In a world where efficiency rules, and time is a valuable commodity, training videos are one of the best ways to provide employees with the information they need to do their job, or customers with the know-how to use your product or service. Video instructions are so efficient that some studies have shown that target audiences retain 95% of a video’s content, vs just 10% of those who read the text version. Because of this, they are a highly effective educational tool and ultimately can improve your bottom line as a business through increased information sharing efficiency. In this article, we will dive into what training videos actually are, the different types of training videos and finally how to make them for your own business.
What is a Training Video?
Training videos are essentially a video created to educate, train or upskill viewers on a particular topic or task. The specific topics can be highly diversified, and might include legal training for a new employee, product usage guides for a customer or videos to aid with learning a new skill. In fact, some people even monetise training videos through sites like Udemy, which offers remote, video-based learning for their customers.
Why Make a Training Video
If you have an educational goal for your staff or customers, training videos are an excellent medium to achieve that. Both attention-grabbing and efficient at transferring information, training videos are a great choice for brands. Arguably, in the attention economy, training videos are best thought of as a requirement any time you need to share information.
As more of us consume video content, and 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands, training videos are now more important than ever – less people want to spend their day reading a dull piece of instructional text. More of us want to be informed and entertained at the same time, something that a well-produced training video can easily accomplish.
What Makes A Good Training Video
We know how valuable training videos can be but, unfortunately, many of us also know the pain and tedium of sitting through a bad training video. Dry, dreary and dull – poorly produced training videos are anything but efficient and engaging. So, how can you ensure your training video is a good one? Thankfully, there are some key components that are widely understood to create good training videos – these are:
- Clearly defined objectives: What is the goal of your training video? Is it to simply inform? Is it to train a new skill? Starting up-front with a clearly defined objective can ensure you are on the right track when creating a training video. It can help to have in mind the goal you hope the viewer can achieve after watching your video. For example – By the end of the training video, the viewer should be able to assemble the product.
- Clear narration, pacing and structure: This is another essential component of a good training video and finding a balance is key here. No one wants to feel rushed, confused and flustered by a fast-paced training video, but at the same time they don’t want a meandering video where they feel their time is being wasted. Having a clear, easy to understand narration which drives a steady, efficient pace will ensure your viewers get the most from their video.
- Easily understood technical points: Nailing the technical aspects of your training video is also vital, because often this is the core of the video. These can be the most complicated and tricky elements of your video, so use the medium appropriately. Back up clear narration with imagery and use the video to support the message.
- An engaged audience: Finally, the best training videos are not just purely informative – they are entertaining and work to keep the audience’s attention. Focusing on engaging your viewer doesn’t necessarily mean going overboard with jokes or fast-paced editing: the key is keeping the audience in mind. Even something as simple as a narrator with an engaging speaking style, as opposed to a monotone approach.
When Should You Make a Training Video?
In order to determine when a training video might be required, it’s worth considering a few important points. Generally, there are a few good reasons why you should and potentially only a couple why you shouldn’t. Primarily, if time to market is absolutely critical, a text based training document will generally be faster than a video to produce. Some more reasons to make a training video are:
- Educating new hires on subject matter: Onboarding can be a whirlwind for many employees, and having well produced training videos can help get them up to speed as efficiently as possible.
- Anytime you need to teach new skills to an audience: It’s well known that there are 7 types of learning styles, and video training can hit up to three of them (visual, auditory, reading).
- Have a large audience that needs reaching: Training videos, when hosted online, can be an efficient way to reach multiple viewers at once. In many cases these videos are ‘set and forget’ – create, upload and reap the benefits once it’s live.
- When timing isn’t critical: As stated above, one reason why you might want to avoid training videos is if production time is tight. Videos, while much more efficient at transmitting information, naturally take a longer time to produce than a piece of written content.
Types of Training Videos
While we may all be familiar with a bland, presenter-led training video, there are actually a diverse range of training videos that businesses use, from Screencasts, to How-To videos, to Animated training videos. There’s no right or wrong approach in selecting a specific type of training video to proceed with, it’s just about picking one that is most suited to your audience and goals. Here’s a list of the more popular types of training videos:
- Instructor-led Training Videos. These are the videos you’d normally associate with a training video. The trainer stands in front of the camera, blue screen behind them perhaps. There will be facts and figures on the screen. These are easy to create and a good starting point if you’re just getting into training videos.
- Animated Training Videos. The use of text and graphics, colour and movement, to create an animated training video can keep an audience engaged and entertained. You don’t need anyone on camera, which could save on costs. There are many online sources that can help you create an animated video. Animated videos are also handy if the subject matter requires demonstrations, but doing so could be dangerous.
- Simulation Training Videos. You can save a lot of money by creating a simulation training video. Rather than recreate the simulation every time you wish to train someone, a video can be created once and then shared each time someone needs the knowledge. You can also focus on key points of data during the simulation, to highlight areas of focus each person needs to be aware of.
- How-To Training Videos. A really simple way to educate someone is a How-To video. You can step them through slowly and clearly so no one misses a step. When reading instructions from a book, there is a risk of missing a step as you switch between the book and the task. With a video you can ensure all bases are covered.
- Interactive Training Videos. Interactive videos can include quizzes, hot spots on the screen for viewers to interact with, or select screens to branch the video narrative off into other sections. For the purpose of training videos, quizzes are the most popular option for interactive learning. Easily used to judge competency and understanding of the content.
- Presenter Training Videos. Different from an instructor, a presenter could be a celebrity. The tone is different and more marketing focused, a little bit more salesy, with more charisma or WOW factor.
- HSE Training Videos. A Health, Safety and Environment training video is instructional and informational regarding the workplace, and essential for orientation purposes. Mixing it up with interaction and having a quiz that follows is a good plan. These videos convey vital information for improved safety in the workplace. They may be essential for workplace compliance.
- Screencast Training Videos. Popularised by tools such as Loom, this is a video of you and your computer screen. Often there would be a small video shot of you in the corner, while the bulk of the screen is your computer screen. This is ideal when running tutorials for SaaS (Software as a Service), showing procedures for software and such.
Benefits of Training Videos
While we already know training videos are more efficient at delivering information, there are many more useful benefits associated with them, including their flexibility and easily accessible nature. Some more benefits are:
- Cost effective – While upfront costs are higher than a written piece of text, the wide applicability and lasting impact of training videos mean that, in the long run, they are supremely cost effective.
- Flexible – Training videos are extremely flexible, both in the almost unlimited choice of subject matter and approach, as well as the opportunity to edit to fit different platforms. Shorter-form, snappy content can be easily created from long form videos.
- Easily accessible – A huge benefit of training videos is their accessibility. They can be delivered across many devices – mobile, web and even via email. They are also more accessible for a wide audience as they can be accompanied by captions or in-video written text.
- Saves time – Videos deliver a lot of information efficiently, helping your customers or employees to save time.
- Easy to understand – Finally, a well produced training video will be easy to understand.
Step by Step Guide To Making A Training Video
So, how may you go about creating a training video? Luckily, we’ve compiled a step by step guide to help you do just that. The key thing to remember is starting with a clear vision of what you want to achieve, as well as what the viewer outcome should be at all stages of the process. Following this guide will give you the framework you need to make a successful, effective training video. The steps are:
- Pre production: In this essential first step, you work out what you want to say, who the audience is and ultimately the objectives of the video. Generally, this will be a high-level view without too many specific details.
- Write a script and storyboard: Essentially, make your pre production work much more detailed, specifically by storyboarding (creating ‘frames’ for all of the shots in your video) and complement that with a script. At this point, it’s also important to think about where it will be filmed – inside or outside on location or in a studio, for example.
- Organise video equipment: Source the equipment you are going to use for recording and editing your training video.
- Check recording equipment quality before filming begins: This is essential. There’s nothing worse than shooting a whole day of footage, and realising none of the microphones were on! Typically, you’d check the microphone, sound, and all of the video recording equipment.
- Film video: Film or animate the footage. Use a clean background, record without distractions and keep the goals of the video in mind.
- Editing: For many training videos, the edit is make or break! Keep things at a good pace, and well structured.
- Feedback: Share the video with others to get feedback, and if you can share with specific members of the target audience, ask them if the video achieves the initial goal you’d set out in the pre-production phase.
- Revise based on feedback: Finally, go back to re-edit the footage if feedback requires you to do so, otherwise if there is no compelling feedback, you are ready to go live!
We hope this comprehensive guide to training videos has been helpful for you. We’ve looked at the elements of a good training video, when you might need to create your own training video and some of the benefits of doing so. We’ve also covered the key types of training videos, and the specific steps you should follow if you want to create your own. While that may seem like a lot of information, here at Ivory Media we have great experience creating training videos – and would love to help get you started. If you are keen to create your own training video, and want some help doing so – please reach out for more information and a quote today!