7 Training Video Development Best Practices You Need To Know About
There is no doubt that videos are a superior way of learning and can bring great results compared to traditional training methods. However, the level of success training videos help employees achieve can vary depending on how well made they are. In this article, we share 7 video development best practices that will ensure your training videos perfectly accommodate the learning needs of your employees and keep them engaged throughout the duration of the training course.
Checklist For Creating Your Own Training Videos
1. Keep It Short
Finding the balance between keeping your content succinct and including all necessary information can be challenging. Employees may have a heavy workload and countless distractions to deal with on a daily basis, which means that a long video is unlikely to hold their attention. An ideal video length to combat short attention spans would be 3–6 minutes, but you could go up to 30, granted that you provide suitable breakpoints every few minutes. If you need to go longer than that, it's better to make a series rather than an epic video.
2. Focus On One Thing At A Time
When creating training material, you might be tempted to cram as much information as possible in it. Although this aims to help learners take a deep dive into the matter at hand, it might result in confusion and disengagement. Instead, the video development best practice we suggest is choosing your key subject and sticking to it. Minimize redundant explanations and steer clear of "fun facts" that distract learners from the main point. This way, you will achieve greater clarity and learner engagement.
3. Add Captions And Voice-Over
One of the top priorities of your video training program—or any other type, for that matter—is to be as accessible and inclusive as possible. Adding a voice-over to accompany the actions shown in the video and captions to avoid any misunderstandings is a great step in that direction. These additional aids are useful for not only employees with visual or auditory disabilities but also employees with varying learning styles. Moreover, they allow employees to still watch the training videos in noisy environments or without headphones.
4. Carefully Set Up Your Shooting Environment
A best practice many video development teams tend to neglect is ensuring that their training video has the best quality possible. Providing learners with videos that have clear sound and high resolution is extremely important for the learning experience and the levels of information absorption. Therefore, make sure you're capturing the best sound possible with an external microphone and set up a well-lit yet simple shooting background for a clear image. If shooting a live-action video exceeds your budget, you can easily create a high-quality animated video.
5. Use Simple Graphics
Speaking of animation, many video development teams utilize this method to create training videos. Their colorful graphics and funny characters attract learners and keep them interested long enough to comprehend the intended message. Considering that they are easier and cheaper to produce, their use is certainly encouraged, but you will have to remember not to go overboard with the visual effects. Use simple animations that are easy to read and don't overwhelm viewers. Additionally, make sure to keep them on the screen long enough for the learners to read them without having to pause or skip forward.
6. Make It Interactive
If all you ask of learners is to sit and watch, they will inevitably lose interest at some point. Therefore, a video development best practice you need to make your training program efficient is interactivity. There are many ways to turn watching training videos into an interactive experience. For example, you can add hotspots that allow viewers to drag, hover, and click for additional information. Some scenario videos will even pause and ask the viewer questions that determine how the story continues. Such choices actively involve the learner in the process and help them learn new skills more effectively.
7. Allow Access On Multiple Devices
As the preferred method of learning for the younger generations who have grown up around technology and social media, training videos must be accessible on all the devices they use. This would include computers, tablets, and smartphones of different sizes. For videos to be suitable for all these options, you must add large enough action buttons, ensure that no graphics are cut off, and use a font size that can be read with comfort on a smaller screen. This will allow employees to learn on the go and spend more time exploring the training program.
Conclusion
Training videos might look easy to make, and, in many cases, they are. However, we can't say that there isn't an art for designing and capturing the right images to convey your intended message. A well-designed training video can easily capture the attention of a learner and help them understand a new concept with minimal effort. If you follow the video development best practices we shared in this article, you will surely be able to easily create engaging and educational videos for your audience.
