Julie's Ocean Writing Consultancy

Video is very effective as a marketing tool, and can be incorporated easily into a website. Video is most effective at “showing” something, so demonstrations are a prime application for video. Discussions and interviews can also be engaging content, and can work well in a video marketing strategy. What kinds of video presentations need web scripts and how much planning is involved in each?

Web scripts can support demonstrations and webinars

Usually, a discussion is an unscripted event. As long as one person is knowledgeable about a subject, there’s little need to provide a script for anything. That doesn’t get you off the hook for planning out the questions or topics, but it does mean that you probably don’t need to commit much to paper, except possibly the most important points.

A demonstration, on the other hand, is a step-by-step affair, and can benefit substantially from a web script. A general rule of thumb for video production is that not everyone is comfortable on camera. In fact, few people are “naturals.” As a speaker, knowing what you’re going to say relieves the pressure of remembering what to say and demonstrating something at the same time.

Planning out what you’re going to say at a specific point in the video can also help you understand which visuals you need. In particular, demonstrations usually require close-up shots to allow viewers to see what’s going on. Sometimes you’ll need to take close-ups from multiple angles, or create simple animations to really get your point across. Web scripts can help you identify where in the production these helpful visuals should go.

Web scripts can also be very useful for webinars. A webinar is usually a longer presentation delivered in a seminar format. You may have one or more speakers taking the audience through a PowerPoint presentation, or combining a PowerPoint presentation with software or product demonstrations. Occasionally, webinars include panel discussions, phone-in participation or audience participation. The “lecture” portion of a webinar may be scripted, while the discussion or Q &A portion is of course, unscripted. In addition to using web scripts to guide the presenter through the topic, web scripts can also be helpful for tackling frequently asked questions, or anticipated questions. Having a prepared answer on hand for questions you know you’ll get can help the speaker create a smoother, more polished delivery for the unscripted portions of the program.

If you’d like more information about web scripts, or would like to create web scripts for an upcoming webinar or video demonstration, please contact me at eileen@juliesocean.com or call me at (734) 961-0408.

Photo Credit: Trish Parisy, via FreeImages.com