The Day I Heard My Boss Cry Through A Snorkel

It was my dream gig. 

I was on the remote island Dyiigurra, 150 miles north-east off the coast of Cairns in Queensland, filming marine scientists researching on the Great Barrier Reef with several colleagues. The weather was perfect and underwater visibility was crystal clear. Four days in paradise doing what I love. 

We packed our lunch and cameras and set off in a dinghy with two Swiss marine scientists. They were working with the Australian Museum to document the behaviours of bottom feeder fish. Our job was to document the scientists’ experiences with coral bleaching. 

While the scientists began setting up for the day, they suggested we take the time to go for a snorkel. This would allow us to get some b-roll footage of the coral and critters. Then we could do interviews at morning tea. 

I asked them if they knew any parts of the reef with bleached coral. They looked at me with blank faces. “It’s everywhere,” one of them said. 

We’d chosen to film on Dyiigurra because of reports that two cyclones and seasonal bleaching had severely damaged the Island’s reef. So I was prepared for the worst. But what I witnessed that day blew my mind.

It was a disaster. Dead, broken, algae-ridden coral layered the ocean floor. The spookiest thing of all was that there were very few fish. You didn’t have to be a scientist to realise that there was something desperately wrong with the reef.

After several minutes snorkelling about, I felt the need to compose myself before I began filming the destruction. Upon surfacing I heard hollowed whimpering. It was my boss crying through their snorkel. Another colleague was floating on her back, face to the sky, silently processing the scene she’d just witnessed. 

We counselled one another throughout the day. Seeing such mass devastation first hand had a numbing effect. It was unspoken, but we were all thinking the same thing; “How can we make a difference when it’s so far gone?” 

Instead of wallowing in despair, we made a conscious effort to focus on small glimmers of hope. A scientist on Dyiigurra had taken us to a dive site where young corals appeared to be regenerating. This story of recovery brought hope, and hope is always worth sharing.  

Fast forward two years. The mining and burning of fossil fuels in Australia is on the rise. While the Great Barrier Reef, supposedly a national icon, remains in peril from the actions of big polluters. 

How do storytellers share the harrowing impacts of coral bleaching, bush fires, floods, droughts and heatwaves whilst also generating enough hope to compel people to act?  For me, the answer lies in shared values. Clean air, safe jobs, sustainable living or the simple love of music.

Many media outlets continue to practice a “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality when it comes to sharing disaster stories. This fear-based storytelling is effective, because it provokes an emotional response. 

Don’t get me wrong, emotional connection is incredibly important. Hearing my boss cry through their snorkel was a blessing to know that others feel exactly the same way as me. But in order to facilitate positive change, we need stories that couple emotions with solutions based on shared values, as this will hopefully galvanise people to take action.  

For some excellent examples of solutions-based journalism check out the Solutions Journalism Network.

Three qualities of a well produced piece of content

1. Makes an impact

A story is only as good as the impact it creates. Well produced content is relevant and establishes connection with the audience. For example, a video could have Hollywood level cinematography but if it fails to establish connection or empathy, it will fail to shift audience perceptions or build capacity and inspire policy change. Humour & wit, pop culture or a simple human truth are core to well produced content.

2. Offers shared values and a call to action

For content covering environmental problems and solutions with the aim of reaching new audiences it needs to offer shared values, for example clean air or a love for music. Successful environmental content often ends with a shared vision of the future and a compelling call to action because it’s not enough that the audience just be inspired, angered or entertained. Well produced content compels people to act.

3. Communicates a key message

Content is in competition for audience attention, so it’s critical to present a compelling key message that’s memorable and shareable. Well produced content is very clear and deliberate to avoid information overload, hence why so much social media content is short and targeted.

2 design and video making platforms for every Not-for-Profit to easily stay on brand.

Charities and Not-for-profit Organisations have important and engaging stories to tell but often time and budget constraints can limit the production quality. Often the communications strategy and visual brand have been invested in but the day-to-day production costs of producing social media content is understandably not prioritised over an organisation’s impact driven work.

It’s a catch-22 situation because both campaigning and fundraising rely on regularly communicating the important work and success stories of an organisation and these stories need to be presented at an acceptable production standard that costs money.

The design platform Canva and the caption-based video platform Lumen5 are affordable, incredibly powerful and easy-to-use tools that can help generate fast and affordable branded content.

I’ll start with Lumen5 because every time I use this tool I’m blown away with it’s intelligence in creating video content. You can create a captioned, fully branded video with image slides in minutes. Copy and paste your latest supporter email or blog post and Lumen5 will use AI technology to produce a captioned video. It’ll pick out the key messages or sentences, insert relevant stock imagery from the Getty archive, highlight key words and add your brand end frame all with the click of a button. It’s a game changer! You can easily adjust the captions, upload you own images or search the Getty archive yourself to fine tune before exporting to social media. Seriously, every Charity should be using Lumen5. Why not add these videos to your next email or blog post to cater for supporters who would prefer to watch a video?

I made this video on Lumen5 in 5 minutes!

Canva is a more familiar design platform that many organisations use. Being a Designer, I was initially resistant and skeptical but since multiple staff and volunteers often communicate with supporters I’ve learned to love it. Commission a Designer to setup a range of templates based on your visual brand style and then have the confidence that anyone can create a social media graphic that’s on brand.

Both platforms offer monthly and annual subscription plans for Not-for-profits so you can stay on budget and start producing high quality branded content daily.

Happy creating!

PS. I’m not affiliated with either platform, I just want more Charities having the confidence to produce clear and engaging branded content.