Making eLearning Videos: How Can They Be Improved?
Videos are the future of eLearning and are fast becoming the go-to way to train employees. However, today’s viewers have a much higher expectation of video content. In educational videos, the need to be engaging is more necessary than ever. With that being said, we’ve laid out 7 expert tips to make your eLearning videos more effective than ever and keep your staff’s eyes glued to their screens.
1. Keep Them Short And To The Point
Keep short attention spans in mind and create videos that are short, snappy and bite-sized in nature. Keep your videos within 2-9 minutes, and not more than 20. Any longer, and you risk the chance of your staff either dropping off or feeling like these eLearning videos are a chore to finish.
2. Think About Mobile
One of the major advantages of eLearning is that it can be accessed anywhere at any time. This advantage, of course, extends to videos. Odds are that the majority of your staff will view your videos on their phones. Therefore, make sure that you’ve catered for this in your content. Avoid using small and fiddly assets that would only be clear on a large screen. Make your videos clear and easy to understand, no matter where they’re viewed.
3. Consider Multilingual Audio And Subtitles
Companies are becoming more multicultural and diverse than ever, and your videos should be reflecting this. For example, allow for visual space that will need to be added or removed when adding subtitles to a video. Spanish and German often take longer to read versus English. Therefore, your footage will need to be extended or be clipped down depending on that. You should also consider having multilingual audio tracks. For example, if your video mainly comprises of a voice over—why not invest in multilingual voice-over tracks? This will be easier for your multicultural staff to consume content and will help to ease the integration of your training.
4. Quality Of Audio Matters
When you're thinking about creating an eLearning video, it’s more than likely that audio is an afterthought. However, audio is one of the biggest make or break points of any successful video. If a voice over or audio track is of low quality or doesn’t match the visuals, it will throw a wrench in the overall experience. Invest as much time and effort into your audio recording as your video recording to maximise the overall learning experience.
5. Show, Don’t Tell
As said earlier, we process visual information so much faster than text. Use your eLearning videos to show skills in action. How-to videos are particularly effective, as you’re giving your staff a real scenario to view and learn from. Try to create immersive scenarios with a realistic storyline. This will help your staff to know how to apply these skills in their day-to-day. After all, videos have the advantage of visualising your message—so you should be making the most of it!
6. Tell A Story
Having a central storyline with a basic plot and memorable characters is a great way to grab your staff’s attention. Having a character that needs to learn a skill or is showing that skill is a great example of this. Your staff will be able to walk through the process with them and empathise with the character, and often, at times, relating themselves to the character. The video then becomes more than just another training module. It becomes an interactive element that they can relate to and engage with.
7. Size Matters
An often-overlooked point is the final delivery of your video. Bear in mind where your eLearning video will be stored. You may need to compress or change the resolution of your video to make it more accessible and to not take up too much bandwidth. In areas with a slow internet connection, having a video that’s slow to load and watch will possibly not get watched at all. Having a compressed video that is smaller in size takes less time to load and even opens up the possibility to be downloaded for viewing offline.
Following these 7 easy steps shows that you don’t need to be Steven Spielberg to create great and engaging eLearning videos. Why not check out our previous article on How To Use eLearning For Seasonal Staff Training to see how you can save time and free yourself from this stress!
