You can spend months getting a message technically right and still find that it does not land, is not remembered, or change anything.

That is not a messaging problem. It is a connection problem.

In this episode of Land & Deliver, Louise Chandler and Darren Wingham explore why accuracy alone is not enough, how internal bias creeps in, and what actually makes messages memorable, particularly in explainer videos, training content, and internal communications.

More thinking, episode notes, and related conversations are at

landanddeliver.co.uk

Whoops.

Whoops.

For them, it was a right message.

That's what we say, is that you can have this right message that says all these wonderful things that you think are right, but if it doesn't land with the person that you want to communicate with, then it means nothing.

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Land and Deliver.

It's the podcast where Louise helps you land that message with clarity and Darren.

Helps you to deliver it.

So people listen, care and act.

So on today's episode, we're talking about getting the message right doesn't necessarily make it memorable.

Now, what do we mean by that, Lee?

Well, I think it's fair to say in the years that we've been in the media marketing and communications industry, we know what it's like to work with business owners, thought leaders and experts who want to make a message memorable.

They have a burning passion to share something really important.

But ultimately, how do you make that land and how do you get that message across?

I think ultimately it's about looking at what type of message you're going to start with.

So we're thinking, first of all, is it internal comms?

Is it an explainer video?

Is it training content?

We've both had experiences of working with all of them.

Yeah.

I think also it's just, you know, you might get the message right, but is it right for the people?

So.

So, for example, I've worked in environments where someone designed a whole product and they were really, really pleased with it, and they were really pleased with the engineering side of it and how it used AI and how wonderful it was, and it was absolutely this amazing product, but didn't ever communicate how it helped the customer.

Right.

Whoops.

Whoops.

For them, it was a right message.

That's what we say, is that you can have this right message that says all these wonderful things that you think are right, but if it doesn't land with the person that you want to communicate with, then it means nothing, and.

It'S not memorable either.

I think that in.

In the comms world, from my background anyway, as a broadcaster and journalist and now working on communication and marketing campaigns, I.

Our main thing is to make sure that when we create a piece of work and launch a campaign, there's a clear call to action.

I worked on a lot of campaigns that were behavioral change ones as well, so especially during COVID dare I say Covid, that was an experience.

We all have PTSD again.

Yeah.

I was in charge of COVID Cons for Public Health for Oxford at the time, Oxfordshire and goodness Me, there was a lot going on there.

But the main reason why I'm bringing that up is because we went through so many shifting messages, hands, face.

And then it was, okay, things are going to open up now, but what band are we in in terms of, you know, shutting lives down?

And then it was actually, we can go out now, but what are we going to do?

And we worked on campaigns so quickly that we had to make sure the messages were clear and memorable and people knew what to do next.

And the main reason why we do that in the comms world as well is we want to measure how effective it's been to know that actually, yeah, this works or no, we need to, we need to amend it.

But I think you're right, it's like it's that bias, but also time in that if you don't have time to consider your message and sense test it, then you know, you could be going off in a completely wrong direction.

Yeah, and, but also you could have, and I remember having a conversation with somebody who had been working on something and massively, massively passionate about it and they had like this seven year plan for this thing they wanted to do, which you know, could actually change human lives in the space of, you know, 10 years if it all goes through.

But actually what the most important piece that needs to be communicated right now is only a fraction of it.

So it's just stepping back and not making, not having your internal bias, you know, map out what that message needs to be so it can be correct in your eyes.

But you know, that bias could be blinding you from seeing what it needs to be.

And talking about bias.

I mean, it's so tricky, isn't it?

When you know a topic really well, we all, we are going to have that bias because we know like, like you say, Dan, what we want to tell people, that's not always the most important bit.

And also it's having that healthy dist and that self awareness to stand back and say, I know this topic really well, but what do I want other people to get from it and are they going to see it in the same way that I do?

So having that time and space to kind of step back from the internal bias and to make sure that when it comes to creating your internal comms or your explainer videos or your training materials, it's not left down to chance in terms of what people get from it.

But actually it's clear that people walk away.

Right, I know what I need to do next.

I know what behavior I need to change.

Or what action I need to take, what, what I need to read, what I need to learn.

And I think when it comes down to it, the reason why there's consequences is because it can waste time.

And no one wants that.

We're all time poor.

We don't want to waste time.

So the clarity is really key.

And I know you, we talk about messages misunderstood as well.

So I suppose in your job, if you've got someone above you that wants you to get a video made or get messaging done with through a video for a podcast, and you got their bias coming down, you realize that the audience needs to have the information in another way.

If, if you're being micromanaged, then all of a sudden I made a video.

I made a video for a company that's based in central London, right, right in the Square Mile.

And my old boss at the time came in and said to me, right, it needs to be done this way.

These words need to be here, that needs to be there.

And I've had the original brief from the client that said, this is what we want to get across.

And I've realized that if I make it the way I've been told, the message is going to be misunderstood.

They're not going to get it.

So we know from the benefit of our experience that there's lots of different ways that you can create messages in videos, in audio and podcasts, and with campaigns.

But I think today.

Let's talk about explainer videos.

Now, okay, we're going to assume that people know what explainer videos are, but in case you don't, I always think of explainer videos as that TV show.

And actually I, I think it might still be on tv on the BBC.

If not, you can get it on the iplayer, but it's the kind of that factory show with how it's made.

So they will take you through how, for example, bread is made.

Yes.

Or, for example, they will show you another episode, which is how cornflakes are made.

And to me, that show is an explainer video.

It's taking you to the factory.

You're meeting some of the key people who are very influential in terms the ingredients, and they explain to you the logistics and then they take you through every step of how that loaf of bread is made, from ingredients to bake, to mixing, to baking, to packaging, to then it being sent off to the supermarkets.

And then you see the presenter in the supermarket and da, da, to me, that is an explainer video.

Now, it's done for entertainment purposes, but just think of that concept of an explainer video and how you can adapt that to your business and your message of what you want, want to do, how can you take that and go, actually, I may not be in a factory, but I want to take some of those facets and some of those tools and that's what we're going to talk to you about today to make sure that message is memorable.

If you're creating and explain a video.

And I always, and I'm the worst for this.

I'm, I'm, I'm a big information dump person or, or actually I dump information and I miss bits out.

I missed, you know, and, and, you know, it's, it's just, you know, these are the things where, you know, you, if you don't think it all the way through and kind of work all the way through it and go through it really, really fast, then, you know, you can just lose people, can't.

You know, that's one of the reasons why a message doesn't land.

What about any others?

I think it's also taking people with you.

Let's not assume, I mean, in the instance, an example of the factory making bread, I think it's fair to say we all know what bread is.

However, if it was something more scientific, something that comes with a lot more jargon or is a bit more complicated, like maybe finances or something in particular in the science or engineering and technical world, you can't always assume that the person watching this explainer video is gonna, is going to know and understand what it's about.

So finding ways to take people with you on that journey as well, to keep them engaged, to keep them entertained, but also keep them curious, that's what you want to do with an explainer video.

Because let's be honest, if you, you can show people a loaf of bread and what it looks like, but if you show them some of the ingredients at the beginning, like yeast, they'll be going, what's that?

I want to know what this looks like at the end.

So you're taking people with you and guiding them, almost holding their hand and saying to them, I'm going to tell you and explain to you why this is important or how you create this or why this particular piece of regulation or information is vital for you.

And then by doing that, you're letting people in on the secret and making them feel they're a part of it.

And also it's also remembering that now you're the expert in explaining this, you know, this inside out.

And it's also understanding which bits to leave behind because of the person who's watching you or listening to you.

So it's also understanding that be careful of corporate tone.

Yes.

So be careful of those, those acronyms or those phrases that you might do.

I remember being with a seasoned, a TV newsreader journalist and they were delivering some wonderful media training and the people were in finance and they went around the room, just talk about what they did.

There were English words there, Louise, but I had no idea what they meant, you know, question mark, you know, and I had to watch this seasoned TV journalist go, okay, in their head.

Rather I'm pick this, you know, for a communications perspective.

If you want that information to land and you want to, you know, you know, impart some of your own expertise.

It's just understanding at what level you need to pitch that for.

Yeah.

And not making any assumptions as well, knowing that actually you may know it, but the person watching it may not.

So it's clear.

It's good to be clear and to, and to clarify it.

But an explainer video, a really good one, should have a strong story to it and think of that conveyor belt analogy as well.

But I think there's some, there's five W's that it needs to include.

And I think the reason why is because as human beings we are inquisitive, we like to ask questions.

And the 5W's appeal to that nature.

So it's the who, the what, the where, the when and the how.

Now, you don't have to be explicit to answer them in like a bullet point form.

But these five W's as an in an explainer video really help to, in a succinct way, nail it for your audience to go, what is this I'm watching?

What are they making?

How are they doing it?

Who is it?

It's going to help and it really helps you to work through.

And I think when you're doing your planning that's so important, you can explain it to your people in the room and the team that you're working with before you even start making the video in this way.

And if you see them perk up and go, oh, okay, I get it, you're on the right track.

I'll tell you what, as well with the why, it really brings that human element.

Why should I care about watching this?

If you're watching a health and safety video about how to, you know, make sure that you've got a hole dug and it's, it's, it's safely done, then the why is like, you know, we don't want anyone to break a leg.

Yeah.

And.

And that really nails it home in the, you know, why should I care?

You're absolutely right.

It.

It helps to put it into context.

And when I worked for the BBC, I had an editor who, when I was one, I wanted to work on particular stories.

And before you go out and record and interview people, you have to pitch it to your editor.

And the editor would say, make me care.

Now, this is someone who's hearing stories all day long.

So, you know, you'll think, how can I make them care?

Oh, goodness.

Because you're looking for ways to.

And, you know, you're looking for that kind of eyebrow to art or for that person to lean forward and go, okay, I like the sound of this.

You're trying to give people that thing of why should they care?

To invest their time, their energy to learn more about this topic.

I think it's really important because, you know, we all make explaining videos and we explain stuff, and it's kind of.

You almost sometimes do it in the middle of doing everything else, but, you know, why are you doing it?

You're doing it to make sure that you can impart your knowledge.

Then someone else gets better.

And so spending more, spending some time to do it and showing that you care means that you give that bit of yourself and that human element to it.

So then someone takes that in because it's actually important and they care, and then they absorb it and remember it.

Yeah, this is absolutely why.

And this is why we've come up with a handy acronym for you to use.

We talk about not using acronyms and we planned one.

Sorry about that.

But this one's easy and it's going to be practical and useful.

And you will thank us when you meet us in person and say, thank goodness you came out with ham.

Thank goodness you've got ham now.

It's not.

It's not my acting, it's not my.

My jazz hands.

H for human.

You know, it is actually, rather than perhaps just doing animation or having death by PowerPoint, this is how you do something, you know, literally try and do it yourself.

So.

And even if you get it wrong, I think, you know, there are so many instances, aren't there, where I've explained something to people before and I've got it wrong and I've owned it.

Because seriously, I've gone, you know what?

I do that all the time.

And I'm actually reminds me to say, remember, do this, this and this.

Otherwise you do what I.

What Muggins has done here.

And so actually you're saving them the time by showing the wrong thing and then that's a handy hint.

So rather than saying oh by the way, you must avoid to do this, you know, obviously within reason and within health and safety limits, you know, then by putting a human face to it and showing you, showing them you doing it can really, really help and make that sink and be memorable really.

You know, it's about humans remembering people, not policies.

You know, it just, just helps that sink in really.

Yeah.

And you, and I think when you think that an explainer video is people demoing and seeing and when they see that human person doing it, then it's going to stick and resonate even more.

So if we look at then our A in our ham model audience, who.

Are they and why should they care?

So like you said Darren, if you're making an explainer video about health and safety, often we watch these health and safety videos when we are a new recruit to a company maybe and you know that actually you've got to do some training to learn the job and health and safety video is part of it.

It could be.

I've watched health and safety videos where you go to even tourist attractions and they tell you, you know, if you're going to do indoor wall climbing, for example, the types of things that you need to consider and the video that you're making as an explainer video, the A for audience is basically using people who are going to be watching it.

So if it is a video for indoor rock climbing, you might see some of those people in that video as the ideal audience that you're talking to.

If it is for the health and safety construction industry, you'll see people in high vis for it makes sense.

Yeah, yeah.

So the message is then matched to what you're seeing and the type of people who, who are on the receiving end of that information.

I remember actually we did a health and safety video for a big bus company in London and talking about high vis, there's, there's a thing they, I didn't realize it's called hi vi.

Right.

And if you don't wear your high vi they do they, they, they, they, they kind of tug like this, like almost like tugging at braces.

Obviously.

Explain this in case you can't see the video version.

But, but they, they just kind of flick their thumb and all their tongue.

You get your high vi on and if someone walks into to the, the bus step and they haven't got it on, everyone just goes, everyone just Kind of flicks their thumb go.

Yeah, but that was really, really strong in saying, actually you must wear a high visibility jacket.

You know, by saying, by saying actually you're going to get the Mickey ripped out of you if, if you walk into a bus depot because everyone's going to go o, you haven't got your high vi on.

You know, it's a, it's really strong and it lands, lands really well.

Yeah, it's certain.

I think when you plan your explainer video, having these kind of thoughts and being creative with it as well, and dare I say, depending on the type of video that it is, it's okay to have a bit of humor as well because it's that human element again that I think people will resonate and that emotion that helps people to recollect and that message to be memorable.

And the M is full meaning.

So what's the meaning if we're going to get the message right, to make it memorable for our explainer video?

You know, and it's that, it's that sense check, isn't it?

It's saying, you know, have they got the takeaway?

You know, what's the meaning?

So I've gone through all of this and I've had all my, my brainstorming meetings and we've had this idea of how to explain a video.

Is the meaning still there?

Have they still got the takeaway they need to do?

Is there a way in which perhaps in your explain a video you test that shift in learning to make sure they've got the meaning?

So is there a sense test that you need to do that?

Do they, do they understand it?

So that's, that's kind of our hand model, you know, that human, that audience and that meaning is a really kind of nice little three part structure.

And you're someone who is really experienced with building the narrative and creating this content in a storyboarding way as well.

So what's some of the steps that people can plan and do that?

It's kind of starting at the two ends really.

So you starting with the end in mind.

So you start with that, with that, with that.

Takeaways and making sure.

But also, you know, from an expert perspective, what do they need to get across and then mapping out a narrative between the two.

So you know, if you want someone to be able to, for example, service the underneath of a bus and you start from them driving the bus.

Yeah.

Over the pit and then ending up with them off the pit, you know, making sure that you follow those steps through in your head.

And writing those steps down and making sure you've got everything there and checking those steps with someone in health and safety, checking those steps with an engineer and just making sure that those steps are there.

And then thinking about how you're going to tell that story.

So what are you going to say?

So you'll be talking to an engineer who'll be driving the bus.

So understanding, looking through their eyes and going what they need to do and then making sure you haven't forgotten anything and then thinking about what could they miss.

So you might want to do some research and just talk to people and you know, look at the accident book so then you can understand, you know, what accidents there have been and then make sure you cover those off so you understand once you've fully got and the kind of, you know, a really, really full list of step by steps.

Do they all need to be in there to make sure?

It's your sense test to make sure.

And then thinking about a way you tell that story that when you drive a bus the first thing you do is to make sure it's still roadworthy.

And they do you do a walk around test every day and you have to test certain things out.

So what are those steps and how you're going to talk about them?

So we had a guy talking about them and we had to make sure that he covered all the bits, we had all the bits in our, in our little script he had to cover and just was blocking it out and then understanding how we're going to film it.

So for example, when you're turning a bus on, we had to show where the key went, turning it, but at the same time showing the dashboard and what the dashboard is doing.

So you're turning, showing two things at once.

So you need to kind of walk through in your imaginary head and understand what it is you need to show that they see.

So all those elements you kind of need to plan in and work through to make sure that you, you get all of that in because it's really, really important and the story bought that out.

And there's something to be said as well for composition as well as what people with an explainer video, for example, what people will understand about it once they watch it.

So what will they take away?

And, and what if it is for example, health and safety.

What's going to be the main things that they understand when they watch that video?

Once, twice, three times.

Yeah, to, to go from there and.

Usually human language as well.

So then you know from, from a colleague.

So for example like walking through a bus and explaining how to start a bus up and having a colleague there rather than a trainer.

It's a colleague who's kind of been there and done that and knows and knows how, you know, buses might have been done a certain way or you've got a, what, you know, diesel bus.

You.

Some, some of them are going to wait for them to warm up with the coil and some of them, you don't have to do that, but, you know, they'll know that and they can talk about it in a really human, relatable way and that really stick.

And then, you know, you compose the pictures, as you say, but then making sure there's the understanding there and testing that.

And I think what we're alluding to here, if you didn't realize already, is how much work and effort and planning goes into creating these videos.

And that's not a bad thing because it's really helping you to think it through and making sure that then you're including the vital bits that you need, leaving out the bits that aren't quite as important.

But then what you've got in there, in, in your storyboard, in your video is going to be something succinct.

It's going to tell a really crisp and strong story and at that preparation is paid off to include all the bits that Darren mentioned and then you get to the edit.

Well then, well then if you've done, if you've done all the research and you know, this is where that prep pays off really, so you should be able to just lay that, edit that in and do all that edit to that storyboard.

So, but we always say, although it sounds really weird thing to say, you know, you've done all the preparation, but the one thing you've got to do is test your video.

This is where the story's built and where it's important for you to make sure that nothing's missed and having that kind of comfortable distance from it to stand back and share it with other colleagues as well, so they can pick up and notice what may be missing or hopefully, fingers crossed, you've got it all and you're good to go and your video is ready to be used.

And if it isn't, then that's the time when you can, you know, bite the bullet.

And if you need to film other bits again, then film it again because then, you know, you're explaining it's complete and the last thing you want to do is to either have some sort of, you know, marketing fail or some sort of health and safety fail where it's not quite complete and it's out there and then you know you've got a problem, another problem on your hands.

So we've taken you through quite a fair bit today where it comes to looking at videos and messages and also explaining a bit more around explain the videos and how they're going to work for you going forward.

So that's the end of this particular podcast of Land and Deliver.

Thanks for watching or listening.

Of course, you can find out more about us and the show notes and sign up to find out what the next episode is going to hit by going to our website, landanddeliver.co.uk.

Until next time.

See you soon.

Take care.

Sam.