Have you ever attended a riveting talk or panel at a conference, only to find that the experience doesn’t translate well on screen?
Even if the content is inspiring and educational and the speakers compelling, speeches and panels don’t usually make for good films. There are a number of reasons for this. The speakers are out of context, on a stage that is not particularly interesting. Instead of supporting footage to complement what they are saying, most of what we see are their faces. They are usually too long for video viewers and difficult to watch for all but the most captive of audiences.
Highlights are therefore the way to go to convey the essence of what happened.
This is what the Clinton Foundation recently did to share a conversation between Hillary Clinton and Melinda Gates, moderated by Chelsea Clinton, about “Why Women and Girls Count.” They prepared a minute-long Highlights piece of the panel, which is successful in that it offers a content synopsis of what was discussed as well as a taste for what the personal dynamics were like.
For many this will suffice, and the fact that the Highlights piece was produced and distributed online and via a mass e-mailing makes it more likely to be seen by the larger audience. But even for highly invested viewers, this was a smart strategy in that it quickly gave them an idea if they wanted to watch the hour-long version, which covered the entire panel and which was also posted on the Clinton Foundation channels.
So, the next time you want to share a talk or a panel with your audience, consider offering a highlights piece in addition to the full coverage.