How to create change and transformation with video
What’s the biggest thing standing in the way of anyone wanting to create change in their life?
Your business solves a BIG problem – you help your clients make positive changes in their life – and that has huge value, right? So, when you start talking with prospective clients, you may be thinking that if you could just show them the great advantages of working with you, they’d be sure to do it. But describing your process or features, and even your benefits, may not do the trick – no matter how good a job you do of describing your work.
You’re fishing with awesome bait. Why won’t they bite?
The reason is… they don’t think it’s possible.
And this isn’t because they don’t believe you. It’s because they don’t believe in themselves. They don’t think they can do it. They’ve already tried a bunch of things to solve their problem – and it hasn’t worked. So they’ve giving up. They’ve settled for living with whatever version of chronic pain they’re dealing with…
What can you do to help them when they’ve become non-believers? …when they’ve lost their faith?
The answer is simple: tell them a good story.
Tell them a story about someone who is facing the same sort of challenges. Who tried many of the things they tried. Who maybe even gave up on themselves – but who found a solution (by doing your thing).
Why would a story work?
When you tell a story – and this works particularly well with video – the people watching and listening will relate to the character (the hero) of the story. And when the hero experiences pain or despair or triumph – your audience will have the same experience.
This is the way our brains are wired. When you watch a film – and the main character is having an emotional experience – you experience the same emotions.
This ability is an evolutionary advantage that has been handed down to us since the time of humans sharing stories around a fire. When someone showed up with a story about how they met a tiger and then escaped without getting eating – we’d all pay very close attention – so we could learn about how not to get eaten by the tiger.
When you are able to give your audience the experience of the transformation you offer – a part of the solution to the problem your business serves – you help them believe that a solution is possible. And when they have the experience of possibility with you – you become very attractive. This is why a good story telling video works so well.
Create Change Case Study – Let Me Dance!
Watch the video (above) and you’ll see a group of silver haired women moving gracefully in an adult ballet class.
One by one, they each describe their experience of the class – and we witness their transformation – from feeling old and ordinary to feeling beautiful and able. Listening to the music, watching their movements, hearing their stories about their own transformation – helps us feel the same things they are feeling – gives us the same experience – and helps us believe that we, too, could move gracefully and be beautiful…
How did this video work its magic?
The video was made for an adult ballet class in a small town in the UK. The teacher wanted to attract more students so she engaged a local videographer. The ballet students were shot while they were dancing and also in one-on-one testimonial interviews.
We never hear from the teacher – only her students – who talk about their experience. There’s no script. The whole thing was shot with one camera and available light.
It proves how one simple video – one good story – can create change in our mindset. The dancing women transform – becoming beautiful and graceful before our eyes – making us believers. I couldn’t help thinking, “I hope I’m moving like that when I’m their age,” or better, “I could be moving like that right now!”
And it worked its magic on a multitude. The video has been seen over 1.7 million times on Facebook.
Two things to take away from this video:
1. Testimonial stories can be more powerful and persuasive than talking about what you do yourself.
2. If you pick a beautiful and inspiring story – people will share it (which is how this video has been seen so many times).
If you’d like to learn more about the kind of stories you could be telling to help your prospective clients believe that their transformation is possible, then join my FREE Livestream Rockstars group on Facebook
It’s a supportive group to share ideas and inspiration with each other.
