they listen to them. They relate to them and share them and perhaps even make them a part of their own life stories. Stories are one of the earliest forms of mash-ups. It's the way humans communicate.

You don't even need fancy video gear to tell a good story. One of the cool little handhelds like the Flip or Sony cameras will more than suffice. But what you do need is a reason for the video story in the first place.

So what are some legitimate ways you can incorporate video into your PR and marketing efforts?

Let's assume you've already got your CEO and other execs as talking heads on a YouTube video or on your website. What are a few other easy possibilities for engaging your audiences?

For starters, you can give your product to a customer and have them document how they're using it in a video story. Ford, in this example, gave one of their cars to a couple who are blogging about their Wedding Road Trip. Problem is there is no accompanying video of them riding around in their new shiny Ford Fusion. Missed opportunity which hopefully will soon be rectified.

What's great about this kind of a story is that it's different than the typical customer testimonial. In this story the Ford Focus is an element in someone else's story. So even though Ford gave the car to the couple for obvious reasons it still becomes part of a fun adventure.

Here's a great example of a short video interview with a group of teens talking about the future of TV which is making the rounds on YouTube as well as several blogs.



The idea here is simple: you can easily extrapolate a similar secnario by having someone or a group of someones talk about something of interest to your customers. It could be a trend or a common business problem. It can be cross-generational, cross-industry, crossing B with C marketing. Maybe it involves your product or service and then, again, maybe it doesn't. But it does involve your brand because you've created the opportunity to share this story of interest.

There are many different ways to create stories but the key behind the successful ones is they engage because they are relevant and interesting and feel authentic. It's not that difficult. Companies can tell authentic stories. The trick is in how you create, package and tell them.

I specifically singled out these two previous examples to show that story ideas are all around you. You don't need to look at what other companies are doing. Just start thinking what stories you can tell instead of thinking content. Real stories told by real people. And video is the perfect medium to deliver that experience.

There will be more about telling stories relevant in future posts. In the meantime, please let me know what areas you're most interested in exploring.

It's rare that you hear a TV reporter waxing rhapsodic over an interview subject's performance. But that's exactly what CNBC's Jim Goldman was doing after his first sit-down with Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz.

Bartz plays to her unofficial brand moniker "hurricane" quite well. And what got Goldman all goose-bumpy was Bartz' refusal to take his bait on the inevitable Google question. She just leaned in and firmly told him "excuse me" before taking the ball and running with it. Take a look at her answer here at Valleywag.

Well done for her. She comes across as fiercely confident, authentic, no-nonsense and not someone who's trying to smooth talk over an issue. WYSIWYG. How refreshing.

Of course, for every action there is a reaction. Some may find Bartz too brash, too arrogant, especially after learning that she also dropped the f-bomb in another interview.

I suspect Bartz doesn't really care if a few people didn't like her style. After all, she got her message across loud and clear, didn't she? In all probability, that's why she sat down with Goldman in the first place.

Obviously not every CEO can or should try the aggressive routine in their next live TV interview. Just because it worked for Bartz doesn't mean it's going to work for every other executive. What does work is candor.

The larger message here? Bartz knew what she wanted before the camera went on. What do you want out of your CEO's next interview and how are you going to get it?

Business leaders are forced more than ever to balance a number of tricky decisions and difficult choices. Let's hope one of them is not whether they should emphasize their business acumen at the expense of their communication skills.

The idea that communication skills are soft skills and not critical to the bottom line is not a new one, but it's topical because the subject has resurfaced again.

New York Times columnist David Brooks brought the issue up by trumpeting research that CEO's who are resolute, relentless and efficiency-driven make better leaders than those who are more empathic and understanding. In other words, CEO's whose strengths are left-brain analytical and less right-brain verbal are better for the business.

Harvard Business blogger Jeff Kehoe thinks Brooks' contention is ridiculous and takes him dead-on in The Age of the Both/And CEO. It's a good read and Kehoe's bottom line is that it's "irresponsible to suggest that effective communication skills and empathy are anything but more crucial." More importantly, he makes the point that one set of skills should not come at the expense of the other, a point I resoundingly reinforce.

In fact, isn't it time to say enough already? Painting communication skills as the corporate equivalent of kumbaya with listening tours and nodding heads is just dead wrong. On any given day, CEO's are tackling shrinking profits, shrinking staff, eroding customer confidence, global competition and regulatory restrictions, just for starters. Wouldn't it be an asset to have a commander who can communicate about those issues, not around them, in a clear, concise, conversational approach?

The sweet-spot all CEO's should be aiming for is that critical intersection where they marry their communication strengths with their business savvy to make sense of their metrics and business drivers. Leaders would do well to explain more about the implications of their vision and strategy. What are the implications for our employees if we do this well? What are the implications if we don't do this? For customers, here's what this means. For shareholders, here's why this all makes sense.

We've got a commander-in-chief in the White House who is proving that people do respond positively and confidently to a leader who knows how to communicate. Building on that idea, maybe we should think about replacing the CEO title with a new one - Chief Making Sense Of It All Officer.