Several months ago I got a call from NSA colleague Chuck Gallagher, and he asked, “Are you interested in making a video book?”
What?
Chuck has a vision for a revolutionary visual book format. And since I’m a book coach who wants to be on the leading edge I thought I needed to explore this concept, so I spent several days in Chuck’s Greenville, SC studio in the Fall of 2019 and several days in January with co-author Lois Creamer (The Speaker Author) to record my books.
How do you record a video book?
I sent the PDF of the final book as a word file to Chuck, who loaded the book on his video teleprompter before my arrival. Standing in front of a green screen, I then recorded both the visual and audio with the authors reading the book. But who would want to see me read a book? That’s where the magic happens.
Repurposing at its best!
Chuck and his amazing video production team adds some, external video B-roll, fun graphics and animation, and now we have an amazing file that can be repurposed for multiple opportunities.
Your video book can become:
• An audio book (with the audio file stripped out) – in a format accepted by Audible and iTunes
• A video book
• Part of your online learning system, with additional work sheets, checklists, and templates
• Social media promotions
• Content for YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and your website
Here are some considerations for you as you move toward this exciting medium:
• Consider the visual treatment of your book and your visual brand. In advance of your studio time, think about what you’ll wear, props you’ll need, how you’ll handle visual elements of the book, including pull-quotes, text boxes, and headings.
• Identify how you’ll handle charts, graphs, or illustrations that are in your book. Is there a way to include video footage (for example, I referred to Lisa Braithwaite and her book in my book, and Chuck arranged to use a short clip of Lisa in the video).
• Get a great producer who has a vision for this medium. Chuck Gallagher is a perfect choice with his technical know-how combined with his vision for this medium.
Want to see a sample? Here is my Letter to the Reader for Blog2Book.