Client Testimony Video Guidelines

Client Testimony Video Guidelines

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CLIENT TESTIMONY VIDEO GUIDELINES

Asylum Access plans to release one client testimony video every two months via our YouTube channel to enable supporters and partners to learn more about our work through a personal story. To do this, we need a compelling story with a narrative structure that engages through a detailed personal account of a refugee’s life story.

Before you start, help the interviewee understand the uses and risks of this interview. Be very clear and transparent in how we will use their information, and give thema chance to tell you their concerns and what they want excluded from external publicity.

If you identify security risks that they may not have considered, do take the initiative to withhold information from publication. If communications staff identify gaps in the story and seek more information, simply explain why information must be withheld due to risks to your client.

EXAMPLE

May, a VLA and Communications Liaison:Hi John, my colleagues have asked for some stories about our clients to share with our partners and supporters. Basically, this will enable us to put a human face on our work and tell them why what we do is important and how it impacts refugee clients individually. We won't publish your real name to protect your identity.Would you be willing to answer a few questions please?

John, a client:Sure. I would be happy to.Just please do not mention what happened to me in prison and my hometown.

May:Great, please do let me know if you're uncomfortable answering any of these questions, and if there is anything else I should withhold, perhaps your job, as you were a very high profile politician?

John:Yes, perhaps that would be best. Thank you.

Once he has agreed and feels comfortable with presenting his story in part or in whole, you might use the following guidelines to help you present a powerful story:

1)Setting up the interview space and camera

• Choose somewhere quiet to reduce distracting background noise. This is the most important factor in set-up. If viewers cannot hear the client’s story clearly, your work will have been in vain. If you can, do some tests by recording yourself and replaying it before the interview.
• Be mindful of what’s in the background. An empty wall is ideal for minimal distraction but it may be complementary to see Asylum Access’s office in the background if there isn’t too much distracting movement. Use your own discretion.
• Frame the client in aesthetically pleasing proportions from the chest up, without leaving too much space above the head. You can refer to news interviews or the image below for a visual reference.*
• Use a tripod where available, or place the camera on a stack of books for a stable image.
• The interviewee should face you, the interviewer, positioned at camera height just to the left or right of the camera. This will help her feel like she is telling her story to an empathetic person, not a cold and unresponsive camera. Your nods, smiles and encouragement will help her feel at ease and facilitate a ‘natural’ conversation.

2)Getting the full story on camera

• Please see below for a list of questions.** Note that these are thematic guidelines to help you get the information you need and you should feel comfortable with asking your own additional questions or rephrasing them.
• We may need a chronological life story, but it may be easier to ask questions about her present life first, leaving tough questions about her past for later, especially if you think she may get emotional.
• To help the interviewee recall an event in vivid detail, you may want to ask her to start by describing the room she was in, the weather, what she saw around her, what were the smells were. These descriptions can add an evocative sense of time and place.
• Be mindful of the gaps in her story and don’t be afraid to ask for further details or clarification. You can also return to previous questions towards the end of the interview.
• In a conversation, we sometimes pause to think and think aloud, resulting in a “broken” and meandering dialogue that may be difficult to watch on video. To present her story clearly without too many starts and stops, you may like to request the client re-answer certain questions from the beginning.
• While there is a list of questions you need to ask, feel free to let the conversation evolve naturally and digress a little. Listen attentively as you never know when you might get a unexpected piece of information that helps viewers get a better sense of the interviewee’s character. A smile here and a laugh there adds a light touch to the story.

3)Extra footage

• Have you ever watched someone talk non-stop on Youtube for ten minutes? Does it usually captivate your attention enough to watch the whole video? Talking heads don’t make the best visuals, which is why interviews on television often segue into complementary cutaway clips even as the interviewee continues to speak.
• This extra footage should also serve a clear function and not be completely random. As we are broadcasting a very personal story, scenes of the client interacting with her children and speaking with a VLA will be relevant. Other possibilities include her walking on the street to go home, doing groceries, reading or writing. If time and circumstances allow, a variety of extra footage that give a sense of her daily life would be ideal.
• In cases where the client indicates that she would like her face obscured and unidentifiable, you may like to capture footage of her activities from the face down, from behind her shoulder or showing only her back.

4)Confidentiality issues (and waiver form)

• Please ensure that the client understands that we will be using her video online to help our supporters know more about the people we serve. She should be willing to have her interview broadcasted and sign a Confidentiality Release form stating this (please ask Communications staff if you need a copy). If she wishes to omit any information (e.g. specific town of her work where she was persecuted, etc), she can also indicate this in the form.

• In cases where the client wants her face obscured, she will not need to sign the Confidentiality Release form but this request must be clearly communicated to HQ Communications staff

**List of Sample Interview Questions

Interview questions are designed to give viewers a sense of refugees’ life story, including their life in their country of origin, the evolving challenges they experienced as a refugee over time, and how Asylum Access has helped them.

- Can you please introduce yourself briefly? E.g. "My name isNoraQuinonez, I am a refugee from and it has been __ years since I left Colombia."

- When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

- What was your childhood like? What is your favourite childhood memory?

- What was your life like in Colombia? (Did you live with your family, in a house, what was your job? Were you happy? What did you do for fun? To help the audience picture her life.)

- Why did you decide to come to Ecuador? (If there was an event, e.g. an attempted murder, please ask them to describe what happened.)

- Do you remember the moment you decided to leave? Can you describe this?

- Can you describe how you came to Ecuador? When and how? Did you come alone?

- How was it like during your first few years here?

- What has been your greatest challenge living in Ecuador as a refugee?

- How did you find out about Asylum Access?

- How did Asylum Access help you?Please be as specific as possible. E.g. legal advice for refugee status in 2010 and help getting my children registered in schools.

- How do you feel Asylum Access made a difference in your life?

- What was the most important help that AA provided you?

- What ways have AA helped you besides getting legal assistance? If any.

- What do you think about the state of refugee rights in Ecuador in the time that you have been here?

- How is your life like now? What work do you do?

- What is a regular day like here for you?

- Are you happy here? Are you happier than in Colombia? Why?

- What are your hopes and plans for the future?

- Is there anything you would like to tell our supporters that we have not discussed?

* Example of how best to frame the interview (preferably without distracting things like the electric socket in the background):

Thank you, Communications Liaisons!

Please feel free to contact our Communications and Development Team with any questions and feedback.