I had a really great phone conversation yesterday with Michael Goldsmith. My Public Affairs professor at Emerson suggested I call him because I’m considering doing a public service announcement (PSA) for one of my projects, and Dr. Payne said that Michael would be a great resource.

He gave me a lot of great information, but one thing that stood out were the five questions he recommended you ask yourself about your PSA.

What are they? Well, I’m glad you asked:

Who says so? Will your targeted public know who the spokesperson is? Or will you have to ID them? Credibility is a big factor, and the public can and will assign a level of credibility to your spokesperson. For instance, if your PSA is about a medical topic, you could have a spokesperson from the American Medical Association (AMA) or from a pharmaceutical company. The AMA person will probably be considered more credible by the public.

How do they know? This question ties directly to the “Who says so” question and the idea of credibility. Is the individual an expert in the field? Do they have first-hand knowledge of a situation or event? Or are they someone who was hired for other reasons?

What’s missing? The topics of PSAs are usually complex, but when you’re creating one for television, you only have 30 seconds to tell your story. It will be impossible to put all of your information into the spot. Be aware of what is in your PSA but also what is missing from your PSA. Are you certain that you are presenting your strongest argument?

Did someone change the subject? Keep your goal clear. Often, because the topics covered by a PSA are so complex, you start out trying to make one point, but somewhere in the middle of the spot, you divert onto another point. Make sure you don’t change the subject!

Does it make sense? Look at your PSA as a whole and ask yourself if it makes sense. Is it believable?

Now, believability opens up a whole other can of worms (as they say) because we all have our inherent biases. The PSA may make COMPLETE sense to me but if it runs counterintuitive to your beliefs, then there’s really nothing I can say that will make you believe it. When you come in with an intrinsic bias, nothing will change your mind instantaneously. Beliefs are changed over the course of time – look at the time it took to change public opinion about smoking.

So, when you make your PSA, ask yourself these questions. Do your best with it but understand that you can put the message out there, but you have no control over your audience. Some will believe it, some will not. But if you present a clear and compelling spot, you may help your topic take one more step forward.