by Abby Mintz

Think back to a story you recently heard that really made you laugh. Now think of one of the most inspiring stories that you’ve been told. What makes these stories meaningful and memorable? The content, absolutely. But it is more likely how they are told that makes you think of them time and time again.

Day schools are full of funny and moving stories. Often they remain untold. And those stories that are told seem to lose those inspiring and interesting tidbits that keep our attention. Too often they tell us about the school and what the school did, when what we really want to hear about is the child or the family or the funny or moving situation.

At See3 Communications and the Avi Chai Foundation we believe that by becoming better storytellers day schools can better meet their goals for recruitment, fundraising, and community building. So, we have teamed up to help Jewish day schools learn how to best tell their own stories through video production with the Jewish Day School Video Academy. Through this program, we are helping eligible Jewish day schools improve their use of online video to tell, produce, and distribute their powerful stories.

Rather than running out with a video camera and shooting whatever happens on a random day, we are asking schools to be more deliberate in their thinking and planning. So, we urge you to consider the following:

• Your goal and specific target audience
• The best story to support that goal
• Who are the best people to tell your story
• How will you use and distribute your finished video
• What you would like your audience to feel or do after watching your video

Keep in mind that while there are many different types of video, the small, simple stories with memorable moments often have the strongest impact. Of course all of these ideas and techniques can be used for any organization.

Some schools have already begun heeding our call. There are some terrific videos online and more each day as day schools compete for the $10,000 grand prize in the Day School Video Academy Awards.

We understand that powerful storytelling and video production can often seem daunting at first, but we assure you that it is a worth it. If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine what a video story is worth!

Visit the Day School Video Academy website for additional resources on effective storytelling and video production. The hardest part is often just getting started.

Abby Mintz is a Project Coordinator at See3 Communications.