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creating scripts. Your message will need to resonate
with the viewer to hold their attention. This will be
true for instructional videos as much as beauty vlogs
or advertorials. Take the demographics into account,
of course, but think outside of stereotypes. If your
video is related to automotive repair, the message
should be for people who have an interest in automo-
tive repair without an assumption that the audience
is primarily men or speaking directly to men. Also,
never assume anything about the audience’s compre-
hension level based on demographics. No one likes
to be talked down to and they will quickly turn their
attention elsewhere.
Overlooking the Call To Action—CTA—is a com-
mon mistake to avoid. There are advertorials out there
that fail to say how to buy the products they’re tout-
ing. If you’re not certain what the CTA should be for
your video, refer back to the true purpose you’ve de-
fined. For example, when the goal is audience growth,
channel hosts end every video with something like
“thanks for watching, click below to join our fans and
share this video with your friends!” In educational
videos, there may be post-video instructions for a quiz
or encouragement to go put the new information to
good use in the world.Be intentional with everything else
Once you have honed the actual message, you can
apply this strategy to other areas of production, too.
Everything from backgrounds to lighting should
be a consideration. Even the clothing choices and
hairstyles can lend credibility to your message. They
can also be so distracting that viewers talk about
that instead of the content. Any music selections—or
choosing to not use music—can reinforce the purpose
or take away from it. If your video is for commercial
purposes, be sure to get releases on any music or other
artwork shown. The best producers and directors are
experts at this skill. You’ll find that everything on
their sets is intentional, from the lighting style to the
color of the walls. Each detail pulls in a thread that
lends merit and prevents distractions.
Keeping the set clean is a good policy in any pro-
duction. It’s obviously easier to stay organized in awell-maintained workspace. It also helps ensure that
there are no accidental coffee cups in the background
or anything else that could be distracting. Keep the
on-camera and off-camera environments as separate
as possible. Instill this habit early and enforce it with
stagehands, camera crew, actors, delivery personnel
and anyone else who will be in the vicinity.
During filming, you’ll want the cameras to re-
main focused on what’s important. B-roll cameras
should do this, as well. Your shot lists and story-
boards are the best tools to set this expectation dur-
ing pre-production. Each frame should help convey
the overall message. Shooting from different angles
and zooming in or out at the right time adds a layer
of experience for the viewer. These layers of expe-
rience can be good or bad so choose your camera
moves wisely.Stick to the script, even with experts
Giving scripts to the actors in a full-scale movie
production usually has an expectation of memoriz-
ing and following the script. Other types of produc-
tions might feel more improvisational. However,
they rarely are. The key is to appear natural no
matter what the content of the script is. Going
off-script often causes distractions and diminishes
productivity. To avoid that, inform your talent in the
earliest conversations that the scripts are intentional
and must be followed. Then, be sure to give them
the necessary tools to deliver the message to your
expectations. This will help prevent muddying the
message and production delays.
If you are creating educational videos, the hired
talent may want to speak from their own perspective
because they have experience with the topic. Some
videos will have a host interviewing an expert. For
this, there should also be a script—although it can be
less strictly followed in this example—to help keep
the conversation on track and serving the purpose.
Even if they are an expert, allowing them to speak
freely can take away from the voice of the company
or school whom the videos represent. It may come off
as unpolished, or even too polished, depending on the
purpose and audience.How to articulate your video’s message to audiences
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