Making a Good Show into a Great Show

From TreetWiki

Producing a show is a lot of work, and everybody wants their show to be watched and enjoyed by as many people as possible. When designing your show, here are some important techniques to consider to make your shows more watchable and enjoyable, and ultimately more popular.

Put Your Main Topic Up Front

The fate of your show will be decided in the first 60 seconds. While TV viewers in their living rooms are very patient and often will tune in at random times, Internet viewers are more focused and almost always start watching from the beginning. There are so many videos online that if your show doesn't have a magnetic appeal within the first 60 seconds, you've lost the viewer and they'll click away elsewhere.

Grabbing viewers attention is not a matter of aesthetics. Viewers are surprisingly insensitive to quality issues. Fancy intros, hi-definition content, and stunning visuals are, unfortunately, often irrelevant. Intro's should set the mood, not try to be content unto themselves. Many mainstream programs omit an early intro and use a "cold open" specifically so that they do not lose viewers during an intro sequence they have seen before.

Most importantly, keep in mind that Viewers care about the story they are being told!!

Your story is:

• The unique guest you have on your show.
• The stunning musician you will feature.
• The unusual building technique people will discover.

To make this compelling, you must not assume that viewers know what to expect. They will not wait until you introduce your guest 5 minutes into your video, and they will not, like you, realize how important your guest is. Unless you make this obvious up front, in the first 60 seconds, you will lose viewers. Worse, viewers who were patient enough to keep watching for 5 or 10 minutes will not be happy when they discover that your guest is not somebody they are interested in. You'll lose even the patient ones if you're not careful.

Your show needs an up-front "hook" which pulls viewers into the story.

All shows have to solve this problem in order to attract and keep viewers. Here are some of the common ways you've probably seen:

• News shows often start with a high-impact news summary during the first minute, summarizing the most important stories. This keeps the viewer tuned in to see the details of what they care about, and does them a favor by not wasting their time if they aren't.
• Dramas introduce a problem or situation early, often with a "cold start" before the credits run. A well written cold start can even give viewers a hint about who the main character of focus may be for the episode or whether the episode will deal with romance, comic moments, or disappointment. The X-Files had excellent "cold opening" techniques which made it clear to viewers within the first few minutes whether an episode was a "mythology episode", an episode about the paranormal, or one of the episodes which revolved around comic, quirky situations.
• Lifestyle programs, such as home improvement shows, use techniques similar to news programs, but are more informal, and plant "hooks" in the viewers mind that will be answered later in the show. For example, here is the kind of intro such shows often incorporate... "What if you could turn your backyard into a garden pardise.... for less than $100? We'll introduce you to somebody who did just that, in a way that will surprise you. We also review some great new garden tools that you may not know about."

One mistake that is often made is to put information up-front which may be important to the show host, or to sponsors, but not the viewers. Viewers do not want to hear about your favorite sponsor, or your favorite Second Life event, builder, charity, or personality unless it is the primary focus of your show. They will especially be turned off by advertising or sponsorship messages. Save these for later in the show, just before a break, or at the end. If you have a high paying sponsor, include only one such sponsor up front, make the mention concise and well-written, and mention it after the show "hook". But, the best is to avoid it.

Here are some guidelines to follow:

• DO present your primary topic first with a strong opening in the first minute of your program.
• DO create a hook that leaves your viewer with an unanswered question, or curiosity that can only be fulfilled by watching the remainder of the show.
• DO give viewers a clear overview of one or two important secondary topics.
• DO make sure that new viewers will have no confusion about what your show is about.
• DON'T include sponsorship or personal messages early in your show.
• DON'T bore your loyal regular viewers with information they have heard before. Tell them what's new.