We continue the conversation around video production in Part Three of our conversation with Beth Menduni. Here, Beth and host Elin Barton give their script editing tips.
Beth Menduni is a born storyteller with a background in theatre, visual communications, and graphic design. She worked in video production houses for a decade before launching her own full-service video marketing company based in Columbus, OH.
Did you miss our last chats with Beth? Click here for Part One and Click here Part Two of our conversation.
Video Transcript:
Beth: It’s not about the person who’s in front of the camera at all. It’s about the client, potential client and prospect who’s going to watch it in the end.
Welcome to Amplify
Elin: Welcome to this episode of Amplify with White Knight Productions. I’m your host, Elin Barton. And today, my guest is Beth Menduni, owner and CEO of the Mkg Dept.
So one of the reasons that videos are so powerful is that when they’re well crafted, they tell a compelling story, something that resonates with the audience. And I would like to just dive into this a little bit and explore the craft of storytelling, specifically with videos, so that audience members can start thinking more like a producer if they’re looking to make their own content. Why don’t you start us off, Beth. Where do you start with this whole storytelling process typically?
Beth: I really got to figure out who my audience is. What are we talking about? What’s the topic? And once we figure out the audience, we want to understand how to communicate the information in the way that they want to receive it, that they need to hear it. So it’s not necessarily—it’s not about the person who’s in front of the camera at all. It’s about the client, potential client and prospect who’s going to watch it in the end. So you got to make your content for the right person. So tone is huge, right? The words that you use are huge. So, for me, I was writing a script actually or editing a script right before this. What we cut was a lot of backstory, a lot of history. Nobody cares about that stuff. They want to know how it’s going to help them. So when you’re writing a script or you’re trying to figure out what to put in there, put your audience hat on. Think the way they think. And you try to figure out what do they care about? Why is this important to them? And then you go from there. So you start cutting out anything that might be backstory or not that interesting. Because quite honestly, for the content I produce, I tell everybody we try to aim for two minutes or less. And if you’re truly going to be a partner that they trust, value their time and keep them super short.
What about you, Elin? What else can we tell people for tips for trying to figure out how to write good scripts?
Elin: A lot of times our clients will come to us and they want to tell everything about their company in this one video. People are looking for bite-sized, targeted, like very targeted chunks of information. If they’re on your about page, they want to learn about your company, but they don’t need to know every detail. And that’s where your trust relationship with your producer can come in, because they can advise you on what to take out. If you’re trying to do this on your own, then I would say just you got to be harsh. Just get like really harsh with that red editing pen, to use a print analogy, and be comfortable with striking things out till you get to the essence of what the message is.
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