A picture is worth a thousand words

2010-01-14T15:30:00.022-05:00

Learn what lessons and techniques from the YouTube world can be applied within your organization to help leadership implement positive change.

By Fernando Beltran and Noel Dibona

Since 2008, YouTube has become the second largest search engine in the U.S., surpassing Yahoo and all other search engines in terms of volume of searches. Although YouTube is a video sharing service and not a search engine, its explosive growth can be seen as a testament to the shifting trend of the way users search, acquire, and consume their information.

The content on YouTube is evolving and changing the way we assimilate messages. Employees have also become more sophisticated and attention span-challenged when it comes to consuming content on any form, especially video.

Applying the “YouTube way” within the corporation:

Organizations are using video to convey more effectively their corporate initiatives, strengthen communications within the corporation, and make their messages more memorable. Here are a few suggestions of how you can apply those techniques within the confines of your own organization to implement positive change in your organization.

Get viral:

A corporate video does not have to be boring. You can tap into the creativity of your own employees and come up with clever ways to communicate your message. Launch a contest among your employees to get ideas for your video (better yet, let them make their own videos). Also, watch other viral videos and identify those themes that make them so successful.

If employees like your videos, they will forward to other peers within the organization, thus extending the reach and effectiveness of your message.

Use compelling stories:

Long gone are the days where a training video comprised of one or more “talking heads” reading Power Point slides. Nowadays you can spice up your video with simple, yet powerful storytelling techniques that will help you make your messages more memorable. A video that has a story with a beginning, middle, and end will always triumph over a dull video of a talking head.

Increase your production values:

There are creative ways to produce a compelling video without breaking your budget. From making use of original music compositions, digital effects, or stock photography and video, to the use of documentary-style techniques to tell your story, by increasing your production values you could create an award-winning video that your employees will remember for a long time.

Divide and conquer:

The attention span of users has narrowed down to no more than 4 or 5 minutes. If you need a 15-minute video to convey your initiative, structure your video in the form of episodes. Create three 5-minute videos that can be streamed or downloaded from your corporate intranet. Better yet, create five 3-minute videos and give employees the option to download to their cell phones!

Embrace the Internet, protect your image:

Whether it’s a memo, and email, or a corporate video, enterprise content eventually finds its way outside the four walls of your organization. Treat your corporate videos in the same way you treat your emails and do not include any sensitive content you do not want leaked to YouTube.

That said and if it does not become a matter of competitive disadvantage or legal liability, do not be afraid to publish your corporate videos on YouTube. It is better for you to have an official channel with high quality versions of your videos, rather than seeing grainy, low quality versions of your videos posted anonymously by your employees.

Also, make sure you always “watermark” your videos. At a minimum, always include your corporate logo, web site, and copyright disclaimers so users know where the content is coming from.

Conclusion

Video has become one of the most cost effective ways to reach audiences and convey your messages. Even if your video is intended for internal audiences (your employees) you can borrow proven techniques from the YouTube world that will help you maximize the effectiveness of your messages and implement positive change within your organization.

Fernando Beltran is the CEO of Identika LLC, a provider of application development, process improvement, and corporate video solutions for commercial and government organizations. Identika LLC is a 2009 Finalist for the Technology Business of the Year by the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce (the largest in the State of Virginia)

Noel DiBona is the President of DiBona & Associates, a management consultancy helping businesses jump-start change across all industries to improve productivity, quality, and service. www.ConsultDiBona.com

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