Internal comms experts worth their salt know the power of user-generated content in employee videos. But there can only be so much time for strategies. Pretty soon, you’ve got to get your hands dirty and generate your material. Understanding the nuts and bolts of how to execute your plan is key. Here are four key steps you’ll need to follow through.

Get familiar with your process

Take time to chart out how you are going to create your video project. And if you’ve got a lot riding on a big project, it’s definitely worth investing a little extra time up front to fully understand the tools and platform you’re using. Getting everyone used to producing, uploading, and editing user-generated content is another crucial step. Because while creating UGC is relatively easy, plenty of your colleagues might feel out of their comfort zone early on. Try something small to start with, like the internal trivia video Tri-State Energy made during lockdown. These fun little tests get everyone familiar with the nuances and features of the platform – without the pressure of a high-stakes, time-sensitive project on the line.

Recruit participants the right way

Don’t just invite everyone to your first project. Look around for who’s most excited about creating and submitting footage for internal communication videos. Reaching out to them directly gives you the chance to provide all the detail they need about your plans and the project’s wider context. Employee videos thrive on enthusiasm and colleagues who have fully bought into your overall goals - and excited participants can be the difference between footage that rocks and footage that just adds seconds to your video. A little bit of handholding in the early stages can go a long way to raising everybody’s confidence. Staff at AXON were very prescriptive in their approach to this piece of user-generated content. For more details, check out our full rundown of the AXON approach.

Give your team ALL the details

If you do decide to dive straight into a major project, there is one thing you can do above all others to make sure everything goes to plan: get ALL the details laid out as fully as possible. Using software like Cinebody helps you distribute your project description and shot list – and remember specificity is key. The more detail you provide, the less potential you’ll have for variation between participants. Specialized was particularly great at this, sending how-to and instructional videos to participants and creating an air-tight shot list. Try to answer key questions in your project description: what’s the project about, why are you doing it, what will the footage be used for and how can your participants avoid submitting unusable footage?

Don’t forget lighting and audio

As iPhones continue to advance, so does the quality of the footage they produce. With a few simple steps, the smartphone in your pocket can easily produce clips that are on par with your organization’s preferred quality of video content. All you’ve got to do is show your team exactly what steps they need to take. Four technique basics will go a long way:

• Ensure your shot is well lit and has no dominant shadows

• Film somewhere that’s free of ambient noise

• Vary your shot types (close-up, extreme close-up, medium close-up, etc)

• Film multiple takes and review your footage

These points might seem obvious to seasoned video producers. But to internal employees taking their first steps in video production, this type of information is gold. You’ll get picturesque and usable footage, so your final edits will represent your brand exactly how you want. And if you want to go the extra mile, a few inexpensive accessories could take your shots to the next level.

Internal video projects are an awesome way to engage and unite your workforce, adding instant authenticity to your internal comms strategies and reinforcing your most pertinent brand information. And it doesn’t matter if your team is spread across states, countries, or even continents. With Cinebody, you can remotely direct your team, review and edit footage, and produce your final content. Let’s shoot!