Training Videos have been around for decades.
At some stage, we’ve all been made to watch one with a poorly written script, bad acting, overly dramatised narration and of course, bad music (and hair, you can’t forget the hair). And if you’re like me, you probably had lots of fun laughing at them and not learning.
But forget any bad experience you’ve had with a 70’s style training video. Educational videos really do work and they have come a long way.
The reason they have lasted such a long time is that they can quickly and effortlessly get across important training messages. Complex information can easily be understood.
Other benefits include faster staff training, a more productive and efficient workforce and reduced training consultant fees.
Best of all, educational videos will always deliver a consistent message and never have a bad (hair!) day. Important messages can be watched over and over again.
Tailor made productions are an indispensable training tool for companies with a large workforce that have important processes and procedures that need to be undertaken safely and correctly. New inductees can easily be trained to your specific company needs.
So if bad music and poor narration doesn’t work, what does?
1. Keep your Script Simple, Stupid
To get your training video going, it all starts with a KYSSS. Better wise known as Keep your Script Simple, Stupid.
Too often companies will write their own script based on their big (boring) training manuals. This is great if you want people to refresh themselves with a nap during their training session. Not great if you want to grab their attention and teach them something.
The beauty with video is that both pictures and sound tell your story. So you don’t need lots of talking to explain things, as you can show people what you mean.
After all, research has found that people remember about 80% of what they see, not what they hear.
Our advice is to spend a lot of time getting your script right, as it really does drive the quality of the production. Use lots of short sentences and avoid overly technical jargon.
If you can, get the video production house to write the script for you. Often getting a trained script writer to write your script means that it will be written in simple English that is not overly technical (ie: not a yawn creator).
2. Leave your Director Dreams at Home, Buddy
Often we’ve been called in to re-do a training video that was made in-house. An aspiring staff member with (dodgy) dreams of Hollywood believes they can have a crack at the company training video.
By the end of it, their pesky dreams are no longer. Long hours of frustrating editing has seen to that (which is a relief to their manager).
Despite their Scorsese intentions, the end result is often an out of focus, badly narrated production with jarring music. Usually pretty reminiscent of training videos of old or like something your mum would make.
As a training tool, it has little impact because people are too busy trying to work out what the camera is trying to focus on or trying to hear what the narrator is actually saying (which is usually them talking while filming).
Our recommendation is to use a professional video production house with lots of training video experience.
When choosing a video production company, take a look at their videos to make sure that the script is sensible, the narration is clear, the camera work is smooth and at the same quality as what you’d expect on television.
Stay away from production houses with no training video experience or who themselves aspire to be film directors (which seems to be about 95% of them). Too often, they have no business acumen and forget to focus on how to get messages across and improve learner message retention.
3. Reiterate, reiterate, reiterate
Using titles to reiterate your important training messages is incredibly effective. They need to be used generously in a production, as they really do increase your message retention rates.
4. Change what’s on screen……now
Expert training video producers have lots of tricks up their sleeves to grab audience attention and concentration.
One of them is changing what’s on screen every few seconds. The change doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be as simple as a close up shot, a new title, or even a shot from a different angle.
By constantly changing the on-screen vision, people are more likely to keep watching with interest.
Another important point is to avoid getting your video done through your training consultant. In our experience, they tend to look at the size of their commission cheque (particularly sales trainers) and do not care about the end result. Most training consultants have no video experience which means they do not know the best way to present information in a video format.
Remember, if you need to get a training video produced, focus on the quality of the script and ensure that you choose a video production house that wants to improve learner message retention rather than just provide pretty pictures on the television. And for good measure, take a look at their hair!
