Project: Public Service Announcements

What is a PSA?

Public Service Announcements are very short videos or audio recordings that try to convince people to pay attention to something, think differently, or behave a certain way. Tell someone about a species of concern in your area, motivate others to look for a species, raise awareness of how people unintentionally move species to Maine, .... endless!

How do I make one?

1. Watch famous "flashback" PSAs or VS community PSAs for inspiration:

2. Use the HOW-TO GUIDE below to script a 30- or 60-second video or podcast

3. Put your video or podcast on YouTube, Vimeo, VoiceThread, or Podcast Alley

4. Paste the link to your video in the Project Bank

5. Share that convenient Project Bank link with your target audience!


How To Map Out Your PSA

PURPOSE

  • What do you want your PSA to do?
    1. Create awareness of a problem
    2. Show that a problem is important
    3. Convey simple forms of new information about a problem
    4. Promote a change in behavior
    5. Provide information to people who can influence behavior change in others



    AUDIENCE

  • Who will you target?
  • What do they care about most?
  • What tactics do you think will be most appropriate to hook them?
    1. Humor
    2. Emotion
    3. Visual effects
    4. Creativity
    5. Surprise
    6. Scare tactics (often backfire!)
    7. Something else! __________



    MESSAGE

  • What facts do you want your audience to learn?
  • What specific information, observations, or data do you want to share with your audience?
  • How do you want your audience to change their behavior?



    • PRODUCTION

  • Will you use video, audio, still images or a combination?
  • Will you use actors? How many? Who will they be?
  • Where will you shoot your video?



    • ACTION

  • What will happen during the 30 or 60 seconds?