Ted Talks and RSA Animates - What do you do?
Posted by Heidi Wurpel
TedX's "Ted Talks" and RSA Comment's "RSA Animate" are two incredibly popular websites from America and the United Kingdom that do essentially the same thing, in two different ways, with similar results. Both websites share a brief (less than 20 minute) presentation or lecture from an expert via online video. TED Talks makes use of a slightly more traditional speaker-at-a-conference setting for their videos - ensuring that their speakers are incredibly dynamic and interesting performers; while, RSA Animates turn the speaker's lecture into a voiceover and a hand draws pictures of what the speaker is saying on a white board. The effect of both of these websites is that the viewer is absolutely enthralled - deeply engaging in whatever this leading thinker has to say. The viewer then goes on to tell people about points made in the video, which (here's the "kicker") drives more traffic to these two organizations' websites, thanks to word of mouth advertising and viral marketing through sharing of the videos online.
So, TED talks, RSA animates; what do you do?
I can't tell you how many times people have said, "no one is interested in the specifics of what I'm working on" or "our work is esoteric and therefore we can't get the word out." I'd posit that if you have ever said these things, TED and RSA have proved you wrong.
It is true that when working with clients on website copy, I always have to remind them not to use jargon, be concise and use a layperson's terms. This post is intended for people who already have the basic format of their website in place and are seeking to add more content. For you: get specific; but, be interesting!
Go ahead and record yourself giving a lecture as you would to your colleagues or an audience of your customers. Then get creative. Here are just a few ides:
...The options are endless. What TED and RSA have taught me is that people will engage with high-level, complex topics, if you can engage them and teach them something new.