I tend to associate infomercials with Ginsu knives and historical videos on World War II.

Obviously, the Barack Obama infomercial that aired last month was not in the order-now-and-get-free-shipping genre.

Putting politics aside, the video comes across as a powerful communications vehicle.

How can you go wrong with world-class production quality, panoramic views of “amber waves of grain” and Mr. Obama’s gift for oratory?

Yet, the element that creates the drama and a true sense of storytelling comes from the people vignettes. That’s what really pulls the viewer through the 30 minutes to hear Mr. Obama explain “why me.”

As a quick aside, B&O Railroad should especially resonate with baby boomers from their Monopoly-playing days.

What politicians know both intuitively and from reams of hard data continues to elude technology companies: The most compelling stories revolve around people.

Before Wall Street Journal reporter Vauhini Vara returned to campus life at the University of Iowa, she shared the following insight during an SWMS interview:

“There is a tendency here and elsewhere to focus on companies that have consumer implications. Pitch stories about interesting approaches in management, or changes that took place in the industry that had an impact how the organization has to move. That allows us to write about people, rather than just sort of writing dryly about technology.”

My last post lamented the lack of quality video earmarked for a B2B audience.

Which isn’t to say business videos are a complete wasteland.

There’s an eclectic blog called Valley Zen – promotes itself as the intersection of Zen and technology; I thought that was Nolan Bushnell’s dream with Chuck E. Cheese’s – that showcases a video interview with VC Tim Draper from Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

It’s good.

No, make that darn good.

Why?

It certainly doesn’t hurt to be comfortable in front of the camera. But there’s more going on here than a relaxed demeanor.

For starters, this isn’t your garden variety story from another VC headliner on why I’m rich and you’re not. Instead, you’ve got Draper kicking off the interview with his eyes closed and arms extended uttering the mantra: “I’m now at peace with my Zen.”

Very Californian.

From there you get to know a little more about Draper, his philosophies and how he defeated a cape buffalo in Africa.

Just as important as the storyline, no one is taking themselves too seriously. When was the last time you watched a dour guest on Oprah?

On the production side, it doesn’t hurt to have the professionals from Localfilms as your crew. Yet, there are lessons for the novice videographer such as breaking up the video in sections with stills and varying the camera angles.

Of course, if you’ve got dull people pontificating on a dull topic you’re going to end up with a dull video.

As my daughter would say, “Duh.”

When YouTube debuted, I remember thinking what’s all the fuss?

You obviously don’t want me reading tarot cards at the local county fair.

Universal McCann’s study on social media on video traction shows that more than 80 percent of Internet users watch video online:

With that said, I don’t know if anyone predicted that video would transcend the short-term gratification of youth and become a mainstay of business communications. Virtually every media product – from The New Yorker to The New York Times to EE Times – now showcases video.

The state of video creation today reminds me of the early days of desktop publishing when PostScript and the laser printer essentially put the tools of the designer, typographer and printing press at the disposal of the masses.

Not a pretty picture.

You see the same dynamic with business videos as everyone jumps on the bandwagon.

Like the early days of desktop publishing, most people don’t have basic video skills much less the ability to tell a story through video.

Back to EE Times (targets an engineering audience), take a quick look at a recent video in which the reporter Mark LaPedus interviews an executive from Global Unichip Corp.

I venture to say the only people who watched all 399 “scintillating” seconds were Global Unichip employees.

I know LaPedus, and he’s a damn good reporter. No doubt the powers that be at EE Times have charged their reporters with creating videos but have neglected that one small detail called training.

On the positive side, compelling videos in the business realm are finding their way to various media platforms. And thanks to increasing demand, there’s a huge opportunity for those who can package a compelling yarn on video.