A Step-By-Step Guide to Crafting Engaging Training Videos

Self-teaching through videos is at an all-time high. Whether it’s cooking shows or Photoshop tutorials, millions of people turn to video to teach themselves a new skill. This might be why training videos are one of the top three ways employees like to learn.

Below, we’ve compiled a step-by-step guide to crafting engaging training videos to enhance your organisation’s employee training strategy today.

Let’s dive in.

Types of Training Videos: Expanding the Horizon

The six most popular types of training videos include:

1. Onboarding videos, which acquaint new employees with the company culture and policies. They introduce viewers to core values, providing a glimpse of what to expect. Google’s employee video is an excellent example.

2. Compliance and safety videos, which detail the rules and regulations employees must follow. They are useful when dealing with dangerous workplace equipment, acting as a general PSA and a way to protect against liability.

3. Leadership and management training videos target managers and team leaders and teach soft skills like conflict resolution, time management, and effective communication.

4. Product training videos, which educate employees on new products or services offered by the company. They are particularly useful for sales and customer service teams.

5. Sales training videos, which equip sales teams with techniques and strategies for closing deals, improving customer relations, and reaching targets.

6. Customer service skills videos, which outline customer service policies to deliver an excellent customer experience, how to deal with customer complaints, and who to pass the issue onto if it persists. This training video is an excellent example.

Crafting Engaging Training Videos: A Step-By-Step Guide

Now that you know the types of training videos, let’s take a look at how to make an excellent one step-by-step.

Step 0: Let’s Get Our Goals Straight, Shall We?

When done right, virtual training videos can improve employee retention by over 600%. But while the video medium is clearly powerful, it’s important to set your objectives and have a clear vision before you get filming.

So before you get to scripting, be clear about the core messages you want to convey via your video.

Step 1: Brainstorming Like a Boss

Once you determine the core message of your video, here is how to expand on it further:

• Mind Map for Ideas: Use a mind map to explore related subtopics. Place your main theme at the centre and branch out with related ideas, examples, or questions. This visual approach helps in connecting concepts and identifying essential content.

• Engage with Your Audience: Understand your audience’s needs by conducting surveys or interviews. Knowing their background, challenges, and expectations can tailor your content to be more relevant and impactful.

• Prioritise Content: Not everything is crucial. Use the ‘Must, Should, Could’ (MoSCoW) method to prioritise. ‘Must’ includes content that is essential for understanding, ‘Should’ covers important but not vital topics, and ‘Could’ lists nice-to-have information. This helps in focusing on what’s absolutely necessary.

• Use Real-world Examples: Incorporate real-life scenarios or case studies. This not only makes the content relatable but also helps in applying theoretical knowledge practically.

• Collaborate and Get Feedback: Brainstorming shouldn’t be a solo activity. Involve team members or subject matter experts to get diverse perspectives. Also, seeking feedback on your outlined ideas can provide valuable insights.

Remember, the key to effective brainstorming is to remain open to ideas, be organised in your approach, and always keep your audience’s learning experience at the forefront. If you’d like some help, feel free to reach out to us for your video. We’ll be more than happy to sit with you and brainstorm ideas for your project.

Step 2: Scripting—The Blueprint of Your Masterpiece

The next task is to write a script.

A detailed script is essential to convey content systematically, engage learners more efficiently, and enhance the overall learning experience. Here are some essential tips to keep in mind when generating an instructional video script:

• Create a plan for the training, keeping the learning objective in mind.
• Ensure the script aligns with your chosen video format.
• Use a conversational tone — speak as if you’re describing the topic in real life, with a natural and engaging delivery.
• Avoid lengthy sentences, inappropriate humor, and cliches.
• Follow a logical story structure, arranging your script chronologically if needed.
• Keep sentences short, fluff-free, and to the point.

Step 3: All About That Tech (Gear and Software)

If you don’t have the budget for professional video cameras and fancy recording gear, you can film decent-quality DIY videos using a smartphone camera. But invest in a tripod stand and have a proper setup to ensure the footage is not shaky or blurry.

However, it’s always recommended to use separate audio equipment to ensure your audio quality is crisp and clear. You want to invest in an external microphone, like a Lavalier microphone. This type of mic can easily be clipped onto a presenter’s clothes, amplifying what is being said while being hidden from view.

Lighting is also important, so either find a well-lit set with natural lighting or invest in a studio-quality ring light if filming indoors.

Finally, for editing, use editing tools such as Camtasia, FilmoraX, and HippoVideo to give the finishing touches to your video. These tools are beginner-friendly and can facilitate audio-syncing, narration, sound effects, and more.

Step 4: Filming—Where the Magic Happens

Once your drawing board is ready to go, it’s time to bring out the big cameras!

Here are important filming tips to ensure you capture high-quality footage:

1. Use a clean background — a messy, cluttered background will distract from the subject.
2. Try to film in natural lighting. Get your footage in the mornings or evenings, when the light is softer.
3. Avoid shaky footage by using a tripod or setting your camera on a steady surface.
4. Understand the rule of thirds — visualize a 3×3 grid over your shot and place your subject along one of the lines of the grid.
5. Shoot from a variety of angles and have plenty of B-roll footage to use in editing later.

If using your smartphone to film, keep these additional tips in mind:

1. Always use the phone’s back camera.
2. Record in landscape mode for better-looking footage.
3. Use your phone’s overlay grid feature to avoid crooked or tilted footage.

Step 5: Editing—No, It’s Not as Scary as It Sounds

Editing is essential to bring together raw footage into a final, polished product. If editing intimidates you, consider this advice from video editing experts.

The Do’s: 

• Meet the optimal length – Shorter videos consistently perform better but don’t blindly buy into the “less is more” narrative. The length of your training video should always be dictated by your content and its purpose. Don’t cut off content to meet a shorter time frame — longer videos can be effective as long as they are segmented, engaging, and well-edited. If you’re missing out on important content to meet a tight 30-second frame, your video will fail to meet its purpose. Learn more in our post on how long a corporate video should be.

• Focus on storytelling – Have a clear vision while editing and ensure that every chosen second helps deliver your message effectively. Include transitions, effects, slow-motion and dramatic elements to heighten the storytelling feel of your video.

• Review the next day – Approach your video with a fresh perspective after an initial edit. Sleeping on your work provides clarity on where you can improve and helps you see the video from the viewer’s standpoint.

The Don’ts:

• Overusing effects – Do not fall into the trap of excessive jump cuts, transitions, and sound effects. Too many effects can overwhelm the viewer and distract from the message, so always strive for a balanced approach.

• Using copyrighted material – This is a sure way to get your content flagged and penalized (if you choose to upload it online). Always double-check copyright information — check for licensing, look for watermarks, or consult the source website’s terms of use to determine if a piece of media is safe to use.

• Forgetting to save and back up – A last-minute loss of finalized footage is the most disastrous post-production outcome. Always save your work and make regular backups. Set up automatic saving on your device and maintain backups on external hard drives to ensure your edits are secure.

Step 6: Let’s Talk Interactivity

Video training is about more than simply speaking to a passive audience. You can enhance your audience’s learning by delivering the video as part of an employee e-learning course. Or, you can perform a knowledge check after they’ve watched the video through an online test or quiz.

These simple elements can cut through the risk of viewer boredom and ensure they interact with your content, not just passively absorb it.

Step 7: The Final Cut—Reviewing and Tweaking

Once you’re done editing and tweaking your video, test it out before rolling it to your employees. You can do this by playing the video for a selective group of individuals and receiving and implementing any feedback.

After you’ve begun playing the video for your employees, it’s time to identify whether the training is any good. Did your employees achieve the learning objectives? Did they find the video engaging, interesting, and interactive?

To measure the effectiveness of the training video, you can track:

1. Viewer engagement, such as view duration and click-through rates.

2. Knowledge retention and comprehension. Use quantitative assessments like tests and quizzes to evaluate participants’ understanding.

3. Qualitative feedback. Conduct short interviews to receive employee comments and feedback on the training.

4. Behavioral changes. Observe changes in employees’ behavior or performance that indicate an implementation of the training content.

Also, be open to receiving feedback and focus on constant improvement.

Final Words

No matter what kind of training you provide, learning doesn’t have to be boring. Use the tips outlined above to craft a brilliant training video that enhances your team’s learning experience.

If you’d like professional help, consider outsourcing video production to Ivory Media. With over 40 years of combined industry experience, we can help you create compelling training content that your employees look forward to.

Get a quote today!