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Recently, I watched an emotionally charged video. It was a sad story of a young girl sentenced to life in prison at age 16. At the time she made the video she’d already served 13 years. Her story, her voice, her tears were evocative, certainly. I felt compelled to be angry on her behalf. I was even skeptical of a commenter who said the young woman’s sentence was justified.

Beyond the fact that the content affected me emotionally, it got me thinking about just what made it such a powerful video.

What Made it Effective?

I wanted to know just how the producer/editor team was able to work me so? What elements t made this video speak so clearly to me? And I compared it with TV and movies to see what gets me so invested. Here are some of the things that can engage me deeply with what I’m viewing.

1. Believable characters - The woman had a believable demeanor.

If you look like you’re lying, I’m gonna shut down. And, I suspect I’m not alone in this.

2. No excessive expression - The woman cried but not throughout.

Overly dramatic, thespian-class delivery has the  same effect of causing me to shut down. It makes me not believe what I’m being shown.

3. Sense of fair play - She agreed she needed punishment, but thought her sentence was excessive.

Sharing opponents’ points, even some, makes me feel like I’m being fair and reasonable with a good sense of comprehension. And, really, most of us want to think we’re being fair, right?

4. Detailed the situation - The speaker told what her relationship was to her victim.

Sharing your relationship with the subject of your article isn’t always necessary or possible. But when you can, you’re tapping a potential wellspring of empathy, sympathy and compassion from your audience if you deliver it right. The persons who put this video together did a good job of cultivating my interests and swaying my opinion

5. She was brighter than her circumstances - She had positive things to say about her circumstance and possible future.

When I see the heart strings videos, movies, news segments, I always want to have a small hope at the end. For me there’s nothing worse than being brought low and LEFT there. This was not the video to leave me laughing and dancing. However, it imparted a measure of hope, even though a brighter day needed major changes in something.

What Reaches You, Reaches Others

The weight of the video was on the young woman speaking. In fact, no one else was heard or seen on the video. Not even the interviewer, although the speaker was obviously answering questions. From this solo expression, I still came away with the sense of the rest of the story. And I considered that my reaction probably would be in favor of the interviewee even after hearing the rest.

Whatever you write, no matter how sad, violent, disappointing, cutting, it’s important to give back in replacement of what you pull out of your audience. When I wrote medical stuff, the diseases were really scary to contemplate. But there’s hope. We never ended on the grossness of the ailments. Instead we’d go back around to the front tying in with whatever the upside might be. Yes, disease x is debilitating, but it’s reparable and preventive. And your kids don’t have to have it either.

Using these five points, I write to get the attention of my audience. It’s not the same for every type of writing but I look for chances to use them in my writing assignments. I’ve been using variations of these points to get attention for many years, and they still come through.

Try it out for yourself. Look for ways to use these points and let me know how it works for you.