Start using B-Roll in your presentations

I've been getting asked more and more to teach people how to give better presentations, tell better stories, and essentially sell what they do. The next time you are asked to give a presentation, here's the one thing I think you could do to instantly step up it up. The secret lies with what every documentary, movie or TV show director already knows: use B-Roll.

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B-Roll is any footage, pictures or graphics that can help move your audience with you. These supporting graphics can be establishing shots, cutaways, images, or even sketches...essentially any visual that can help move the story forward. It’s main function is pull the audience into the story.

What does that mean to be "pulled in" to a story?

It means to be not giving your attention to anything else, only what the director permits. Absent any story line and supporting story elements, our minds will look for something to stimulate it. Story elements are anything that helps explain a concept by transforming it from a fleeting idea to something more tangible.

Think of your next presentation as a story, with its own story line. 

Where will this B-roll come from? It comes from every meeting you're having, every product you are shipping, and every celebration you host. Our team has a quarterly presentation tomorrow for one of our top stakeholders. He's going to be expecting to learn about what we've been up to, what we plan to do next and what obstacles are in our way. Sure, I could put a few bullet points to serve as reminders of what to cover and bore him out of the room. Or, I could assemble footage of our work and use that to guide him along our conversation

What to choose for your next presentation, bullet points or B-roll? The choice is simple. Start filming.

Bonus

Peter McKinnon, photographer and vlogger, shares an incredible overview of B-roll and provides some great tips on shooting it (if you are new to that, too).