8 Tips for Effective How-to Training Videos

Your company needs how-to training videos to help new team members thrive or maybe to help customers understand how to use products or services with ease. But how can you create how-to training videos that will help your brand achieve success? Creating how to training videos that will improve your team can save you time and money when hiring new members or when showing customers new features of your products or services. Follow these tips to create training videos that work for your business.

1. Break the Concept Down

The first step to creating great training videos, whether to train customers or employees, is to break the concept down into easy to understand and easy to accomplish steps. If you’re an expert on your subject, consider working with someone that knows very little about the subject to break the process down. This way, you can get an outsider view of what you should focus on.

Often times, training videos start with a concept that is too in depth and hasn’t been broken down sufficiently. This can leave the viewer feeling uneasy or as if the task is too difficult to achieve.

You need a simple, jargon free, explanation of the concept that will be covered in your training video. Take steps to make the concept simple and easy to follow. This will help you make the best training video.

2. Choose a Presenter

You may be inclined to want to save money in production and use someone from your company to act as the presenter on your how-to training video. While this may save money, if the individual you choose to present isn’t an experienced actor or actress you could lose out on some benefits here.

You want to choose a presenter that is comfortable on camera, friendly, and definitely not shy. Your audience will quickly call out an awkward or uncomfortable presenter and your videos will have less value if this occurs.

3. Keep Topics Short

When creating training videos it is best to keep the topics of each video short and succinct. This way, your learner can take a self-guided pace toward learning the subject matter. Start with the basics and expand as you go with more videos diving deeper into the subject matter.

Self-directed learning allows for a more optimal subject accumulation for your viewer. People don’t want to sit for hours learning something new. Most would rather digest small segments that help them to grasp the topic and put the skills to use before they learn the next set of skills. Consider this as you plan topics out for your training video content.

4. Clear & Defined Titles

The title of your training videos should always be clear and well-defined. Don’t use a long, elaborate or otherwise difficult to understand title and certainly don’t use link-bait! Your viewers want to know what they are about to watch.

A title like “Video #6” won’t do anyone much good. However, a title like, “How to Use the Expand Feature in BrandX Software” will tell the viewer exactly what they are about to learn.

When naming your videos, organize your files in a way that is easy for the viewer to understand. This way they can quickly see what they need and will find the content that is most useful to them.

5. Organize Training Videos for Access

Ease of access, for your clients and your employees, is vital when producing training videos. Organize your videos so that those who need them can find them easily. Make a series of short videos that outline the processes in a way that is logical and organized. Then, make sure that viewers can easily find the content that is most valuable to them.

When visually organizing your video training, consider a collection of thumbnail images and titles in chronological order or the order that is most relevant to how the topic unfolds. Some viewers will appreciate seeing the videos in order while others will appreciate the ability to read the titles and bounce from one video to the next.

6. Keep it Short

Training videos are about teaching a new skill or set of skills. No viewer will want to sit around and watch an opening that takes five minutes to get to the point. Don’t waste anyone’s time!

Keep your training videos short and to the point. The opening should be 30 seconds or less. Spend too much time on the opening, and you’ll lose interest.

Keep the opening exciting. Use text graphics, photographs, and animations to make the content interesting. People want to gather and digest the information you deliver quickly so consider the steps you can take to deliver, short, factual bursts in your training videos for best results.

7. Include B-Roll

B-roll can be used throughout your training videos to add value and entertainment to the content you are delivering. Anytime you can use b-roll footage to add interest or to make the content more fun as the presenter is talking–do it!

Use b-roll to minimize the amount of time that your training videos show a presenter onscreen talking. People will quickly get bored with content that shows someone just chatting away. Use supporting footage in various ways to keep the process fun and engaging.

8. Get Close

Finally, as you create training videos, don’t be afraid to use close-up shots to your advantage. The more close-ups you can incorporate the better.

Wide shots are excellent to allow the viewer to see the entire scene or process, but get up close to provide in-depth details and so that your viewer can see the presenter up-close when explaining a process or situation at length. Alternate between shots to keep the viewer engaged and to prevent boredom.

Use these tips for creating training videos that will help your customers or employees better understand their role with your products or services. For help creating powerfully effective how-to training videos, contact Beverly Boy Productions at 888-462-7808.