“I love it when a plan comes together.”

That is a line from one of my favorite TV shows growing up. The A-Team. It’s something that has always resonated with me when a project comes to a close and it looks great. What most may not know is the amount of work ahead of time to get it there.

That is exactly the attitude you need to make a great video. It’s good to have something that is spontaneous, but it’s also even better if you plan for that look. That way you have control of the situation and can handle any variables that get thrown at you. Believe me, when working with video, there are a variety of variables that can throw you for a loop if you aren’t prepared.

strategic_planningNot only that, but to create a substantially entertaining and engaging 2 minute video to showcase your service or product as well as hold your audience’s attention isn’t as easy as just showing up. Here are some things we have to consider:

1. As a business person, you typically are not an on camera professional. So getting you to convey the message accurately can be time consuming. But knowing the material is key.

2. Having a focus. 2 minutes is just enough time to talk about one aspect of your organization. Then having 3 key points to make that fleshes out that subject. Then have it broken up into parts. Introduction to the topic, reinforcing the topic, call to action for more questions. Leave your audience wanting to know more.

3. Being in the right environment. I can’t stress enough how this is a factor. This is where it is decided whether it’s outdoors, a green screen or a living room. You want to dress up the scene correctly so that you can reinforce your message non-verbally.

The biggest thing with this is using a professional video producer. The reason is that they have experience in a wide range of environments in a wide range of situations and can assess something very quickly and can think on the fly. An excellent producer will make you feel at ease as well when things don’t work as planned. Which happens a lot.

For instance, one of my favorite back stories to a video we produced had the entire shoot transformed from one thing to another the day I showed up to set up. It was also a video that was out of town, so no turning back. Watch the video below to see if you can tell if it was a complete disaster. What happened with the shoot? I would love to talk about it over some coffee some time.