Testimonials

Who did it: Iowa State University Library and the Open & Affordable Education Committee, in partnership with ISU Student Government.

What students did: Iowa State invited students to share their experiences with textbook costs and launched a “Student Stories” series that included a video interview with former Student Government Vice President Juan Bibiloni.

Why it worked: The project centered student voice and asked students to describe their own experiences in their own words. It also connected personal stories to a broader affordability conversation on campus.

How to adapt it with this testimonial set: Invite one or two students to respond to a simple prompt such as “How did having free or lower-cost materials affect your learning?” Use one quote as a written graphic and, if possible, record a short video version. A small set of honest, specific stories can be more effective than a long general statement.

Who did it: KU Libraries, University of Kansas

What the library did: KU Libraries created a public recognition series featuring individual Textbook Heroes, with written spotlight pages and related stories highlighting specific people, courses, and OER efforts. The series includes faculty examples as well as student and staff honorees in some years.

Why it worked: The series made OER work visible by tying affordability and access to named people, concrete teaching choices, and specific course changes. Because the profiles are written and public-facing, they are easy to browse, reuse as inspiration, and share with campus audiences who may not watch a full video.

How to adapt it with this testimonial set: Create a short, written spotlight for one faculty member, librarian, student, or campus partner using a quote, name, role, and one or two sentences about what they changed or why it mattered. Use the testimonial template to turn that story into a clean quote graphic, or pair it with a longer web profile if you want both a quick visual and a fuller written example.

Who did it: Central Oregon Community College, shared through Open Oregon

What faculty did: For Open Education Week, Kirsten Hostetler created three short faculty testimonial videos featuring COCC instructors explaining why they use OER. The series included stories about adapting OER to create a technical writing textbook, how OER energized teaching, and using OpenStax in biology.

Why it worked: The videos were short, specific, and grounded in practice. Rather than speaking in general terms, faculty described what they changed, what they used, and what difference it made in their courses.

How to adapt it with this testimonial set: Record a short faculty video answering one focused question such as “Why did you choose OER for this course?” or “What changed for your students when you used open materials?” Use the video graphics to add an intro screen, a lower-third, and a closing screen so even a brief recording feels polished and reusable.

A strong testimonial starts with a human voice and a clear purpose. Whether you are gathering a written quote or recording a short video, it helps to plan ahead so the testimonial feels natural, specific, and useful.

Start with one clear purpose

Before gathering a testimonial, decide what you want it to help illustrate. For example, you might want to highlight:

• • Cost savings
  • Day-one access to materials
  • Reduced stress
  • Improved teaching flexibility
  • Student engagement
  • Course redesign or innovation

A testimonial works best when it focuses on one main idea rather than trying to cover everything at once.

Choose the right format

You can gather testimonials in different ways depending on your context.

Written testimonials are useful for webpages, reports, slides, flyers, and other outreach materials.

Interview-based testimonials are useful when one person is interviewing another and wants a more conversational, unscripted response.

Self-recorded video testimonials are useful when someone is creating a testimonial about their own experience and may want to use notes, an outline, or a light script.

The goal is not to produce a perfect script but rather to share or help someone share an honest, meaningful experience in a way that others can quickly understand.

Guidance for interviewing someone for a testimonial

Use prompts, not polished scripts

Testimonials are usually strongest when they sound like a real person speaking naturally. Instead of asking someone to write a formal statement, give them a few simple prompts.

For students, prompts might include:

• • What difference did these course materials make for you?
  • How did having free or openly licensed materials affect your learning?
  • What was especially helpful, meaningful, or memorable?
  • What would you want an instructor or campus leader to understand?

For faculty, prompts might include:

• • Why did you choose to use, adapt, or create OER?
  • What changed in your teaching after making that choice?
  • What impact did you notice for students?
  • What would you say to another faculty member considering OER?

Encourage specificity

General praise is nice, but specific examples are more powerful. For example, a line such as “It helped me stay on track because I had access from the first day” is often more effective than “It was great.”

If needed, encourage the speaker to mention:

• • What changed
  • Why it mattered
  • How it affected learning or teaching
  • What they want others to understand

Keep it short

• • Short testimonials are often the most usable, as they tend to be impactful and easy to add into reports or presentations later on.
  • A written testimonial may only need one or two strong sentences.
  • A video testimonial may only need 30 to 90 seconds of final edited speech.
  • Even for longer interviews, it helps to aim for short responses that can stand on their own.

Preserve the speaker’s voice

Edit for clarity only when needed. Try not to rewrite a testimonial so heavily that it no longer sounds like the person who shared it. Remember, the human voice along with a clear purpose makes a strong testimonial. Using warm, natural language is often more effective than polished institutional language.

Get permission before sharing

Before publishing a testimonial, make sure the speaker understands:

• • Where it will appear
  • Whether their full name will be used
  • Whether their quote, photo, or video may be reused in future materials

This is especially important when testimonials will appear publicly on websites, in videos, or in promotional materials.

If you are writing or recording your own testimonial

You can use the same general guidance from above but apply the questions to yourself.

• • Start with an outline or a light script. A simple structure might be:
    • Who you are
    • What experience you are describing
    • What changed or mattered to you
    • Why it was meaningful to you
  • Focus on one main message
  • Use natural language and speak just as you normally would
  • Include one or two specific examples
  • Keep it short enough to read or say comfortably (about 1-4 minutes in length)

Video Testimonial Graphics in Canva

Explore the OER California Video Testimonial Graphics Series templates and choose the ones you want to customize to use in your testimonial video. (Flip through the samples by selecting the arrows above, hover to view the name of each template, or select the four arrows at the top right to view them full screen. Scroll down to access the templates and planning guidance.)

Select the video testimonial graphics Canva template links below to open the editable templates. There are three template themes, and each template contains an intro screen, title card, lower-thirds overlay, and end screen graphics that can be incorporated into your video for a more cohesive and professional look. The templates are free to use and adapt, but you’ll need to create and sign in to a free Canva account to customize and download your postcard. To begin using the template, select View template. Once you sign in to your account, you may then be prompted to Open in Editor.

• • • VideoTestimonial_Seaside
    • VideoTestimonial_JoshTree
    • VideoTestimonial_Forest

View the video or read the steps for customizing your testimonial.

Step 1. Open the video testimonial graphics template in Canva and begin adapting.

Choose the video testimonial graphics template theme you like best. Select the Canva template link above to open your video testimonial graphics templates and easily customize them for your own video. You can update the text, swap images, and change colors if needed using the Growing Your OER Starter Kit.

Each template set includes:

• • An intro screen as a full-screen opening graphic
  • An end screen as a full-screen closing graphic
  • Two title cards as a full-screen section graphic
  • A lower-third as a transparent overlay that identifies the speaker on screen

A simple video might use:

• • An intro screen with the series or project title
  • One lower-third with the speaker’s name and role
  • An end screen with a thank-you or “learn more” message

You can add more screens, cards, or overlays as you need by duplicating the slides in the template, and you can delete any you do not want to use.

Step 3. Check readability and accessibility.

Use the Accessibility Guidance in the Appendix to ensure your marketing materials are as accessible as possible.

Make a last, visual check of your graphics to ensure:

• • Text is not placed over detailed imagery
  • Lower-thirds graphics do not overlap with captions or platform controls

You do not need advanced video software to create a useful testimonial video. Many free and low-cost tools can help you record, trim, arrange clips, add graphics, and export a finished video. Your institution may have tools available for video production, editing, and hosting. What matters most is not the platform you use, but whether the final video is focused and easy for others to access and understand.

A simple testimonial video often includes a short opening, one or more clips of a speaker sharing their experience, and a brief closing. Adding your adapted title cards, lower-thirds, screenshots, or images helps bring the various video snippets into one cohesive story.

Planning

Before recording or editing, review your testimonial plan and gathered content to determine

• • How long the video should be
  • Whether it will include one speaker or several
  • Where it will be shared

Shorter videos are often easier to edit and easier for viewers to watch. In many cases, a testimonial of 30 to 90 seconds is enough for one speaker, while a multi-person showcase may be a few minutes longer.

Setup and Recording

The goal is to capture clear audio, record a steady video, and ensure your subject is well-lit. Take some time to look for a quiet spot on your campus. Try a few sample takes with your recording device and different lighting arrangements.

If possible:

• • Record in a quiet space
  • Keep the camera steady
  • Make sure the speaker’s face is well lit
  • Avoid busy, noisy, or distracting backgrounds
  • Ask the speaker to talk naturally and keep responses concise

Taking a little time to set your stage and test your sound can save you lots of editing headaches later.

Edit for focus and flow

When editing, aim for a video that feels easy to follow. Remove long pauses, repeated ideas, or anything that distracts from the main point. If you are using multiple speakers, place them in an order that feels logical and helps the video build a clear story.

Use the Canva video testimonial graphics template pieces to provide:

• • An opening title screen
  • A short lower-third with the speaker’s name and role
  • Screenshots or images of the OER or H5P activity
  • Section title cards between speakers or topics
  • A closing screen with a thank-you or link to learn more

There are many wonderful video editors available. Some are free and others you may have access to through your institution. Here are links to guidance for some of the more popular ones:

• • Canva video editor
  • Adobe PremierePro
  • Techsmith Camtasia
  • YouTube

Keep visuals readable

If you add text or graphics, make sure they are easy to read.

• • Use clear fonts like those in the Growing Your OER Starter Kit
  • Keep strong contrast between text and background
  • Avoid placing text over detailed imagery
  • Keep on-screen text brief
  • Leave enough margin around the edges so text is not cropped or covered by platform controls

Consider background music

Once you have your video clips, title cards, lower-thirds, intro and end screens, and transitions in place, you might consider adding background music. A light instrumental track can help frame the beginning, ending, or transitions in a testimonial video, but it should never compete with the speaker’s voice. Choose music from an open or reusable source such as Pixabay or Openverse and review the license terms for the specific track before publishing.

Add captions

Captions are an important part of making a video more accessible. They help viewers follow spoken content and support people who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as viewers watching in noisy or quiet environments.

• • Add captions to all spoken dialogue
  • Review auto-generated captions for accuracy

Provide a transcript

In addition to captions, provide a transcript of the video. A transcript gives viewers another way to access the content and can be especially helpful for note-taking or translation.

A transcript should include:

• • Spoken content
  • Speaker names when helpful
  • Brief descriptions of meaningful audio or visual information if needed for understanding

Tip: For step-by-step guidance for creating captions and transcripts, see the Accessible Multimedia chapter of Open Voices, Just Choices.

Do a final check before sharing

Before publishing your video, review it once from the perspective of a first-time viewer.

1. 1. Is the audio clear?
   2. Is the pacing comfortable?
   3. Are titles and captions readable?
   4. Does the video stay focused on one main message?
   5. Are captions and transcript included?