How to Create an Employee Training Video: A Beginner’s Guide
When you were hired into a company chances are you spent a day (or more!) in a freezing conference room listening to someone lecture. There’s also a high likelihood that whatever you learned that day was forgotten in a couple of weeks. However, with ever-improving technology, days in the freezing conference room are beginning to look old-fashioned. Instead, many companies are looking to improve their efficiency by investing in an employee training video.
Here is our beginner’s guide to creating employee development videos that are both engaging and effective. In this article, we will go over some training video best practices.
Plan Your Employee Training Video Beforehand
Whether you’re going for a formal tone or more of a conversational, off-the-cuff feel to your training video, you need to plan ahead. Decide what the video content is going to be and make sure you cover everything you want to cover.
This might look like writing a formal script where every line is written out or an outline of things to cover during the video. No matter what tone you’re going for, it’s best not to “wing it” and to have your thoughts and topics planned before filming.
Make It Engaging
We have all sat in corporate training sessions bored silly because the content was dry and it wasn’t delivered in an engaging way. As humans, we naturally want to be entertained.
Think through what the most engaging format could be by looking at what kind of information you need to relay. Is it training on new software that your business will utilize? Perhaps a lecture format with appropriate graphics and screen sharing is most appropriate. Are you creating a how-to video for training purposes? Perhaps using roleplay between people going through the steps is best. Whatever you and your team decide, keep in mind that the information will be retained better if your audience is engaged.
Keep Different Devices in Mind
One of the best benefits of using an employee training video for corporate training is that training can be done anytime, anywhere. Keep in mind that your employees might not be doing training sitting in front of their desktop computers. When producing your training videos, make sure it is optimized to be played on all kinds of devices such as phones, tablets, and laptops. Making viewing the videos convenient for your employees will only encourage them to watch them.
Stay on Brand
Your employees will have more buy-in knowing this training was designed with their needs in mind. You can send that message by incorporating elements of your brand, including your logo, color palette, and fonts. Making your video look like a seamless part of your brand will send the message that the information is for your business specifically.
Don’t Make Them Too Long
One of your first questions might be, “How long should a training video be?” As a society, our attention spans seem to shrink with every passing year. According to a survey by Animoto, 59% of respondents said that if a video is too long, it will deter them from watching it.
Instead of fighting that battle, meet your employees where they are with more short videos instead of a couple of lengthy videos. A good rule of thumb is to keep your videos under 5 minutes. Not only will it help keep the attention of your audience, but it will allow you to reuse the videos down the road in a variety of ways without needing to edit unneeded content.
Know the Value of Production Quality
Video for corporate training doesn’t need to be Hollywood blockbuster level. But, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to pay attention to quality. For one, the purpose of the video is to relay important information to your audience. That means your audio needs to be clear, and any text or graphics need to be easily seen by the viewer. Additionally, a low-quality video isn’t engaging for anyone to watch. A good quality video shows your employees that what they are doing is important, so important that money was invested in making it as professional and polished as possible.
Get Help from Professionals!
At StoryBox Studios, we know the importance of a good quality video to communicate effectively. And, we know how important it is to tell a good story. Our team of experts knows how to help you achieve both for all of your corporate training needs. Contact one of our professionals today to discuss how we can help you easily and affordably take your training from the freezing conference room to your employees’ smartphones.
Leave a Reply