Get Your Marketing Video Message Heard

Talking In Sound bites To Get Your Message Heard

Today everything is fast, short and to the point. We're in the age of Twitter, Facebook, texting, and channel surfing. That means when you need to present your marketing video on TV or on the web, you need to be extremely focused in your message.

In television news the official term for this is "sound bites". Sound bites have received a bad reputation with their use by politicians for canned messages. Unfortunately with the average remote interview being less than two minutes, in order to be heard you need to deliver your message quickly or...the spot is over and the camera has moved on to the next person.

What Is A Sound Bite?

What exactly is a sound bite? A sound bite is a short mini story that describes who you are, what you've got going on or what you are trying to sell. It's one to three sentences long. It's also full of color, detail and contains a complete thought.

Before the phrase "sound bite" was ever used, writer Mark Twain described the concept as "a minimum of sound to a maximum of sense."

Like it or not, the reality is, the media thrives on sound bites. Anyone who wants to be invited back for a second TV interview needs to master the art of speaking in sound bites. A great marketing video can be built around a well conceived sound bite. When you are developing your marketing video for a video press release or for web video production a strong sound bite is a great place to anchor your message.

A good sound bite, gets right to the point. It's a short quotable statement that can be picked up and used by itself. Media people describe it as brevity in broadcasting. Take away the unnecessary words and you have the heart of your marketing video message.

Examples of Memorable Sound bites

As author Gayl Murphy says, "You gotta tell it to sell it." Which by the way is an example of a sound bite.

"The only thing we have to fear is - fear itself."

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can not get them across, your ideas will not get you anywhere"

These are all great examples of sound bites. The last one is from an interview with former Chrysler Head, Lee Iacocca, a true master of the sound bite. I'm not suggesting that you would only speak in sound bites during an on camera interview. But you do want to learn how to combine your talking points with sound bites to tell your story.

Understanding what the media is looking for and crafting your sound bites, your marketing video message and your story before you go on, will make you a more sought after guest. So, sound bites are potentially the most important element in your entire marketing message.

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