Multimedia clips can be a very powerful addition to your e-book when done right, or they can be a distraction if poorly executed. Here is my systematic strategy for multimedia that adds power. I'm placing a PowerPoint clip, converted to flash at the beginning of each chapter of The Top 10 Internet Market Strategies Coaching Edition E-book. I'm creating each clip following this nine-step process:
1) Identify your key concept. What one concept do your readers most need to grasp in order to realize the full value of the chapter? That concept will become the subject of your multimedia presentation. For example, when it comes to creating an e-zine, the concept of creating an "item of value" for your reader in each addition is key.
2) Create a "bucket" for your key concept. What story best illustrates that concept. Stories and illustrations are the buckets your audience uses to carry away your message. So I begin each presentation with a strong, memorable story.
3) List the objectives of your message. What will your audience be able to do after reading the chapter?
4) Bring your message full circle. Recall your story.
5) Leave your audience with one or two key coaching questions to consider as they read the chapter. Coaching questions cause your audience to explore your point. For example, my coaching questions for the chapter on the e-zine marketing strategy are:
"When did your last receive spontaneous appreciation?"
"What valuable thing did you do that caused that appreciation?"
"How can you deliver that kind of value in an article?"
Coaching questions are open-ended (vs. closed ended questions that can be answered with "yes" or "no"). Coaching questions cause your listener to explore and to think, and draw forth the wisdom from within. This is learning and discovery at its best.
6) Divide your message into into PowerPoint slides, each focusing on one particular aspect of your message.
7) Add graphics and animation that compliment your message at every point.
8) Record your narration. For recording I put the narration in a text box in red font while recording, and delete the text boxes once the narration is complete. This causes me to "live in" the presentation as I am speaking. By that I mean, I'm looking at the graphics and the animations in motion as I'm speaking, and that experience influences the quality of my narration, binding it into the message as a unified whole.
9) Finally, convert your PowerPoint presentation to flash and insert it into your book.
Follow this nine-step strategy as you place media into your presentation and the media will add phenominal power to what you say. You end up touching your audience on many levels enhansing their ability to quickly grasp your point, associate it with something in their own thinking, and retain your point long after your presentation.
