Telling Stories of Care through Video: A Resource for Reporters and Storytellers

At New America’s Better Life Lab, we believe narrative change drives policy change. For over a decade, we’ve invested in building best-in-class research and storytelling capacity—recruiting seasoned journalists and equipping new voices with tools to share their experiences about care, work, and family in powerful, unexpected ways.

One way we do this is through our reporting grants for journalists and storytellers. We ask questions like “What would an equitable, universal child care system look like?”—and they find the data and experiences that bring solutions to life.

As storytellers ourselves, we know that written narratives can only go so far in our multimedia-first, attention-driven world. So we’ve developed this handy resource to help you create a one- to two-minute teaser video to share your care story online.

Below we offer quick tips for developing the script to promote your caregiving article or story. 

1. Open With the Human Tension, Not the Topic

Don’t start with “I wrote a story about the caregiving crisis.” Start with the moment that made you feel you needed to write it.

“When I met the son caring for his dying mother, they were weeks away from losing their home…not because he stopped working, but because he started caregiving.”

Your opening sentence should make someone feel something unresolved. Tension, injustice, surprise. That’s what stops the scroll. You have about five seconds to earn the next 55.

2. Give Away the Insight, Not the Whole Story

Some reporters instinctively hold back the good stuff to drive clicks. In a one-minute teaser, the opposite works better. Share your sharpest insight or most striking finding freely, but leave the full picture for the article.

Think of it this way:

• Give away the what. For example, “Black women spend nearly twice as many hours on unpaid care and are penalized for it financially.”
• Hold back the how and why. The systemic story, the history, the voices, the solutions…that’s what the article delivers.

When you give people a revelation upfront, they don’t feel satisfied—they feel hungry for the full story.

3. Write for the Ear, Not the Page

Your article can have complex sentences, nuance, and layered clauses. Your script for your video teaser cannot. Read every line out loud as you write it. If you stumble, rewrite it.

Some practical rules:

• Share just one simple idea per sentence.
• Do not use jargon. Say “unpaid family caregivers” not “informal care providers.”
• Use short, punchy transitions: “Here’s what I found.” “And it gets worse.” “But here’s the thing.”
• Write at a conversational pace—roughly 150 words for 60 seconds.

If it sounds like something you’d read from a podium, cut it. If it sounds like something you’d say over a drink to someone who asked what you’re working on, keep it!

4. Include Only One Data Point, and Make It Land

You probably have a dozen compelling statistics from your reporting. Pick one—the most visceral, the most human, the most unfair—and build a moment around it.

Don’t just state the data point. Frame it so it packs a punch.

• Flat: “68% of caregivers report declining mental health.”
• Framed: “I talked to dozens of caregivers for this story. Nearly 7 out of 10 told me their mental health has gotten worse. Not over years—over months.”

One well-placed number is memorable. Multiple stats in 60 seconds become noise.

5. End with a Line That Creates a Gap They Need to Close

Your last sentence should leave the viewer feeling like they only have half the story, because they do. You want to drive them to your story.

Avoid endings like “Read the full article at the link below” or “There’s so much more to this story.”

Examples of strong endings:

• “What’s happening to the father who lost his job because of caregiving isn’t a personal failure. It’s a policy choice. And in the piece, I lay out exactly who made it—and what could change it.”
• “The caregivers I spoke to had one thing in common: Not one of them called what they were going through a crisis. Read the story, and you’ll understand why.”

You want the viewer thinking: “I need to know the rest.”

A Quick Script Checklist

Ask yourself:

• Does my first sentence create tension or emotion, not just announce a topic?
• Am I giving away an insight that hooks but leaving enough to drive them to the article?
• Does every sentence sound natural when read aloud?
• Do I have only one statistic, and is it framed for impact?
• Does my last line make someone feel like they’re missing something they need?

A tip for adding pauses: Add a string of periods, or dashes, in the script to remind yourself to pause between key lines to allow the viewer to drink in what you’re saying.

On timing: If you’re open to using AI, you can paste your script into the prompt and ask it to help with keeping it under one minute.

Here are some pointers on what makes a great video. 

• Audio, audio, audio. Make sure we can hear you clearly, with no extra noise in the background.
• Artificial lighting is best for indoor videos.
• Light yourself from the front and back; and try to minimize glare if you wear glasses.
• Check for objects behind you so it doesn’t look like something’s coming out of your head.
• Wear solid colors. Dark colors tend to work best.
• Hold the phone vertically and stand or sit about two feet away.
• Center yourself in the frame.
• Try not to fidget. You don’t have to be stiff, and can move forward a bit when emphasizing a point.
• When recording, pause for a few seconds before speaking, and leave a few seconds at the end after you finish. This is helpful for video editing purposes.
• Try not to blink too often.
• Use a teleprompter app if possible.
• Read your script a few times before you start, even if you have a teleprompter app (there are great free options). You don’t have to necessarily memorize it, but reading it often will help. Also, you don’t have to read word for word. Improvising a bit comes off more natural.
• Speak slowly. Do not rush. Also, add a pause here and there. That pulls in the viewer.

Need inspiration? Here are examples of recent Better Life Lab grantee videos: one on death doulas; and another on elder care. Also, check out the Lab’s YouTube page for more videos.