The supplies given to them were shown in the video.
I want to talk about the importance of having subtitles on your Fund a Need video.
Subtitles aren’t just useful for foreign audiences or those hard of hearing.
Here’s what happened last week and why I’m sharing.
One of my clients runs a Foundation providing money for disaster relief.
When a disaster hits some part of the world, the Foundation sends money to a local partner — an on-the-ground nonprofit that funnels the money directly to those affected.
The size of the disaster is irrelevant. This Foundation has supported Americans hit by hurricanes but is just as likely to help people in another part of the world.
Last week this client received a surprise thank-you video from some flood victims in Sierra Leone. The amateur clip had an enthusiastic spokesman standing in front of a group of people holding a homemade “thank you” banner.
The video included a few seconds worth of flooding from some homes.
This guy couldn’t stop smiling!
At one point, the clip shows the food supplies they’d been given. Another shot is of a flooded home (see photos).
Money had been PayPaled to a local Sierra Leone charity and then distributed to this village. He and his community effused thanks for the rice, salt, and other provisions.
The video is a perfect testament to the group’s mission and will likely be shown before the organization’s Fund a Need next March.
But before that happens, I made a suggestion: Add subtitles to the video.
Though the video was in English and the spokesman’s enthusiasm was clear, I had a hard time understanding him.
If this video were shown in a ballroom, his accent and the poor audio quality would be lost on the crowd. The sound would distort so badly that it would be pointless to show the video.
(By the way, sometimes captions are also needed with subtitles. Read this to clear up any confusion you have regarding the difference between subtitles and captions.)
And schools — pay attention.
Subtitles are also useful if you have children speaking in your videos.
Countless times I’ve watched videos of children talking on the playground. After every video I find myself asking, “What did that kid say?”
The parents of the speaker, being attuned to their child’s voice, understand the 5-second speech.
The rest of us are left guessing as to what was said.
When you’re viewing a video on your laptop, the sound might be “good enough.” But when that video and sound is expanded to fill a ballroom, the voices of children garble. Background noises also create a distraction that hurts comprehension.
The audience might be able to HEAR the child, but they can’t UNDERSTAND what is said.
In contrast, studio sound is different. When a child is individually mic’d in a quiet studio setting, subtitles aren’t typically needed. The clarity of the sound is crisp.
Here’s the synopsis.
If your video features a child speaking in a non-studio setting, or has anyone speaking with an accent that might be difficult for others to understand, consider putting subtitles into the video to make it easy for all your guests to follow the conversation.
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To dramatically improve your special appeal, the master class Fabulous Fund a Need Secrets is available for your committee. Look for it and other helpful benefit auction courses in my store.
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