How to Effectively Use Pattern Interrupt Elements in Your Videos

Have you ever caught yourself nodding off during a less than thrilling speech at a conference? Or felt your eyes glazing over as a long-winded salesperson rattled on about their product? If only those speakers had known about the power of pattern interrupts, you would never have reached a point of boredom.

Pattern interrupts are small, unexpected actions that offer an element of surprise. They interrupt your expectations of what is to come and challenge your brain’s preconceived notions. Think of pattern interrupts like brain hooks; just as your mind is beginning to meander, you’re suddenly jolted back to the topic/speaker at hand.

Pattern Interrupt Elements are an awesome tool to include in video presentations. Whether you are creating a series of tip videos, or a tutorial highlighting the features your product or service, pattern interrupt elements can be used to refocus your video audience’s visual Attention. When you refocus their visual attention, you refocus their mental attention. You can’t make a connection with your viewers if you can’t keep their attention.

While pattern interrupts are a powerful tool, it is easy to go overboard. If one or two unexpected elements are good, why not add a pattern interrupt every so often in your presentation? Repetition breeds boredom; any tool used to excess will lose effectiveness. You want to refocus attention sparingly or you’ll risk losing your viewer’s attention completely.

So, what types of pattern interrupts can you use in your video presentations? How can you take basic video and supercharge your video audience engagement rates? I’ve created a collection of pattern interrupt elements you can use in your business videos to ensure your viewers remains glued to your content and engaged with your message. Ready to become a video marketing master? Here goes…

Animated Text Quotes as Pattern Interrupts

Animated text quotes are a wonderful way to break up a video presentation. Quotes refocus your viewer’s attention by making them think they might be missing an important tidbit if they don’t pay attention to your quote. If a quote is important enough to be included in a video, chances are good it is worth paying attention to and remembering for future reference. Animation adds an extra wow factor that ensures your quote is as memorable as possible.

Animated Logo Reveals as Pattern Interrupts

Animated logo reveals are another terrific way to bring attention to your brand within a video. A generic logo doesn’t draw the eye or create a memorable moment. Use an animated logo near the end of your video and your audience is likely to remember your brand’s logo and design. Keep your company’s color and design; just add animation to make your logo stand out.

Here’s something else you can do with animated logo reveals – have a variety of designs for your content. Have a logo reveal explicitly used for the beginning of your tip series.  And another one for your product and services videos. And yet another one for your interview series. Change things up while still maintaining your brand design.

The point is to make your video viewers take a second look at the message you are delivering.

Anything you can do to offer an unexpected change or break their expectations will cause them to pay closer attention to the content you are offering.

Animated Text Thoughts as Pattern Interrupts

Have you ever noticed how getting an insider’s peek at something engages your attention and makes you want to know more? That’s how animated text thoughts work. The animation ensures the thought is memorable, but the thought revelation makes you feel like you have received an inside look at the creative process of the video presenter. Adding a thought or speech bubble to your presentation captures the eyeballs and focuses attention on a specific thought.

Animated Text Tips as Pattern Interrupts

Text tips are a great way to make sure your viewer remembers an important component of your video. A text tip can be anything you feel is especially important to your audience. Animate the text tip with movement or a flashing colored background to ensure it sticks in the mind while refocusing attention on your video.

Animated Text Questions as Pattern Interrupts

Similar to text tips, animated text questions grab attention and make your viewers think. They draw your viewer’s attention to your subject matter and make them contemplate an answer to your question. The simple act of thinking of a reply to your question reconnects a viewer with your video.

Animated Characters or Prop as Pattern Interrupts

Have you ever noticed how kid’s shows use colorful characters and props to keep the attention of small children? The same premise holds true for adult viewers. You can use animated characters or unexpected props in your video presentations to focus the attention solely on your point at hand. Use this pattern interrupt with caution though; you don’t want your videos to become overly cheesy or juvenile.

Animated Text Interjection or Exclamation as Pattern Interrupts

While we’re on the subject of kids, remember the old-fashioned cartoons that used brightly colored exclamations like wow, what, pow, or bam to add an extra punch of action to the comic strip? You too can use animated exclamations in your videos. Animate words like now, ouch, what, expiring, or today, or make up your own like wowza, OMG, or LOL. The point is to snap your viewers to attention and make them refocus on what you’re presenting in your video.

Animated Titles or Segment Separators as Pattern Interrupts

Changing the look of specific components of your video presentations is another awesome way to use pattern interrupt elements. A moving title or credit at the end of your video garners attention. An active segment separator between video components causes the eye (and mind) to refocus. Too many animated segment separators can lose their effectiveness; use this element sparingly.

Humor as a Pattern Interrupt

Humor is a powerful pattern interrupt tool. Funny text, images, or graphics can get a chuckle from your viewers and keep them engaged with your video content. Tell a joke, add a funny background image, or use a humorous cartoon character to re-engage your viewers.

Video Clips as Pattern Interrupts

Incorporating video clips within webinars or tutorials also helps recapture the attention of your viewers. Video within video is a powerful tool far too few videographers use. Think of a video clip like a news story you watch on television. When a news anchor directs your attention to a news clip from one of their reporters, your attention is immediately directed to the clip the reporter is broadcasting. The same thing happens when you use video clips within your video presentations; all eyes go to your clip. #Winning!

Sound Effects as Pattern Interrupts

Sound is a phenomenal pattern interrupt element. Adding an unexpected sound to your video can cause all eyeballs to turn in your direction. Some musical notes, a clap of thunder, or even a dog bark can be all you need to snap your viewers out of their daydreaming and bring them back to your video content.

Polls as a Pattern Interrupt

Using polls within your videos causes an immediate refocusing of attention in the same way using animated quotes garners attention. Polls cause your viewers to read your questions and determine their answer. Their attention can’t wander if they’re contemplating their answer to your multiple-choice query.

Unexpected Backgrounds as Pattern Interrupts

A sudden background change will instantly attract attention. Switch to a bright neon background or add a moving background to cause your viewers to connect with your video. In the same way a video background on a website attracts your attention, so too does a moving background within a video attract eyeballs.

These are just a few of many ways you can effectively use pattern interrupt elements in your videos. You can support your existing branding efforts by using your company’s colors, sense of style, and owner’s sense of humor/personality to provide an overall feeling of consistency throughout your video message. The pattern interrupt elements are only meant to add a touch of the unexpected to your videos or to recapture the attention of your viewers. When your viewers think they know where you’re going with a message, it is helpful to snap them out of their expectations and offer a fresh element of surprise. In the same way standing and stretching during a seminar helps you to refocus, so too do pattern interrupt elements give your video viewers a quick visual break or diversion. If you want your viewers to take note of what you are communicating, you can’t beat the power of a pattern interrupt element.

If you want help refocusing the visual attention of your video viewers, give me a call at (720) 808-0266 or connect with me via my new client questionnaire – http://www.virtualassist.net/new-client-questionnaire/. I would be happy to help you refocus the mental attention of your viewers on your video message.

Andrea Kalli
Video Design, Editing, and Marketing

Video Services and Editing for Company Videos and Marketing

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