My Resource for Excellence.

Creating Engaging Stories and Publishing Digitized Assets on Multiple PlatformsAlberta Museums Association ConferenceSeptember 30, 2011Julie Marion and Heather Dunn

Workshop – Duration: 1:15

Content is King!

The key is to have an engaging story, well told.

Be careful that the technology doesn’t become more

important than the story.

If you don’t have a good story, sophisticated technology

just makes that more obvious!

Creating Engaging Stories

History Matters at virtualmuseum.ca5 inspiring stories to see and hear

Exercise No. 1After viewing the History Matters series, answer the following

questions. According to you:

A. What is the purpose of each story? For ex.:

To entertain

To educate

B. What is the topic (type)? For ex.:

Object story

Event story

C. What is the intended audience? For ex.:

Geographic segmentation

Psychographic segmentation

The Sukiennice Museum in Krakow, PolandExample of an audience-oriented project

Planning Tips

The Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling - Storycenter.org

1.A Point of View

2.A Dramatic Question

3.An Emotional Content

4.The Gift of Your Voice

5.The Power of the Soundtrack

6.Economy

7.Pacing

Group Exercise No. 2

Plan the story for a short video addressing your audience, purpose

and topic.

Audience:

Purpose:

Topic:

And describe briefly how you will address each of the

7 elements.

1. Make a content plan (bullets for main ideas).

2. Gather all content assets.

3. Optimize search engines efficiency:

i. Select the main key phrases and keywords

ii. Validate with tools

iii. Follow a structure that can be optimized by sub-topics

4. Follow the inverted pyramid writing style.

5. Keep the language plain, using short sentences.

6. Use sub-headers.

7. Validate the language level to address your audience.

(See slides 13 and14)

Writing Tips

Simply Put…

The writing should be clear, conversational and

concise.

Use plain language oriented towards your audience.

Make every word count, choose them carefully.

The Power of Words

Readability Testing – Online Tools

If your text is already online, try pasting URL into

http://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php (english)

http://labs.translated.net/lisibilite-texte/ (french)

This free service will automatically rate your texts using

several well-known reading-level algorithms

Gunning Fog and Flesch-Kincaid – estimates number of years

of schooling it would take someone to understand the content.

Flesch Reading Ease - an index number that rates the text on a

100-point scale.

Readability Testing – Do It YourselfYou can also do your own readability testing

Tools such as Microsoft Word’s “Word Count” (in the

“Tools” menu) may help – provides count of pages,

words, characters, etc.

Analyze your text following one of the algorithms, e.g.:

The Gunning-Fog algorithm:

(average_words_per_sentence +

number_words_three_or_more_syllables) * 0.4

All algorithms are available at

ttp://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php

1. Follow the 7 Elements of Digital Storytelling.

2. Build the story's visuals around the script and voice

over.

3. Focus on still images instead of video clips.

4. Secure copyright.

5. Use free and low-cost software, e.g.:

i. Microsoft Movie Maker

ii. Apple iMovie

6. Think multiple platforms now!

Production Tips

Multiple Platforms and Synergy

Bralorne’s Time Traveller:

An image A blog A buzz: Distribution on multiple

platforms

Time Traveller Professional Audience

Time Traveller General Public

Summary

Appreciate the importance of an audience-oriented approach

to storytelling.

Gain an understanding of how to maximize your return by

publishing assets on multiple platforms.

Explore the potential of the Web and digital technologies to

share your museum’s story and broaden your audience.

Supplement

1. Create or select online content.

2. Shorten URL with goo.gl.

3. Paste URL into qrcode.kaywa.com, and select size.

4. Save file.

Easy option for mobile access: Creating a QR Code

Acknowledgements

Ontario Museums Association

www.storycenter.org

Association of Nova Scotia Museums

The Sukiennice Museum in Krakow, Poland

SourcesOMA Video Production How-To Guide: First Steps to Digital Storytelling in Museumshttp://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/sommaire-summary/amo_video-oma_video-eng.jspStoryline Development and Project Management for Community Museums (Online Course)http://www.pro.rcip- chin.gc.ca/sommaire-summary/elaboration_chroniques-storyline_development-eng.jspTip Sheet on Writing Effective Communicationshttp://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/carrefour-du-savoir-knowledge-exchange/communications_efficaceseffective_communications-eng.jspTip Sheet on Video Content Creationhttp://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/carrefour-du-savoir-knowledge-exchange/contenu_video-

video_content-eng.jspThe Impact of Search Engine Optimization on Canadian Museum Websiteshttp://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/carrefour-du-savoir-knowledge-exchange/omr_musee-

seo_museum-eng.jspGoogle insight: http://www.google.com/insights/search/#Flesch–Kincaid readability testhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch%E2%80%93Kincaid_readability_test“Juicy Studio” http://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php#readintro The Mystery of the “1940s Time Traveller”: The Changing Face of Online Brand Monitoringhttp://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/carrefour-du-savoir-knowledge-exchange/voyageur_temps-

time_traveller-eng.jspQR Code How-To Guide, Prepared by the Association of Nova Scotia Museums pdf on USB keyhttp://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/sommaire-summary/ansm_qr-eng.jsp

Contact Us Julie MarionManager, Business Development and MarketingCanadian Heritage Information Networkjulie.marion@pch.gc.ca

Heather DunnHeritage Information Analyst – StandardsCanadian Heritage Information Networkheather.dunn@pch.gc.ca

Other Contacts

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Twitter: Follow us on @vmc_mvc

LinkedIn: Canadian Heritage Information Network