3 of Our Favorite Examples of Inspirational Videos

No matter where you’re from, there is one thing we all share in common: The love of great stories. At StoryTeller, our job is to find inspiring, creative, and unique content to share. After all, we're storytellers – it's right there in the name.

We've worked with so many incredible people to find and tell impactful stories that can't be told any other way but through video. Here are three of our favorite inspirational videos we've ever produced and what makes them so powerful.

Jim Chalmers: The Marathon Man

“Every individual with disabilities is an individual with abilities. They just need a chance to get involved and show those abilities.”

This emmy-winning video walks through the life of Jim Chalmers, a Twin Cities man living with Cri-du-chat syndrome. Through his incredible story, we were able to address the importance of the Minnesotan Special Olympics while simultaneously raising awareness of this rare genetic disorder. 

This video is a great example of letting content dictate video length. Clocking in at six minutes, it's one of our longer videos – but when telling a story as engaging and emotional as Jim's, we knew we couldn't sacrifice quality for length. See for yourself:

Read Jim’s full story here.

Fran Heitzman: The Giver

“He passed by doing good. That’s my legacy. If I can leave that, my life has been a success.”

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone more dedicated to his craft than Fran Heitzman. Fran is the founder of Bridging, Inc., a Twin Cities donation-based nonprofit organization that connects people in need with the items and supplies that can help them thrive, and his story is every bit as amazing as the mission of his nonprofit.

This inspirational video shows how Fran was instilled with the importance of giving to others in need, going all the way back to his humble beginnings as an Iowan farm boy. In addition to being an inspirational tale of altruism, Fran's story reminds all of us to take a look at Bridging, Inc. next time we want to clear some space in our house!

You’ll notice in this video that we hardly even mentioned what Bridging, Inc. is or what it does, but its mission is communicated clearly and passionately through the story of the man who founded it. In that way, we hope our viewers learn all they need to know about the organization.

Read Fran’s full story here.

Karl: The Fighter

“I can’t sit still. I’ve got to keep going”

Here’s another Emmy-winning video, this time focusing on Karl, a resident at the Dorothy Day Center operated by Catholic Charities in Minneapolis, MN. He walks the viewer through what a day in the life of someone at the Dorothy Day Center looks like - and in doing so, he shows the struggles that homelessness forces on to people.

Karl’s story is a great example of Catholic Charities allowing their clients — their true storytellers — to shine a light on the real people their services are impacting. Instead of showcasing someone from Catholic Charities' leadership team to explain the need for a new center, they chose to let Karl share his firsthand emotions about the very real challenges of being homeless. It's hard to imagine anybody explaining it better than Karl, and it's a great way to use one small story to tell the larger story of Catholic Charities' impact on the homeless population in the Twin Cities.

Read Karl’s full story here.

Inspirational videos are some of the most powerful and effective forms of storytelling because they’re easy to remember, they're shareable, they engage multiple senses, and most importantly, they highlight important causes. Any inspirational marketing video is important for an organization’s bottom line, but only the best ones keep us grounded in what really matters.