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MAKING THE MOST OF MEETINGS
Meeting stories are often the dullest
of the dull. The piece begins with a wide shot of people sitting
in a room. Some of them speak, but remain badly lit and often off-mic.
There are murky cut-aways of people listening. It's deadly to watch.
And yet, important developments occur at meetings, developments
that affect your viewers' daily lives.
As a television journalist, you may
be seeking ways of telling these stories differently. Try the following
strategies to make your viewers want to watch. And check out NewsLab's
meeting story examples, produced
to illustrate different approaches.
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Bring
it to Life
- If the fact of the meeting itself is important,
make the meeting the focus of your story.
- Find a central character to help you tell
what happened. Share the experience of the meeting with
the viewer through the eyes of that central character.
- Shoot plenty of close-ups and reaction
shots to bring the event to life.
- In writing, use specific detail: how long
did the meeting last? What was the atmosphere in the room?
Was it hot, cold, crowded, sparsely attended?
- Explore the whys as well as the whats. Why did people
come? What was their stake in the subject? How will it affect
them?
Narrow the Field
- Find a focus. Ask, "What is this meeting
really about?"
- Select, don't compress. Just because a
meeting has a long agenda doesn't mean that everything on
it belongs in your story.
- Plan ahead. Find out what is on the agenda
and get video shot in advance, or pull existing tape. Create
graphics ahead of time that outline the choices to be made.
- Show viewers something that adds to their
experience and helps them understand what is at stake.
Preview and Review
- Instead of building a "meeting story,"
create a preview piece about what will be discussed.
- Focus more on people who will be directly
affected by the results of the meeting than on the officials
involved.
- Report the results, briefly, once the meeting
is over. You might even re-use some of the video from the
preview piece. Get reaction from people affected.
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