{"id":3685,"date":"2014-02-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/?p=3685"},"modified":"2024-05-08T17:48:32","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T17:48:32","slug":"testimonial-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/blog\/testimonial-storytelling\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Testimonial Storytelling Video Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Need irrefutable content? Go with testimonial storytelling.<\/p>\n<p>I am Second is a movement of people who are inspired to live beyond themselves.&nbsp; They\u2019re using videos to spread the word about their movement. They believe less is more when it comes to testimonial storytelling.<\/p>\n<p>A dark room, a white chair, and a light&#8211; that\u2019s their setup. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/nonprofit-storytelling-crowdfunding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Storytelling works and draws your audience in.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In September, they celebrated their 100<sup>th<\/sup> film, featuring Eric Metaxas, author of a New York Times #1 Bestseller, <i>Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy<\/i>, who has a powerful story to share.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/F_GTMgckqi4?rel=0\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>With over 20 million views, here are four tips we can glean from their approach to testimonial storytelling.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Be vulnerable<\/h2>\n<p>As you prep your storyteller, you can begin by asking them to tell her story from beginning to end. Take note of emotive content (even specific words), the turning point, and the breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t want to snuff out emotion, so be sure to tell her it is OK to be open and that testimonial storytelling is not a stoic venture. Then, summarize the story back to them to verbally underline the vulnerable, most powerful moments.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Share the imperfection<\/h2>\n<p>Viewers\u2019 comments are where you\u2019ll find marketing gold.<\/p>\n<p>Organizations such as <i>I am Second<\/i> have found&nbsp; \u2013 by analyzing viewers\u2019 comments &#8211; that videos with the most imperfection are the greatest conduits for fostering a connection. This is because most everyone can identify with imperfection. Flaws are part of being real.<\/p>\n<p>Your audience wants all-things real so give it to them in an imperfect story.<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s true and it\u2019s real, share it with your audience. The greater the realness and imperfection, the more fundraising \u201cspace\u201d you have so that you can follow-up the testimony with a strong \u2018ask\u2019 afterward.<\/p>\n<h2>3. Don\u2019t start with the ending<\/h2>\n<p>This isn\u2019t journalism.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to lead with the point of highest interest in testimonial storytelling. You want there to be a buildup so your readers feel like they\u2019re going through a vivid experience with the storyteller.<\/p>\n<p>If your viewers know they\u2019re about to watch a testimony, they look forward to the climax instead of demanding it at the forefront.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Connect with the protagonist<\/h2>\n<p>Highlight the protagonist\u2019s desires or lack thereof (e.g., \u201cI never wanted to say those words. Just the thought of them made me cringe.\u201d). To take it a step further you can tap into the reasons why they have those desires.<\/p>\n<p>Desires always point to cravings that come from within- similar to an appetite. Your need to satiate an appetite for food is similar to those internal appetites that we\u2019ll call \u2018soul cravings\u2019\u2014belonging, meaning, purpose, and identity.<\/p>\n<p>Now that you have a few tips for crafting a testimonial video, go make a raw, simple, yet emotive testimonial storytelling video!<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Need irrefutable content? Go with testimonial storytelling. I am Second is a movement of people who are inspired to live beyond themselves.&nbsp; They\u2019re using videos to spread the word about their movement. They believe less is more when it comes to testimonial storytelling. A dark room, a white chair, and a light&#8211; that\u2019s their setup. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Team CauseVox","author_link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/author\/teamcausevox\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}