You may not be aware that I’m a roving reporter for an internet TV channel for Learning and Development professionals and I’ve got an idea for LearningNow TV,

I began my foray into video a couple of years back and started out quite anxiously.  You see, I’m not a fan of public speaking and I never liked being in front of a camera, however, I noticed something.

Video was becoming important and I couldn’t ignore it.

I had to put away my misgivings and instead use it as a personal development to overcome my fear of the camera and what people (aka “the public”) may think.

Instead, I used it as an opportunity to learn how to express myself vocally and watch my mannerisms onscreen so I didn’t come across like a bumbling idiot, all the while having to learn how to plan, shoot and edit the film too. On top of that, learn how to use the movie editing software.

Why did I do this?

I don’t know.  Why do we usually do things that get us out of our comfort zones? To learn! To shake things up a bit. To not get stuck in a rut.

It was simply one of my learning goals and I figured if I do it publicly, people can see my progress and most importantly, I’ll have a record of this progress.  That is, I could see my improvement from the start of this foray to present day.

I’m a big believer in that if you want to learn something new, do it publicly.  New opportunities, ideas, resources, and contacts will fall into your lap that would otherwise not show themselves. 

So with that, I started to use my iPhone 6 and start creating short films (much of them were inspired by film maker and vlogger, Casey Niestat – to this day, he is an inspiration for me). This journey has seen me create a variety of short vlogs on my YouTube channel but also opened the door for me to explore filmmaking on a local intergenerational film project.  (Our film will be screening at the local theatre in late October).  It’s made me realise a lot of things – namely how much I enjoy writing/blogging only slightly more so than vlogging but they’re special in their own way…

While one allows the reader to create their own pictures in their minds; the other is where you take charge and show them for them.  Two very different media to tell the same story.

LearningNow TV was also another one of these opportunities that gave me an avenue to express my work and have it shown to an audience around the world.  I’m not paid for this work but I find I’m doing it for the love of creating something and sharing a little bit of my world – the people I’m meeting, the conferences I’m attending and the things I’m learning.

In a way, it provides the visual medium that goes behind my blog writing.  I convey my thoughts about these things here on my blog however, I can now provide you the visuals that go with it.

In effect, you get the whole story. My readers are also viewers who come along with me.

When I stumbled upon Snapchat, one of the immediate things that came to mind was submitting a story to LearningNow TV about this platform.  After spending a few months on Snapchat, talking to people who use it professionally for business, I was formulating an idea of a potential LearningNow TV story so I pitched the idea to Colin Steed, Executive Producer of LearningNow TV and he agreed!

What’s the Idea?

I wanted to create a short segment of about 5 minutes where my favorite Snapchatters who I know share and show their work, share their personal story.

This story is how they’ve used Snapchat to connect with others in and outside their field; identified new opportunities for co-operation in their business; or use it for professional development and learning. Their story will be like Snapchat is represented – on portrait video – with the filters, and annotations and the like so that the LearningNow TV viewer will get an example of how those snaps look like.

And guess what? It will be in Portrait Video.  Yes. Like what you see on your phone!

How Did I Do It?

After I got the approval from Colin, I immediately started planning out (storyboarding my Snapchat story) and created snaps seeking support.  I put it out there and asked people to help me out with the exact instructions of what to do.  You can see the story from 1:29 minutes onwards.

Already, I have people submitting their Snapchat stories to me and over the next month or so, I’ll pull them together using iMovie to create the snap movie.  Over the coming weeks, I will continue to snap the request so it’s not forgotten by people so it’s up to me to keep it front of mind for people and make it worth their while.

How will it end up?

I seriously don’t know.  What I do know is that it’s a brilliant tool for people who want to tell their stories and use it in all sorts of different ways.

Whether it’s for connecting and communicating with people; sharing and showing their work or projects; using it for marketing or public relations, the idea of immediate connection with someone and seeing their facial expression, hearing their voice and sharing their work and lives makes this social medium a bit more ‘real’ than the others.  However, that’s my opinion of it.  Let’s see what the others have to say!

I’ll let you know when the segment goes live on LearningNow TV.  If you haven’t registered already and would like to check out their other programs, do yourself a favour and do so!  All the details are on the LearningNow TV home page!