8 Steps for an Effective Video Brainstorming Session

Every great video needs to have its root in a great idea. Long before we wrap up the finishing touches of post production edits for our client's videos, we all sat in a room and kicked around different ideas in a video brainstorming session. 

Over the years, we've recognized that running these brainstorming sessions in a certain way tends to deliver better results. Once we spotted the pattern, we learned to follow the same basic guidelines for all of our brainstorming meetings. Every meeting is unique, but here is a list of 8 steps we follow to help get the best ideas for our clients' videos. 

1. Have A Leader

Someone needs to plan the meeting, prep the team, and run the show. Everyone is going to contribute to the meeting, but you need someone in charge of direction, keeping the meeting moving along, taking notes and capturing the different ideas. 

Feel free to delegate. The leader doesn't have to be the person writing every idea on a post-it note. However, when the rest of the team knows who is in charge, they are free to let all their brain power focus on the best business video ideas. 

2. There's No Box

This is kind of a mindset we want the entire team to be in when coming into the meeting. There is no box. Meaning, this is a brainstorming session. Let the ideas run wild! 

Later on in the meeting, we come back to what ideas are actually possible to implement, but for coming up with ideas, you want the team to freely let all of their creativity and outside of the box ideas flow. 

3. Get Inspired

We're a video production company, and we make videos. So where do we find inspiration? Often, we get inspired by videos from other creators. 

We'll often spend the first few minutes of the meeting sharing and watching other videos to get our emotions and brain juices flowing.  

4. No Idea Is A Bad Idea

Well, at least at first. We definitely want to create an open environment where all ideas, no matter how crazy, are welcome. 

Later on, we like using the Success Model for Sticky Ideas from Made to Stick to help filter the ideas. For example, we'll ask, "Is the idea simple? Unexpected? Credible? Emotional?" Our best ideas will be sticky, but before we filter, we want our team to feel that all ideas are welcomed and encouraged. 

5. Live A Fuller Life

Ok. This one gets a little philosophical. But, when you are cranking out marketing videos for clients, the best ideas don't just come from sitting around the studio all day.  You need to draw inspiration from a variety of experiences. 

This can be anything from reading a good book, experiencing a piece of art, immersing yourself in good poetry, or having a great conversation with a friend.

Living. Loving. Hurting. Healing. These deep and rich human experiences are things we draw from when telling stories through video. We want our entire team to live a rich and full life outside of the meeting, because eventually, those experiences are going to make their way back into our work. 

6. Choose What Excites The Group

Now that we have a list of potential ideas, and we've run them through our sticky idea filter, it's time to choose a few favorites. 

We keep this pretty simple. We tend to choose the ideas that the group is most excited about. When our team has passion and excitement for the project, it's going to show up in the work. 

7. Be Realistic

Ok, it's time to pull out your pragmatic hat. While we all have had a good time being inspired and brainstorming outside of the box, it's time to check some of these ideas against the realities we face. 

Every business has limited time, money and resources. So, now is the time when we take our favorite ideas and start to work with the reality of the situation. We'll crunch a few numbers and make sure we can execute on our favorite ideas. If we have to tweak one of our favorite ideas in order to get it done, we will. 

8. Store Ideas Away

At the end of the meeting, we'll decide on three ideas we want to present to a client. Any more than three concepts, and clients generally have a hard time deciding. 

Here's the fun part. Just because a client doesn't choose an idea that you are in love with doesn't mean that idea is dead. You've gone through the hard work of brainstorming and filtering some great ideas. Make sure you have a good system for filing those ideas away because you never know when you might be able to repurpose it for later. 

Summary

When you think of a video brainstorming session, it might seem a bit odd to have a list of steps to follow. Our experience, however, is that when we have an efficiently planned meeting, with a prepped, inspired team that is free to think outside of the box, we come up with our best ideas. 

Have brainstorming session ideas that work great for your team? We would love to hear about them. Share them over at our Facebook Page. 

And if you would like Drive Media House to brainstorm your corporate video needs, contact us today.