Movies have been around since…well, forever. When I was a kid, we saw new ones at the theater, and old ones on TV.

In 2006, movies appear everywhere. They’re on the big screen, on network TV, on cable, and all over the internet. But now, there’s another movie format that’s taking the world by storm.

Some folks call these videos compressed cinema. Others call them movie shorts. I call them “micro videos.”

TV commercial producers were among the first to use 30-second or one-minute formats to sell products. Today we can build entire dramatic productions in two minutes. But why do it?

Sadly, statistics tell us that the human attention span has shrunk exponentially. Why? Probably because we’re exposed to so many messages, we compress anything NOT already in compressed form!

For very little money, you can build a two-minute video to teach students, publicize your business, or enhance your professional reputation. Here’s how:

1. Focus on a SINGLE THEME. Two minutes goes by really fast. In fact, if you wrote a two-minute narration, it would run only about 250 words. (The average talking speed is 120 words a minute.)

2. Think about how you can present your theme VISUALLY. I just wrote a script for a business workshop presenter. The visual part will show still photos of him making a point, gesturing, and standing over a student recommending edits to a student’s paper. The dramatic photos will change quickly, emphasizing versatility and movement.

3. Provide a SOLUTION. In two minutes, there’s little time to build characters or present complicated dialog. Strive to point out a problem, then offer a way to solve it.

Need to see examples of short videos? Just go to a search engine, and check out video links. A few of the short movies I’ve seen are amateurish, unfocused, and downright silly. But even those gave me great ideas for my clients!