Image And Presentation
In the modern political world, much has changed. The advent of social media and wider online media coverage brings with it some challenges. Whilst you might argue it's about what I stand for and not how I present myself. If only it were so.
Just think about it as a job interview. You don't go to an interview not looking your best, Unlike an interview panel of a handful of people at most, your interview panel is your electorate.
If you want them to take you seriously, then first impressions are important.
How can we help?
It's time to put your faith in someone who understands both the messaging imperative and how best to present that image for media purposes. As we have discussed before, this is about marginal gain. It's about getting the best out of social media, by understanding how to message and how to use the various algorithms to get more bang for your effort.
What can we do for you?
Our strength lies in visually presenting your vision in a way that connects with your voters. The current election cycle is probably one of the most challenging in modern US history. If Democrats are to build a foundation to build a better tomorrow, then down ballot races need to be taken as seriously as senate and congressional runs. It's about developing a set of resources that allow candidates to present a polished assertive image that says 'I take your concerns seriously, and you are in safe hands if you put your faith in me.
Our aim is to share our knowledge of how to connect emotionally with voters in a way that leaves them in no doubt that you are to be taken seriously. Running for office is always a gamble and even the best of candidates can come up short, but as the late great John Lewis said, "You may get weary, you may fall down, but you must GET UP and continue to fight". Democracy in American is in the fight of its life and it's people like you stepping forward that will help preserve it.
Marginal gains.
We have offered selected candidates an opportunity to be featured in an Ad to raise the importance of running for office. The plan is to feature candidates introducing themselves and stating their mission statement. It's a two fold opportunity. Firstly it provides us with an opportunity to steer you towards what makes an effective short visual statement and we can use our reach to help get your campaign into the social media bloodstream. Let me be clear, this type of ad will NOT get millions of views simply because introducing candidates is NOT a hot issue, but it will help you understand what you need to do moving forward to get a short effective message out there.There is no magic bullet, but we can provide you with some template resources to help you present a professional image to those you are asking to put their faith in you as their representative
Creating your intro video
In order to get the widest reach, the key to producing your intro video is to produce it so that it can seamlessly shared across all the social media platforms. A little over 50% of web browsing in the US is on mobile devices , so this has to figure high in your consideration when thinking about your audience. Here is the key number you have to remember 83% of all social media browsing is from a mobile device. For this reason, it's a good idea if it's a short message to do it in vertical format.
We've provided some framing examples, so you can see an ideal framing of a subject for creating your piece to camera. If you have a smartphone you have all you need to make a decent recording. The more recent your phone the better and higher quality result .
Ideally you should record against a smooth plain background. Phones do work quite well in normal light, You should try and avoid recording in a dark room if possible and if you really want to get an even better result recording indoors, you could spend $30 or so on a donut light with a holder for your phone. If you are going to use short videos to keep your voters informed, you may well find this a worthwhile investment.
The key to recording your message is to make it feel conversational. Just imagine you were sitting down over a coffee with a friend and giving them an insight into your plans. This is really effective when you are doing an introductory message. It will appear natural and easy to relate to.
For guys, it's sometimes effective if you feel comfortable, to not wear a suit and a tie. Casual but smart should be the rule of thumb.
Another key consideration is not to be too far away from the microphone on your phone and be aware that reflective surfaces can make you sound like you are in the shower, so a plain wall in a room with soft furnishings will provide best results.
We are asking you NOT to record in landscape for your introductory video.
Recording in 'Landscape ' (with your phone on it's side) is often better for longer narrative pieces. You will see in this example that the subject is positioned to the right. This enable people like us to overlay messaging or a background into the open space.
You will see some really great candidate videos out there that have been directed and carefully constructed. These tend to be expensive as it involves planning, lighting sound recording etc.
You will see the importance of using a plain background shortly. If you use a plain well lit background then this enables us in post production to remove that plain background and replace it with an image or even video content.
The point I'm making here is if we have a well lit well recorded piece to camera, it provides us with more flexibility with the final product.
You will see that the second picture is a little more zoomed in, some prefer a more closeup shot, but you really should go no further than shown here. We can always zoom in during post production.
The key is to get the best well lit raw recording you can get with the equipment you have. From iPhone 10 upwards, the back facing cameras have got really really good. You SHOULD NOT use your front facing selfie camera to record, as this is a much lower resolution camera.
I know using the back facing camera can be a pain if you have nobody to hold the phone for you, but little tripods to hold your phone are less than $20 and can make a big difference.
Finally let's look at what you have to say. The key here is to be concise and to the point. Introduce yourself and the office you are running for. Then a short pause and give a short one sentence mission statement .