How would you encourage your audience to tune in to a speech?
One idea would be to draw the audience closer to the speaker and build anticipation and interest by giving them a behind-the-scenes taste of the work that goes into preparing the speech.
That’s what the White House did last week to build anticipation and viewership for the 2014 State of the Union. The First Lady sent out an email the morning of the address to constituents linking to a video of Obama and his speechwriters preparing for the big speech. The short film brought the audience right into the kitchen and humanized Obama as a result, rendered him relatable, which is helpful even for speakers with natural charisma.
Here are a couple other interesting features to point out and emulate if you choose to leverage short film in a similar fashion:
1) The film isn’t a complete story but rather a vignette that gives the audience a glimpse of an interesting aspect of Obama’s work. This is smart because a complete story isn’t necessary here. All you need is some natural footage that shows the care and effort that goes into crafting the speech behind the scenes, which ultimately will connect viewers more deeply with the final product. Save yourself time, money and effort by not overdoing it.
2) The timing and delivery of the video was strong, as Michelle Obama sent out a personal email the morning of the speech with a clear call-to-action to watch and support the president. Personal is always better than generic, and immediacy helps to deliver an audience in a world in which media distractions arise by the minute.
3) The producers added a nice touch with a brief outtake at the end, further humanizing Obama. Keep things interesting. Keep them natural. Add in some moments of levity. That’s the recipe for success.