What makes great training videos?
Do you need flashy visuals? Jokes? Maybe you should make a music video for every training segment like Wendy’s did back in the ’90s?
Most likely, the answer is none of the above! (Although… if you do make a music video, please send it our way.)
More importantly, remember that employee training videos shouldn’t be confined to a single genre or look. Instead, focus on hitting the following points without worrying too much about the final look. Training videos are all about substance over style.
First, Remember to K.I.S.S. – Keep It Short and Shareable
I say this all the time, K.I.S.S. is the cornerstone of all our relationships. And by relationships, I mean ad campaigns. The more concise your message is, the easier it will be to understand. The easier it is to understand, the more successful it will be—simple as that.
If you have a more extended training segment, consider breaking each concept into its own chapter. For example, take the videos we did for Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
We made close to 30 videos for Dr. Susan Love’s breast cancer education series. Throughout those videos, we created well-segmented, easy-to-digest lessons that explained breast cancer and breast cancer treatments in terms that anyone could understand.
So, how long should your business training videos be?
Aim for between 2-3 minutes per video. That should give you enough time to make your point, and it should be short enough to stop anyone from getting too distracted by other things while watching.
Second, Keep the Tone Fun and Playful
Who’s the best boss you’ve ever had? Was it the stern manager at your first job, or was it the boss who got to know you—who made you feel like part of the team?
Fun and emotional connections are some of the best motivators we have. The more fun you have and the more connected you feel, the more likely you are to retain information. This simple, psychological fact is the reason why video marketing and video-based lessons are so successful. Videos are fun!
To successfully teach your employees what they need to know, you need to inject fun into the training experience. This could mean a couple of things, you could include in-video questions, fun answers to post-training quizzes, or you could make a Wendy’s esque music video. Yes, that training video is hilariously bad but don’t tell us that you don’t have “Hot Cups” stuck in your head right now.
You can also take our work for Dr. Susan Love into account. Those videos are full of animation, vivid imagery, and other video storytelling tricks. Those characteristics help potential viewers relate heavily to Dr. Susan Love’s information, cementing it in their memory. That’s the power of video training.
Third, Always Tell a Story
We’re sure that you’ve heard of the three-act-structure or the hero’s journey before. Both of these story structures work for corporate training videos as well.
What’s more powerful, handing someone a pamphlet on how to lift a box correctly or showing them a video of someone trying and failing to pick up a box before learning how to lift the box properly from a mentor? If your employees see someone they can relate to going through a productive transformation, they’re more likely to follow suit.
You can also think about a joke. If you tell someone the punchline to a joke without the setup, then the joke flops. Telling an employee to “sell more” is meaningless without showing them examples of good sales pitches or showing them how the best salesmen in the company sell.
You’re not telling them a good story if you leave that information out of your corporate training.
Your Training Videos Are Going to Be Great, We Can Feel It
So, there you have it. From corporate to restaurant employee training videos, these rules should be your go-to guide.
Keep your messages short, keep your tone fun and engaging, and always tell a story. If you think you need help with any part of the training video process, please reach out! We would love to talk with you.
Finally, because you’ve been such a diligent reader, here’s a small reward. The long-anticipated sequel to “Hot Drinks.” We give you “Cold Drinks!!”
