How to Wow in 4 Easy Steps: A Mash-up

You know that telling your story is an important way to connect your organization with your constituents and move people to action, but HOW? Use these steps to craft a WOW video for your nonprofit!

1. Have a Hero

Drive people to action! Identify a hero in your story and have your hero model the behavior you want your viewers to follow.

Here's a powerful example from Médecins Sans Frontières.

*Spoiler alert!* Here's why this video is impactful, teary-eyed amazingness: It makes a clear link between the action of the hero (namely, the Check-Writing Blonde Lady) and how her contribution results in providing MSF with vital resources to save lives (electricity, in this instance).

2. Select Your Story Paradigm

Selecting your paradigm means clearly identifying from whose perspective you are telling your story. There are three options here for what paradigm you can use:

1. The Story of Self

Help your audience understand where you are in your story. Answer these questions:

Why am I here on behalf of my organization?
What have I seen or done that brings me here to talk about my story in the first place?

2. The Story of Us

This version tells why a particular group of people came together as a community to address a problem.

3. The Story of Now

Compel people to action right NOW. Create a sense of urgency to move people to action and explain why their help can't wait. The Médecins Sans Frontières video is a powerful example of good use of the Story of Now.

3. Focus on the Critical Moment of Change

Identify the critical moment of change in your story and use this moment to frame the story.

4. Keep Your Video Short

Is your video for prospective constituents or supporters? Keep it short. Keep the length of your video at two minutes or less because science suggests our brains don't focus for much longer than that.

Great resources to review as you plan your video include:

YouTube Creator Academy
StoryCenter
Visual Storytelling E-Book: The Digital Video Documentary by Nancy Kalow of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
See3 Communications — Into Focus: Benchmarks for Nonprofit Video and a Guide for Creators — This report shows how and what nonprofits are doing with video and best practices
StoryCorps
Why Telling a Story Is the Most Powerful Way to Activate Our Brains

Image: Joyce Vincent / Shutterstock

This mash-up was originally created by Dulcey Reiter and updated by Susan Hope Bard.

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How to Wow in 4 Easy Steps: A Mash-up

How to Wow in 4 Easy Steps: A Mash-up

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