It’s NOT Just Business — And It IS Personal
For a couple months now, we’ve been exploring what makes a good video, and in particular, how to write a good script. This week, we’ll tackle what to do when you’re staring at a blinking cursor, wondering what to write.
If you’re currently in this position, you don’t need me to tell you that the desire for a shortcut is overwhelming at this point. I know it’s hard, but you really must resist the temptation to paint by numbers. Every good story has a beginning, middle, and end, but that’s where the formulas stop. All I can do is offer you some guidance and the thing you need most of all: the courage to be yourself.
Don’t be afraid to get personal.
Whoever says, “It’s not personal, it’s just business” is probably no one you want to be in business with. We like to hide ourselves behind a facade of professionalism precisely because we can be impersonal there. We can turn clients into objectives, life savings into assets, and reduce people to numbers—you know, all those clichés we use about bad business practices.
Another thing you don’t need me to tell you is that trust is vital to your practice. People tend not to trust a business. But they will trust you. Don’t be a business, be you.
Now most likely, no one sets out to build a professional business façade. It happens innocently enough as we go along. Most often it happens because we tend to overemphasize what we do instead of why we’re doing it. We want to clearly articulate our offering and how we differentiate ourselves from our competitors. All of that is important to be sure, but that’s what brochures and web pages are for. This is a video. And video has the distinct characteristic of being able to appeal to the emotion as well as the intellect.
Use it.
A good video that connects with people on an emotional level builds trust. People connect with you emotionally when they understand who you are and why you do what you do.
Think about the people who you trust the most. Chances are they are all people whom you best understand what motivates them.
So as you write your script, consider these questions:
- Why did you get into this business?
- Was there an inciting incident — something that happened that forever changed you and your perspective? Tell us about it?
- Why financial advising or financial planning? Why not something else?
Don’t worry so much about the length of your script at this point. Editing will come later. You just need to get your thoughts and ideas out of your head and on to the screen.
INSIDER’S TRICK: If you’re feeling scattered and unable to focus, try getting out a pen and paper and writing it longhand. I know it sounds crazy, but try it. There’s something about putting pen to paper that makes our brain slow down and process things differently.