S2 Ep. 32 Why your film will benefit from hope based messaging

Hope-based messaging?  What is it and why is it useful for impact filmmaking and communications in general really? It’s the way I communicate for all of the projects I produce and it’s defiantly worth putting some thought to as you develop your own work.

So my first hope-based message for you is that I hope you’re having a really great day, that you’re listening as you walk in the sunshine or driving to and from a really productive meeting or perhaps enjoying a day off.  I know hard you work, being in a creative industry or as a solo creative is a lot of work, it’s certainly not easy getting new ideas realised and projects funded.  
And I’m guessing that’s why you’re listening because you’re keen to develop more of your craft including how to communicate your ideas because this is really important when your looking for funding, it affects how you produce your work and it’s critical for landing on the mark with your intended audience.

And at the end of the day that's what it’s all about, isn’t it.  Getting your work seen and making an impact on your audience. 

In this episode, I look at: 

• What hope based messaging is  
• How to position your message hopefully 
• And how positive, hopeful messages can inspire your audience to get behind your mission 

Listen now and be sure to subscribe if you like what you hear.

But to learn for from me,  head to www.MoonshineCommunicationsAcademy.com to find more great content and resources including my free ebook that will help you craft a compelling video story

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello and welcome to this episode Hope-Based Messaging. What is it and why is it useful for impact filmmaking and communications more broadly? It's the way I communicate for all of the projects I produce, and it is definitely worth putting some thought into as you develop your own work. So, my first hope-based message for you is that I really hope you're having a great day. I hope that you're listening as you're walking in the sunshine or driving from a really productive meeting or perhaps you're just enjoying a day off. And you deserve it because I know how hard you work. Being in a creative industry or being a solo creative, it's a lot of work and it's certainly not easy getting new ideas realized and projects funded, let alone getting your creative work out into the world. So I'm guessing that's why you're listening because you're keen to develop more of your own craft, including how to communicate your ideas. Because this is critically important when you're looking for funding. It affects how you produce your work and it is really important for landing on the mark with your intended audience. And at the end of the day, that's what it's all about, really, isn't it? Getting your work seen and making an impact with your audience. I'm an impact filmmaker and I have been creating films for well over a decade, and during this time, I have tried, iterated, experimented, and at the end of the day, hope-based messaging works the best every time. And also it feels right for me in the way that I want to create my films. So if you're new here on the Moonshine Moonshop podcast, then welcome because this is where I'm sharing info on all the things that I've been learning over the years of producing content in all different shapes and sizes. I know when I was starting out, it was really hard to find this type of information. It's not really taught in film school or in communications courses, so my hope is that it helps you in your creative endeavors. So make sure you hit subscribe if you like what you are hearing here. I recently came across two words that I have never heard before, hope punk and grimdark. So my question to you is this are you a hope punk or a grimdark? And if you're like me and you haven't heard the words before, then I'm assuming you're now thinking, what the heck is a hope punk or a grimdark? Well, a grimdark is a subgenre of speculative fiction with a tone, style, or setting that is particularly dystopian, amoral, and violent. So given that description, I lean into hope, and I'm not surprised that I haven't come across that term before. The whole idea of hope punk was theorized by fantasy novelist Alexandra Rowland back in 2017 as a response to the rise in grimdark storytelling that centered on our capacity for cruelty and agonizing despair. Think Game of Thrones or the Handmaid's Tale. Now I am actually a big fan of the Game of Thrones and I love it, but the Handsmaid Tale, or Handmaid's Tale, should I say, it really freaked me out, so much so that I actually never got past episode three because it depicts a future that to me is just so scarily possible. I just couldn't bear it rolling around in my head. Now, this novelist, Alexandra Rowland, in a short Tumblr post, she wrote, The opposite of grimdark is hope punk. Pass it on. So here you go, I'm passing it on. Hope punk stories set their sights on purposeful change and radical kindness. It's a storytelling trend that values optimism and positivity, especially in the face of adversity. It's not a term I can say I use a lot, but it does closely align with the films I produce at Moonshine Agency, and it also aligns with the topic I am unpacking today. So it's pretty clear to say I am much more likely to define myself as a hope punk, but perhaps you can let me know whether you're a Grimdark or a Hope Punk by leaving me a comment over on Instagram, which you can find me there by the way, on at Moonshine Communications Academy. So, back to today's topic, hope-based messaging. Now, you may not be familiar with hope-based messaging any more than hope punk. Neither are commonly referenced in day-to-day conversations, and that is why I am going to walk you through the concept in this podcast to help you see how giving your projects a helpful spin will actually enable you to make genuine impact with your work. Specifically, I am looking at what is hope-based messaging, how to position your message hopefully, and how positive hopeful messages can inspire your audience to get behind your mission. Let's break each point down. What is hope-based messaging? Hope-based messaging is exactly that. It's about giving your audience a reason to feel hopeful. You may be delivering a difficult story, and I tell a lot of stories that are very difficult, particularly around palliative care, cancer, and global health. But you can deliver these messages and still leave an audience feeling hopeful. Probably the biggest antithesis to this type of communication is the 24-hour news cycle. I don't know about you, but every time I switch it on, I find myself falling into deeper and deeper into despair. It's actually what I call fear-based communications, and it's absolutely not something I favor. The team and I here at Moonshine Agency, we actually give each other a little challenge each week. Something to try and help us, you know, explore something new or do something a bit different that we haven't done before. And one week my challenge was to do a media blackout for three days and see how it felt. Well, let me tell you, I felt a lot better, less anxious and less worried. And I am now very conscious of how I feel when I watch the news. So you really do only need just the highlights every few days to keep up, and that is such a good thing for your mental health. I highly recommend you do your own media blackout and check out how you feel. And it's because the focus of fear-based communications often hangs around the worst case scenario, but hope-based messaging flips that perspective. Even if your project centres around a topic that has some or many negative consequences or outcomes, which is often the case with impact films, there is usually a positive angle that you can lean into and embrace in your storytelling. Australian impact filmmaker Daemon Gamus' 2019 documentary film 2040 is a really good example. Gamus explored climate change and the impact we can expect to see over the next 20 years. But instead of emphasizing the world is ending narrative that most of us expect to be confronted with whenever we hear the words climate change, 2040 examines what our world might look like if we embrace new technologies and renewable energies. It offers an unexpectedly optimistic way forward and ultimately makes the audience feel hopeful about what could come next. So, how do you position your message in a way that gives people hope? I'd like to share another example with you using one of my own projects called Conquering Cancer. Conquering Cancer looks at cervical cancer, a type of cancer that more than 600,000 women globally are diagnosed every year. A staggering 300,000 women are expected to lose their lives to the disease in 2022 alone. To put it in perspective, that is, one woman dies every two minutes from cervical cancer. These statistics are devastating. They are alarming and they make you feel frustrated, overwhelmed, and hopeless. And they can also make you switch off completely from engaging with the topic because it just feels too hard and unsolvable. But what if I told you that cervical cancer is also the first cancer in human history that could be eliminated? That Australia is expected to eliminate the disease as soon as 2035, and that Malaysia has introduced an innovative cervical cancer screening program that has seen screening rates around the country climb. Or that Zambia has been vaccinating thousands of young girls against HPV, which is the virus that causes almost all cervical cancers, since 2013. Now that gives you hope, doesn't it? And while I'm on this topic, if you have a cervix, please keep your screenings up to date because early detection is still the best way to have a positive outcome. And Aussies can now get self-collection, so no uncomfortable pelvic examinations are needed anymore. Excuses are gone, get your self-collection screening kit from your GP and don't be late in your next screening. Now, the fact that I can tell you that certainly gives me hope because this is a very serious disease with very serious and devastating outcomes. And to effectively tell this story, we had to go into the hard truths about what this disease does to the women who have it. But we focus the messaging on hopeful outcomes that can be achieved if the world rises up to the challenge of elimination with the HPV vaccine, regular cervical screenings, and access to appropriate treatment. Cervical cancer might one day be eliminated. And yes, it is a huge moonshot, but it is possible, and then the lives of millions of women will be saved. So to be clear, I am not talking about toxic positivity here, or even suggesting that sugarcoating reality is the way to go. There is simply no way we could produce a story like conquering cancer without making it clear that this is a deadly disease destroying families world over, or that the majority of women diagnosed, nine out of ten in fact, reside in low and middle-income countries. So they don't have access to the proper prevention methods. All of these facts made it into the story. But our focus was on the solutions that will make global cervical cancer elimination a reality in this century. And by focusing on hope, we inspired audiences to get involved, do something, and be part of the solution. Be that through vaccination of their children, lobbying their government for better access to services, or simply encouraging their friends and family to stay up to date with their survivings. As I said, early detection is critical to positive outcomes. But you can't encourage positive action when people feel helpless. You have to inspire them and give them hope. And hope-based messaging makes people want to take action. A really important element of impact filmmaking is encouraging viewers to do something after watching. This is where your call to action comes in. It's something I discussed in great detail in last week's episode, which you can go back to and listen to after this. And if you're interested in learning a little bit more about hope-based messaging and crafting your video story through a positive lens, you might also benefit from my brand new ebook called The Ultimate Guide to Video Storytelling, which is 100% free and you can grab your copy with the link that we'll put in the show notes or head over to www.moonshinecommunicationsacademy.com to access that very handy guide. Because when you give your audience a positive action to take, it is incredibly powerful, especially if you tell them why that positive action will make such a tangible difference. Action can take many forms. It might be making a donation, it could be writing to their local MP, it could be hosting a screening of your film for their community. There are endless options, and what's right will depend on the film's subject matter and the message that you're trying to impart. But inspiring your viewers to take that action always comes back to your delivery. You have to inspire them to get involved, to be part of the story, to be part of lasting change. And it is really difficult to do that when you don't provide a sense of hope. While releasing Conquering Cancer, we've been asking viewers to host their own event screening of the film to help spread this positive cancer story as widely as possible. But we've also been asking women to get screened for cervical cancer and asking parents to have their adolescent children vaccinated against HPV, reminding viewers that all of these acts, even booking a routine checkup with a trusted healthcare provider, can drive the elimination agenda forwards. So if you're interested in learning more about hope-based messaging, as I mentioned before, I've just released a new little e-book called Crafting Your Video Story. And you can grab that, the ultimate guide to video storytelling, over in the link that'll be in the show notes. And it is free, so don't you worry. I hope that's really helped you understand a bit more about hope-based messaging and how you can actually flip a really negative story on its head to help viewers really engage with it and feel like they can be part of a positive solution or even that there's just a way for them to get involved and do something. Because just the act of being involved and being able to do something can make a huge difference to how people feel. So I would love to know how you felt about this idea of hope based messaging, and uh please don't hesitate to leave me a message over on Instagram at Moonshine Communications Academy. Look forward to speaking to you again next week.