The Ultimate Guide To Creating A Church Testimony Video

[@jayvsson]

Testimony Questions: (finding the bruise) 1. Tell me about the time when… (there specific focus) 2. Tell me the story of… (there specific focus) 3. Describe the conversation (reinact the dialogue) 4. Tell me about the day you realized… 5. How have you changed in the last 5 years ? 6. How do you see yourself? 7. What was the pivitol moment for you? 8. What have you not talked about that you’d like to share?

[@thebrotherhoodisdumb]

I've made 22 life stories in my career, and the best piece of advice I can give is to never stop learning. Never assume you have the best formula - God can move in even in the smallest of stories. Love the tips, thanks guys!

[@alexandermills2230]

Great advice, Joshua!

[@jerrymiles9962]

I'm not good at standing up in Public and giving my testimony so I think a video would be a good idea for me thank you for doing this video and God bless with love and peace

[@TheBillyDWilliams]

I'm here for the Endgame jokes. Great video! I love the examples given.

[@prochurchtools]

Haha! Thanks for watching!

[@taylorgreenhill2360]

Love this! Couple questions: Do you send questions to interviewees beforehand? They usually ask me for them. How about interviewing a couple? Any major changes?

[@LutheranChurchoftheLakes]

Thanks guys! You inspire me to help my church reach out and be more in the rural community where we have been planted.

[@alexandermills2230]

Amazing. We're so glad you're inspired 🤩

[@rileyclimbs]

"Describe the conversation when..." I'm excited to use this one for my next interview. Thanks for the points and direction!

[@alexandermills2230]

One of our favourites! Thanks for watching 😌

[@Rampaigee]

Thank you. I want to find someone to help me film my testimony. I watched Dan’s story and it definitely made me cry. Beautiful work.

[@elizabethz7835]

Same! I think I’ll do it by myself but I really want to put it together nicely.

[@sethisrad]

Wow, those testimony films you made had me crying! Excellent work as always Brady, and praise be to God for the work he has done and is doing in those folks lives!

[@prochurchtools]

Thanks for watching, and your kind words Seth! Constantly amazed by the way God works in our stories. 😊

[@sethisrad]

@@prochurchtools For sure! I also recently implemented the Drift Chatbot you recommended from another episode and it's been awesome! One challenge is that it seems to make the site load a lot slower though... which my web guy is telling me is lowering our SEO ranking. So I think we may just limit it to load on the visitor pages instead of the whole site... what are your thoughts on that?

[@Backtoflying]

Thank you so much for making this video!!!

[@prochurchtools]

You are so welcome!

[@jillywilson4582]

Just what I was looking for.

[@griselvargas7027]

Thank you guys so much for taking the time to share your knowledge and tips. i’ve been binge watching your videos and they have been extremely helpful! I appreciate you guys being so selfless and so serving! May God continue to bless you both.

[@alexandermills2230]

Wow, that's great Grisel! Thanks for binging 🙂

[@gregdodge7354]

Wow! Those testimony videos brought tears to my eyes. I second everything Seth said about God’s continual work in the lives of those families. Thank you for leveraging your talents and insights to impact the world for Christ. Love, love, love what you and you’re team are doing. God bless, brother!

[@prochurchtools]

Thank you so much for watching, and your kind words Greg!

[@RiverstoneChurchYardley]

You guys are such a help, thank you for this video. : ) Learned lots of tips we can use as we proceed to making videos for our church.

[@profit1017]

Thanks for the great information. I'm going to use your formula in my next video.

[@ericdanielhaley]

This is gold! Thanks guys!

[@alexandermills2230]

Thank YOU for watching!

[@Chipotleman64]

Excellent tips, Brady. Thanks so much!

[@prochurchtools]

Thanks for watching!

[@mrstangblb]

Thanks very much for these great ideas, and I look forward to seeing more of them!

[@prochurchtools]

Thanks for watching Barry! Glad you enjoyed this episode. 😊

[@micahcamper7703]

the books on the top shelf... please.. My OCD is killing me.. Switch the last two so the white one is at the end..

[@davidledbetter8095]

This was great guys. Really gets to the heart of the process - thanks for the tips!

[@prochurchtools]

Thanks for watching David!

[@timhatch39]

Thanks so much! This was EXTREMELY helpful!!

[@prochurchtools]

Thanks for watching Tim! So glad you found it helpful. 😊

[@dereckaitken8742]

very useful, thanks : )

[@7779311sassy]

Great tips as always, thanks for sharing! Would churches need to have their testimony subjects sign a release form?

[@prochurchtools]

Hey Brittany - thanks for watching! I'd recommend checking with a lawyer that knows the laws for where you are, but to be on the safe side, our recommendation would be to get them to sign a release form. The hope is that you'll never need them, but better to have them if you do. :)

[@js7574]

Thanks so much for the very practical help, lads! Two questions: Do you decide after the interview what type of B-roll footage you need, based on what segments of their story you feel will end up in the final cut of the video? And are your interviewees generally OK with their very personal stories going on social media or can that be a problem?

[@prochurchtools]

Hey Jonny - great question! I've always done my B-roll and interview in the same day. My suggestion is to plan. Generally you'll have an idea of what their story will be about - their family, marriage, church, injury etc. So think through ahead of time the shots you might need - hanging out with their kids, talking with their wife, visiting their church, etc. 😊 As for using their stories - definitely make sure ahead of time that they know what you're planning to do with their story so that they can give you permission before you put in the work crafting your video.

[@js7574]

Great stuff, thanks Brady!

[@gadgetguy03]

Thank you for this Brady. I've been out of the game for a while when it comes to heavy video editing and these tips are a great refresher for my mind as I look to get more involved in the near future. My question would be: what would be some tips you could give someone who has to shoot their interview and b-roll in the same day? (A lot of my video work is traveling various distances) Would you recommend a two day visit then and do a very very rough edit that night in between?

[@prochurchtools]

Hey Matt - great question! I've always done my B-roll and interview in the same day. My suggestion is to plan. Generally you'll have an idea of what their story will be about - their family, marriage, church, injury etc. So think through ahead of time the shots you might need - hanging out with their kids, talking with their wife, visiting their church, etc. 😊

[@samcarter7731]

Some gentle caution. Having some counseling background. I thought the questions were amazing open ended giants for your conversation toolbox! However, I would be prayerful and slow for hunting for the "bruise"and then "diving deep" . This for some,can stimulate overshare, cringy-regret, and leave dislodged feelings that a pastor or therapist may need shepherd later. Again, finding the bruise is cinematic and powerful for sure but could do harm in some films. I will think Balancing that tension and making sure its the right interviewee. I would share about anything for example. Otherwise this is the holy grail on testimony filming I have found on the web thanks! You really inspired authenticity not too church-sterile-fluff-joy.

[@prochurchtools]

sam carter Great thoughts.

[@ThisIsMarkAdams]

Hey! Thanks for this. I'm about to film a video like this for the first time, so this was timely. Question, how do you use these videos at your church? In the service? If so, how? Or just social media?

[@alexandermills2230]

Both, Mark! Highlighting a story of someone in your church by sharing it on Sunday is so powerful.

[@derusevideo1967]

What y'all got in them glasses though??????? lol jk. Great stuff, first video I've found from y'all. Just subbed!

[@prochurchtools]

Soda water! Glad you found us! Hope you enjoy the content. 😊

[@christianityshop9863]

awesome cheers

[@prochurchtools]

Thanks for watching!

[@socrayhte]

Awesome. How do you stabilize your shots if you are low on budget for acquiring a gimbal or stabilizer?

[@lukewalters6428]

Hey Brady, do you give your interviewees instruction for speaking on camera? Like making good eye contact with the camera, speaking in fuller sentences, etc.? Or do you just try to do things so that those things feel natural?

[@AT-js6py]

Thanks for making this video, however I feel that that talking is way too lopsided like one guy keep stalking and the other just go yap. yes, right. it another way to make the audience loose interest. Just my thought !

[@whitstot]

“Horses in the back” 😂😂

[@prochurchtools]

😏

[@daregon11]

Ah I knew the face was familiar you dropped your iPhone at the king's k concert yesterday

[@prochurchtools]

Thank you so much for picking up that phone. Please never tell anyone about the horrendous dance moves you witnessed.

[@ethanhickle2929]

12:33

[@davidbrandtdesign]

Most b roll footage is muted. Do you ever use the audio from your b roll? If so, what percentage of your b roll has the audio muted? Or is it 100%, always muted?

[@alexandermills2230]

That's an interesting though, David! It's almost always muted, but there's no reason you couldn't give some new things a try!

[@davidbrandtdesign]

@@alexandermills2230 thanks!

[@STEVENANDJEN]

Did you guys record the b-roll before or after the interview?

[@prochurchtools]

After!