7 Habits of Successful Video Productions - Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

I come at this from the perspective of a video producer for GoodSide Studio. When I talk with a client about their ideas, I work hard to listen to their ideas before offering my own. Likely, I will have ideas that I’m excited about from the start, but I don’t want to cloud their initial ideas with my own. This can be tough, because I want to make sure they know that I’ve been paying attention and that I have plenty to offer, but if I trust them to trust me with their pure, initial thoughts, everyone benefits and the job gets off to a great start.

Then, when I fully understand their initial thoughts, I’m prepared to add real value. I’ll expand on some of their ideas, offer new ones, redirect others, or even disagree. That’s how you build a solid foundation for a successful marketing video or training video.

GoodSide Studio is an award winning web video, marketing video and training video production company in Seattle.