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McLean Corporate Video | Serving Northern Virginia & Washington DC
McLean Corporate Video | Serving Northern Virginia & Washington DC

Script Writing: The Art of Rocking Your Story

If you’re working on a corporate piece, where do you start? Do you lather on and on about your credentials? People don’t care about your credentials. Sure, they are interested to know you’re a leader in your profession but can you ease their pain? Many times when creating your company landing page video you may feel that the viewer needs to know EVERYTHING about your company in a 6 minute video. The trending truth is, No but later. In the initial stage of auditioning for a potential client’s business the main goal is to identify with their concern and let them know that you can do the work. Once you have their attention and they are interested in working with you, THEN share with them more details of your company’s capabilities and achievements. So how do you widdle down pages and pages of company information to a compelling message that makes them want to know more – to contact you? What you really need are these components to make a compelling video.

The Hook. Draw the viewer in and capture their curiosity to stay tuned. This is key. Without this your message looms on the forgettable. Make sure that the hook ties to the content in the compelling moment.

Background of the Company. Here’s where you mention the most intriguing points of your company. From there how your people or company move forward to resolve or champion the opportunity.

The Opportunity. Describe the central theme

Compelling Moment. This where the viewer is drawn in, where the message reveals the answer, the ‘ah ha’ moment. This is where the viewer changes their mind and buys in. Let’s say your video is about office personnel that can’t use the latest software, whose struggle affects the company’s efficiency and, in some cases, moral. It’s not just about the software, but it’s about taking the step so those employees feel they are productive and essential, to change how they feel about themselves and their company, and all the people in your company are involved in that change. The software’s not a cure-all. It’s a tool that helps office personnel achieve what they need to, but it still requires training, getting enough expertise with the software to maintain productivity, efficiency and a happier workplace.

Writing a script is a lot like writing a term paper… you know your topic, your subject but you’re not sure where to go from there. Begin with what’s easiest to draw together. Sometimes you just need to take a break and step away from the writing if blocks occur. When I get ‘writer’s block’ I put that process on hold and do something else on my long list of things to get done in a day’s work. Once you’ve researched and written your long prose, think about what parts of the information you’ve just composed makes the best message. Folks don’t want the entire Thanksgiving meal, they’d just like a plate… look at all those golden nuggets of information and pick the most relevant handful that play with your topic. You may find out that your topic needs to change. It’s OK that you re-think your strategy.

Randy Meisner, bassist for the Eagles,had a major writer’s block just after the late Glenn Frey and Don Henley told Randy to contribute to the song writing endeavors during their 1975 recordings for the album One of These Nights. Randy only had the hook line for the song and some of the music… When the heat came down to finish the album he re-worked the song (with a little help from Don Henley) and it became the 3rd of the 5 hits he would compose for the Eagles: “Take it to the Limit.”

So you see, you got a winner in that keyboard. Keep these 4 keys in mind and you’ll have a hit on your hands.