Focus
The focus should always be on the reader—what will the reader think, feel, and learn from the piece? What wisdom, advice, or encouragement can you share with the reader?
Voice and Tone
- empowering and encouraging
- vibrant and energetic
- friendly and conversational
- inspirational and aspirational
- informative and useful
- full of practical advice and positive solutions
- real and authentic
Script
Please note that you must submit a script to be approved before you begin filming.
Making Content Easy to Follow
Avoid heavy, overwhelming language. Use contractions (it’s, she’s, I’m) in your script to make the video feel conversational.
Titles
Please create a title that will still make sense out of context. Keep in mind, however, that Iridescent reserves the right to rename all titles.
Video Length
Your video should be 90 secs to 5 mins.
Video Shooting
If you are using your iPhone or laptop, please make sure to shoot horizontally.
The most important thing to remember is lighting. You want your major light source to be behind the camera. If you don’t have additional camera lighting, the best light source you have is a window. We suggest setting your phone or computer in front of a window so you are facing the window when recording. On your phone, you can also control exposure. You tap your face to focus, and a little sun will come up with a control. Just swipe the control up or down to make your face look the best it can be!
Make sure you are eye level with the lens. Looking down at your phone or computer can cast weird shadows and isn’t flattering for most people. You can prop your camera up with a tripod or on top of some stacked books if need be.
Audio quality is very important. Be sure to film in a quiet space. Also, the more textiles you have in the room the better the sound becomes. So if you can be in a space with rugs, that is great! The emptier the room, the more echo-y the sound becomes.
And one other tip: If you are recording from your iPhone, avoid looking at yourself while recording. Your eyes won’t be on the viewers; instead, it will look like you’re talking off to the side. Make sure to look into the lens.
Author Bio
Please include a 3-4 sentence bio, with social media links and website that you’d like for us to promote.
Video Summary
Summarize your video in 2-3 sentences. This will help the editor and graphic
designer know what you consider to be the main thrust of your video.
Exclusivity
Please note all submitted content must be original. We do not accept previously published work.
Sensitivity and Spirituality
Calling women “women” is preferred over “girls” or “ladies.”
Be mindful of privileged language that could turn readers off.
Every conversation is for all young women, regardless of their personal faith and spirituality. Please communicate from a positive perspective, but refrain from making the conversation categorically Christian or any other religion, with the exception of an article or video submitted for our “SPIRITUALITY” tab. Spirituality conversations are devoted to introducing young women to issues of spirituality including the good news of Jesus and helping young women explore faith or deepen their own spirituality.
GENDERED LANGUAGE
Avoid unnecessarily gender-specific language whenever possible. Choose “humankind” over mankind and “police officer” over “policeman.”
CAPITALIZATION IN GRAPHICS
Don’t capitalize the word after a colon.
Example: There are three things I love: tacos, puppies, and sunsets.
In headings and subheadings, capitalize important words (everything but most articles, conjunctions, and prepositions). Always capitalize the first and last words, regardless of the length of the word or the part of speech. Don’t capitalize articles ( a, an, the ), prepositions of three or fewer letters (such as of, in, and for ), or most conjunctions of three or fewer letters (like as, and, or and but). Verbs (even short ones like is, be , and do ) should always be capitalized.
Example: Who Will She Be Today? (be is a verb, and therefore capitalized)
Example: 5 Ways to Make the Most of Every Day
Incorrect: 5 Ways To Make The Most Of Every Day
COMMAS IN GRAPHICS
Use the Oxford style comma in “and” and “or” lists.
Example: The children ate the cherries, blueberries, and almonds.
Incorrect: The children ate the cherries, blueberries and almonds.
Use commas after both a city and state when both are given.
Example: The meetings were held in Irvine, California, before moving to Arizona.
CONTRACTIONS IN GRAPHICS
Use contractions (it’s, she’s, I’m, you’re) in your writing to make the writing conversational, not stuffy or rigid.
DASHES AND HYPHENS IN GRAPHICS
Em dashes (—) are the “wait for it” of punctuation, creating a pause that is conversational in
tone, while still drawing the eye to the next sentence or phrase fluidly. Use em dashes without
spaces for setting off text or emphasizing a point in a sentence.
Example: To become great—or to create something great—we must invest our time.
En dashes (–) are typically used to separate inclusive dates and numbers, no space needed.
Example: June–August, 1999–2005
Example: Matthew 7:3–12
Hyphens are typically used to form compound words.
Example: long-term commitment, part-time employee. They’re also used in phone numbers.
The following prefixes do not require hyphenation: anti, bi, bio, co, counter, extra, inter, meta, micro, mid, mini, multi, non, over, post, pre, pro, proto, pseudo, re, semi, socio, sub, super, supra, trans, ultra, un, under. The exceptions are when the second element is capitalized or is a figure. Other exceptions: when there is a homonym (recover a lost object, but re-cover a sofa); or for clarity when there’s a strange spelling connection (co-chair, not cochair) or repeated vowels (anti-intellectual).
Example: postmodern, pseudoscience, metadata
Example: mid-December, pre-1980s
All “self” compounds are hyphenated, except when the addition is a suffix.
Example: self-reliant, self-assured
Example: selfless, selfish
FOR SPIRITUALITY CONVERSATIONS ONLY:
Bible and God References in Graphics
Please capitalize “God’s Word.”
Example: “I read God’s Word.”
Incorrect: “I read God’s word.”
God pronouns (He, Him, His) should be capitalized.
Example: God showed grace to His people. The exception is if a Bible verse which uses lower-case God pronouns (such as NIV) is being directly quoted. In that case, the verse should be quoted exactly as the translation gives it.
When directly quoting the Bible, italicize and place in quotations. Follow it up with the book, chapter and verse(s) in parentheses, using a colon to delimit chapter from verse.
Example: “Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way
before” (Joshua 3:4).
Other ways to cite Bible verses:
- for a book chapter (Genesis 5)
- for a range of chapters (Genesis 5–8)
- for a single verse (Genesis 5:3)
- for a range of verses (Genesis 5:3–10)
- for multiple disjoint verses (Genesis 5:3,7)
When specifying a range of verses, the en-dash is used, and there are no spaces on either side
of it. (See more about Dashes and Hyphens below.)
In place of Roman numerals, please use Arabic numerals for books of the Bible.
Example: “2 Corinthians” or “3 John”.
Incorrect: “II Corinthians” or “III John”
When referencing any book of the Bible, use the full name of the book, not the abbreviation.
Example: “Philippians 2:5”
Incorrect: “Phil 2:5”