In whatever profession people are, we are all curious about how someone started, developed and succeeded in a career. Other people’s success stories can encourage us to kick off our professional development path and give us beneficial advice and insights that can guide us towards our own success. Beauty and utility of these videos lie in the fact that these stories can actually be short lessons about how to deal with challenges, how to inspire and get inspired and create possibilities.

IDEA OF A SUCCESS STORY VIDEO

Success story is a story about an employee`s professional path and development. It is meant to introduce the audience with employees as successful professionals, to inspire and to motivate viewers. It should be ideally 2-3 minutes long and have an empowering and natural tone.

MAKE CONCEPT

Every good video is planned in advance. You don`t need a lot of time to prepare. It is enough to make a list of the most important questions. Ask yourself:

• Where am I now?
• Where was I before?
• How did I reach this position?
• Who supported me?
• What is my hope for the future?

EXAMPLE OF QUESTIONS GUIDE

Here is a list of more questions than can serve as guidance:

• Can you introduce yourself? Your name, company, country.
• Tell us what is your job position and describe in short words what you do in your company.
• Why did you choose that particular job and role?
• Tell us briefly how you started and what made you interested in that career path, at the beginning? (for example: It all started at high school class…)
• What are some challenges you have faced?
• How did you overcome obstacles?
• Open topic of inclusivity in your industry. For example, if you are a woman, you can tell what do you think, if industry in which you work is inclusive for women. Or you can tell how industry in which you work can be more inclusive.
• Tell us about your personal challenges solved (different culture and background, language, motherhood, prejudice, etc.).
• What advice would you tell to your younger self or anyone pursuing a career in your industry?

Think about each question when you feel inspired. Write down answers or short reminder what do you want to tell while recording. Writing a script in advance can make process of recording easy – when you know what you want to tell, you will be focused and relaxed and your presentation will have certain quality.

AVOID TOO MANY TECHNICAL DETAILS

Your success story should be understood by anyone, whether it is your colleague whether it is a person out of your profession. So, when you describe your job, use simple words and make it as concise as possible. Hold back your expertise vocabulary as much as possible. Try to tell only most important technical details, if necessary.

APPEARANCE

Your appearance will have huge impact on audience, so hand gestures and face expression are very important. Everyone will notice if you are restrained, so pick a moment when you are relaxed and in a good mood when you record a video. Be as you are, natural and willing to open up and share your story.

PREPARE CREATIVE CONTENT

You will increase quality of your video if you show some photos, certificates or videos with colleagues, photos from your previous or actual workplace or other content that can attract viewer`s attention and make your story interesting.

SHOOTING INSTRUCTIONS

• • Record with steady phone camera, in horizontal position
  • Adjust good lighting to the face
  • Choose neutral background or background with details that emphasize your message,
  • Role, something important for your career or job (company logo, computers, office, etc.)
  • Prepare your answers in advance
  • Record your answers directly in the camera, naturally and audible, in a friendly tone.

• For more dynamic, please record some additional material that can be incorporated in video, during editing:

• Looking at the camera and smiling for 10 seconds
• Nodding ‘yes’
• Shake your head ‘no’
• ‘Thumbs up’ with one and both hands
• Point the finger to camera

Record few minutes of some warm intimate footage of what describes you, makes you fulfilled and happy – working, doing hobby, running, selfie with kids/family, reading, cooking… Pay attention to light and quality. If possible, find some photographs or footage from the beginning of your career and make them as clear as possible. This kind of material will enrich story with  emotional, retro feel.