5 reasons why it matters

Why make a video when you can just write a post about what you want to communicate within your organisation? It might seem unnecessary, but there are actually plenty of good reasons why it matters.

1. It’s inclusive

Communicating primarily via text leaves out a group of people who do not process information via text easily. For example: 10 to 15% of adults is low-literate. This number goes up to 1 in 3 among people over the age of 55, people who received low schooling and people who speak another language at home than the one you communicate in at work. And did you know that 5 to 10% of people has dyslexia?

2. It’s engaging

You surely have noticed this yourself while scrolling through Instagram or Facebook: videos just keep you hooked to your screen. They are more engaging, which has to do with the bigger range of ways to convey your message. It is easier for example to use humor and a ‘tongue in cheek’ tone of voice, and to convey an emotionally charged message.

3. It’s short and simple

Are you seasoned in internal comms? Then you surely have received a presentation filled with corporate jargon from senior management, with the message: communicate this to the floor! While you think you might get away with posting an article that uses that jargon, vague messages just won’t cut it in a video. Keep your video message short and simple and pare it down to the essential. Because of this, adopting a ‘video first’ strategy can be a very smart move.

4. It’s everywhere

Nowadays, through our smartphone, we have access to a vast library of videos 24/7. When some appliance in our home is not working anymore, we turn to YouTube to find a video on how to fix it. So video is everywhere, but where is it in the workplace? If you’re not communicating via video yet, it’s high time you start to do so. Because within a few years, the first generation who grew up with TikTok will arrive in the workplace.

5. It sticks

« An image says more than a thousand words. » It might be a cliché, but actually it is true: video messages stick. When you communicate certain types of information – safety instructions, task information, learning, for example -, using video is more efficient. An extra argument for that: according to research, our brain processes visuals  60.000 times faster than text.

Start to communicate via video: tips for quick wins

If you don’t have a great deal of experience with video, starting to make videos for internal comms might seem a daunting endeavour. This post gives you a few starting points to inspire you for quick wins if you start with videos.

1. Show, don’t tell

The apparent topics to start with are the very visual ones. For example, if there’s something new in the office, if people need to follow a new procedure or safety instructions, communicating about it in a video is more effective than written communication.

For example, Bpost made this humorous video about the safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

https://videoexperienceday.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Bpost_313_NL_default.mp4

Onboarding is also an evident subject to create videos for, as there is a lot of new stuff to show and tell to new colleagues. Make a short welcoming video message from the CEO and a tour around the office and have them available in Spencer on their first day of work.

And for introducing those new colleagues, what more straightforward way to do so than to have them answer the question « who are you » in a 1-minute video?

2. Experiment and learn

The fastest way to become completely frustrated when starting with video is to aim for Oscar-winning quality videos. Your mantra should be: « done is better than perfect ». Don’t be scared to ask for feedback and learn from it. If your message is relevant, compelling, and engaging, you don’t have to make a perfect video to deliver the message efficiently. Internal comms videos ideally are not longer than 1 to 3 minutes. Create one video around one message. Don’t you have a clue how to build a scenario for your video? Think of it as an elevator pitch: what would you tell about the topic to someone you only briefly meet during an elevator ride. Perhaps the most accessible way to create a video is to create a few presentation slides with a visual and hardly any text. Export these in a video. Then, with a video editing tool like Moovly, you can add the voice-over. For example, instead of a dry and tedious yearly report that hardly anybody reads, this hospital created a short video with the past year’s highlights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ScGGVS6iaM&t=152s

3. Network to find video-savvy colleagues

Maybe you love to dive into new ways of communications and learn yourself new skills, but perhaps this all seems too giant a hurdle to take. In both cases, it is a smart move to network in your organisation to find your video-savvy colleagues.

These could be excellent guinea pigs to try out different video formats like « a day in the life » vlog or an after movie for a teambuilding event. And don’t forget: with our smartphones, we all can shoot good quality videos, and with some practice, even create professional-looking videos.

DIY internal videos: tools that make your work easier

Do you want to make videos, but you have hardly any budget? This post shares a few tools for making your DIY videos easier.

1. Film with your smartphone

Nowadays, we carry a camera in our pocket all the time. And to start making internal videos, it is an excellent tool.

As long as you keep these rules of thumb in the back of your mind, even when you’re not very seasoned, you can make a decent looking video:

• Keep your phone steady by placing it on a shelf or using a tripod
• Film in a quiet place, especially with interviews
• Use natural light but steer clear from a direct backlight (do not place your interviewee in front of a window)
• Always make a variation of shots

To enhance the quality of your smartphone videos, you can buy some simple equipment that will set you back some 250 euros. Equipment that can make a big difference:

• A tripod or Gorillapod (for example, this one)
• An external microphone (for example, this one)
• A ring light (for example, this one)

2. Edit on your phone with Kinemaster

With your phone, you can make a video on the go and edit a finished product without even taking out your laptop.

We have to admit, it takes some practice to do it on a relatively small screen, but the free app Kinemaster is your go-to app for this work.

3. Animate visuals with Adobe Spark

Making your communications more lively can be as simple as animating the visuals you use. The free app Adobe Spark makes this easy. Pick a photo or visual, add some text and animation, and voilà, you have a mini video. Don’t forget to add this to the communications mix for your next company event or team building invitation.

4. Subtitle with VEED.io

We often overlook subtitles when we make internal videos, but they are so important to increase the reach of your video. And we mean not only subtitles in another language. It is also important to add subtitles that summarise what the voice-over or the person in the video says. Especially for mobile, this matters because we are not always in a place where we can watch a video with sound without disturbing the people around us, or don’t always carry around headphones.

VEED.io is a very intuitive tool that automatically lets you add subtitles.

5. Edit (and so much more) with Moovly

Do you want to edit a video on your laptop? While many video editors are available on the market, we warmly recommend the Belgian-based video platform Moovly. It started as a platform where you could easily make animated videos. But its features are extensive nowadays, like automated text to speech, automatic generation of subtitles and so on. You can upload your videos but also delve into their library of stock videos.

They even have some video templates available for common internal comms topics, such as business ethics, performance reviews and company updates.

Use humour to make messages stick

Some topics, like safety guidelines or work instructions, are easily forgettable when you communicate them bone dry. If you want to make these messages stick, add some elements of humour, surprise and storytelling.

These next two videos do this very effectively. Bpost adds a layer of humour to the measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. And KBC turns instructions on how to collaborate smoothly with the translation department into a story about the specific traits of the ‘homo translaticus’.

Convey an emotion

When life is put to a halt like we experienced in March 2020 and the employees of critical businesses like the Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB keep going, this is a very engaging time for the relationship between employer and employees.

MIVB/STIB thanked their employees for the role they played in keeping the critical businesses running by getting their employees get to work. This video has a very personal and quite tone of voice, but brings across the emotion of gratitude and resilience in difficult times in a touching way that no other format would ever be able to.

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