Category Archives: Interviews

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February 7, 2025

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Interviews

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My Guest Appearances on We Are Overcomers Podcast

While I’m not a techie, I’m often contacted by people wanting answers about various digital technologies. This isn’t a misplaced ask, as I can answer most of their questions. In fact, I can simplify the answer to something the average person can understand. But, compared to a true techie who works 10-hour days in tech, there is a good deal of information I can’t speak to.

When it comes to podcasts, my experience is more extensive, having produced over 400 episodes for various clients. However, most of my time was spent on messaging and communications rather than the tech. If you have ever considered being a podcast guest or starting your own podcast, you might enjoy listening to my last two guest appearances.

I received a phone call from the WE ARE OVERCOMERS PODCAST host, Calvin Gibbs. He told me that the show was going to do two episodes on podcasting to help their audience. He knew the facts that podcasts have replaced blogging, which replaced newsletters.

In fact, podcasts are on the rise, with over 4 million shows globally. Yet, the market is not yet saturated.

I first met Calvin when he was a guest on one of the shows I produced a couple of years ago. From that experience, he knew I would be a good guest for the two special podcast episodes.

He convinced me with little effort, and these two episodes turned into a comfortable conversation with key facts that will help you be a guest or host your own podcast.

If you’re interested in listening to the podcasts, click on the images of each episode, which will take you to the WE ARE OVERCOMERS PODCAST webpage, where you can listen to the show. You can also find the podcasts on all the key platforms like Apple and Spotify.

Copyright © 2025 by CJ Powers

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June 19, 2023

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Behind the Scenes, Interviews

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5 Strategies to Simplifying Video for Social Media

Attention spans are short, and scrolling through social media feeds has become a daily routine. This cultural phenomenon makes capturing and maintaining our audience’s attention crucial.

Video messages are a powerful tool for communication on social media platforms, but to make an impact, they need to be concise, clear, and engaging. There are five effective strategies for simplifying video messages to communicate your message to your target audience effectively.

Craft a Clear and Compelling Message

The first step is to define a clear and compelling message in your visual voice. Identify the core objective of your video. What do you want your audience to take away from it? Once you have a clear goal, distill your message into a concise statement or key points. Avoid excessive jargon or complex explanations that might confuse or disengage viewers.

Consider using a storytelling approach to communicate your message effectively. Narratives with a beginning, middle, and end are compelling and can captivate your audience. Structure your video in a way that hooks viewers from the start, keeps them engaged throughout, and concludes with a memorable ending.

Keep it Short and Sweet (KISS)

Attention spans on social media are notoriously short, so keep your video message concise. Aim for videos that are at most two minutes in length. Grab your viewers’ attention within the first four seconds and maintain their interest throughout. Be mindful of the pacing, avoiding unnecessary repetitions or rabbit trails that could cause your audience to lose interest.

One effective way to simplify your video message is to focus on a single key idea or takeaway. Resist the temptation to overload your video with too much information. Instead, break complex topics into smaller, digestible chunks and create separate videos if needed. Remember, brevity is key to maximizing engagement on social media platforms.

Use Visuals and Graphics

Visual aids and graphics can significantly enhance the simplicity and impact of your video message. Support your narrative by illustrating key points with relevant visuals, such as images, charts, or infographics. Visual elements like storyboards can be fun and make information easier to remember.

When using graphics, choose clean and uncluttered designs that align with your brand identity and the overall tone of your video. Avoid overwhelming viewers with too much stimulation or information. Instead, focus on conveying the most crucial information visually.

Optimize for Mobile Viewing

Smartphones make up about 70% of internet traffic, so optimize your video message for mobile viewing. Ensure that your video is compatible with various screen sizes and orientations. Also, many viewers watch videos with the sound off, so consider using subtitles or captions.

Video load time is a critical consideration since most viewers won’t wait for your video to load. There is little loyalty when it comes to impatient wait times. Most individuals are likely to click on a faster-loading video from your competitor.

Compressing your video file size without compromising quality can help improve loading times. Prioritize high-quality visuals while keeping the file size as small as possible.

Call-to-Action and Follow-up

To maximize the video’s impact, conclude with a clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA). What action do you want your viewers to take after watching the video? Whether it’s visiting your website, subscribing to your channel, or sharing the video with others, make it explicit and easy to follow.

Often the CTA drives engagement in the comments section or direct messages. Respond promptly to questions, comments, and feedback to fuel engagement and foster a sense of community. Actively participate in the conversation surrounding your video message to help build trust and credibility with your audience.

Simplify Your Video Message

Simplifying video messages for social media is essential to communicate with your target audience. By crafting a clear and compelling message, keeping your videos short and engaging, incorporating visual aids and graphics, optimizing for mobile viewing, and including a strong call-to-action, you can create impactful video content that resonates with viewers.

Remember, simplicity is key to capturing your audience’s attention, making a memorable impression, driving engagement, and increasing brand awareness. All of which help you achieve your communication goals.

Copyright © 2023 by CJ Powers

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August 2, 2018

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Creativity, Interviews

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The Search that Launched a Career

Stacey_CJI met Stacey Montgomery after one of her speaking engagements. She is a woman who believes strongly about empowering kids. She moved to the Chicago area from the east coast for school and stuck around after graduation due to her landing a great job. Since then she’s become an entrepreneur. I asked her how she transitioned to being an owner of a growing company known for empowerment.

“I was looking forward to buying a Christmas card to send out because it was the first time that I sent out my own Christmas cards,” says Stacey. “To me, that’s what adulting is all about, sending out Christmas cards… I wanted a card that represented me, a card that had a relatable character, my skin tone, but also represented my personality.”

Our new inclusive culture hadn’t caught up to the needs Stacey faced in purchasing cards, so she went home and drew her own card.

“I sent it to family and friends, got great feedback, and some of them suggested, ‘You know, you should sell this.’”

Stacey acted on those suggestions and soon had orders from Marshall Field’s, Nordstrom, Carson, and numerous independent stores. She then shifted over to developing licensing deals with companies like Target. The positive cashflow allowed her to expand her offerings beyond Christmas cards. She soon developed invitations, note cards, stationery, and the like.

“I realized that my quest, my obsession with finding a good card, the perfect card, was all about confidence. It was all about me wanting to see something, or wanting to give something that really represented me, my personality, what I look like, all of that combined. I realized that that wasn’t just something that I want. It’s what people want. It’s what kids want. It’s what adults want. We like to see positive images of ourselves and what we like out in the world.”

We like to see positive images of ourselves and what we like out in the world.Her revelation focused her business pursuits on building the self-esteem of kids with diverse skin colors. She wanted her product line to encourage kids and build their confidence.

“I started making illustrations of kids with different skin tones, different skin colors, different ethnicities… I wanted people to see the diversity in the world, and I wanted people to see, kids to see, themselves… Kids would come up and look at it, and they would see something, and they’d say, ‘Oh, that’s me! That’s me!’ That was what it was all about.”

With thousands of kids trying to build confidence based on who they are, Stacey started crafting special guided journals to help them work through and find their intrinsic value.

“What I wanted to do was to… encourage kids to, again, think about themselves, about their gifts, to have a place where they can… navigate some of the challenging situations and the negativity. In school, there’s bullying, there’s name-calling… There are difficult situations academically, socially… A lot of situations are challenging. So I really wanted the kids to have a foundation that was all about self-love, belief in themselves, (and) self-worth.”

To continue driving success, Stacey sought help from a marketing strategist who had her focus on developing a mission statement, an ideal customer, and a family of related products. She was coached to use the mission statement and her ideal customer as a filter to determine what great products to produce and which ones to drop.

While the process was daunting, she stuck with it to help more kids.

“I’m not trying to reach just one kid, I’m trying to reach thousands of kids,” she says. “I now conduct workshops in schools, I have subscriptions to my journals, I work with somebody to develop a curriculum, and it’s all because I really honed in on my mission and my ideal customer.”

Stacey’s materials are aimed at kids 8-12 years of age. Her website is located at staceymdesign.com and offers an array of items that help build the self-esteem of kids who are of varying ethnicities.

©2018 by CJ Powers