Conference Videos: Who needs pyrotechnics when you've got a good idea?

Most conferences use an opening video to establish a theme and ease the audience into a day of information. In this post we'll discuss why a successful conference video is all about an effective idea.

‘She abruptly ends her tortured soliloquy. Tears streaming down her face, she hurls herself from the stricken plane. The parachute unfurls to reveal the company’s logo in all its glory.’

Now that would be a conference video to hook people in. Unfortunately, it isn’t going to happen. When writing conference videos, the budget influences every line of the script. We’re frequently asked to work without a voice over and with library pictures and music.

First words in a new voice

Most new tone of voice guidelines only come to life when you write the first piece of collateral. So here’s how you go about it.

Form and function

It doesn’t matter if the roof looks like Gaudi leaned down from heaven to create it… if it leaks, the building won’t be winning any awards. Great design is about form and function. And it’s the same with the first expression of a new tone of voice.

It’s easy to put too much emphasis on what the copy sounds like and not enough on what it’s actually being written to do. Whatever the tone of voice – brochures need to sell and websites need to inform.

That said; we’d all rather look at a Gaudi than a bog-standard office block. Am I right?

We want a unique TOV

This is the holy grail of brand writing: how can I give the brand a distinctive tone that will mean the audience gets a brand experience whenever they read the language?