Tips for Engaging Employee Training Videos

Employee training videos are an effective way to onboard new team members and sharpen the skills of current staff. They’re a perk for those looking to advance their careers, as well as a competitive advantage when new tools and technologies seem to unfold almost daily.

Creating engaging training content that employees actually like and, more importantly, retain can be more challenging than it appears. But by understanding how to make training videos more engaging, you can turn your training program into a valuable asset and contributor to your company’s success.

What is Video Training?

Video training for employees is not a replacement for meetings or Q&A sessions where two-way interaction is critical. It’s also not a medium onto which written materials and presentations can simply be copied without considering video as a unique content type.

Rather, video training is a time-saving resource that can deliver detailed and oftentimes complex information efficiently. It’s also a powerful employee engagement tactic that offers a visual way to learn, which is crucial for enhancing the retention and application of the material.

Reasons to Make Training Videos

While each company’s training initiatives will be unique to them, there are several fundamental use cases that it’s commonly used for.

For example, regular or recurring training sessions, like onboarding new employees or addressing frequently asked questions, are much more efficiently delivered through video content. This ensures consistency in what information is delivered and how and saves valuable time for trainers and employees alike.

Video training is also particularly effective for technical and complex topics that are difficult to convey through written manuals or live training sessions alone. For topics like setting up multi-factor authentication or understanding intricate product features, video is helpful for those who may need to pause or replay certain segments.

Further, with much of today’s workforce being remote, hybrid, or otherwise distributed, online training videos ensure that all employees, regardless of their location, receive consistent high-quality training.

Types of Training Videos

To address the most common use cases as well as others, employee training videos typically come in four varieties:

• Onboarding videos. These give new employees a comprehensive introduction to the company. They often include topics like culture, policies, and procedures and are designed to create a strong foundation for new employees.
• Compliance videos. These are used to educate employees about legal and regulatory requirements relevant to their roles. Their primary purpose is to help mitigate risks and ensure adherence to important policies, including workplace safety, anti-harassment policies, and data protection or other regulations.
• Tutorial videos. These offer step-by-step guidance on specific tasks or processes such as using new software, tools, or equipment. They’re ideal for complex procedures that employees can refer to as needed.
• Upskilling videos. These address employees’ skill gaps. Whether it’s developing new roles or responsibilities, mastering technical skills, or other topics like leadership, they’re great vehicles for continuous learning and career growth.

How to Make a Training Video

Producing training videos for employees can be done in several ways, but those methods shouldn’t be selected based on budget alone. In fact, an effective and efficient employee training program will leverage multiple options.

Presentation Recordings

For most employee training videos, starting with a recorded presentation can be the easiest approach. Common tools like PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Canva allow you to create basic yet visually appealing training content that conveys straightforward information. This low-effort method can be effective for content that changes regularly, such as certifications or financial regulations.

However, most presentation recording tools do not allow for post-recording edits to correct mistakes or fix audio issues. Meaning, if you make a mistake, you may need to start over from the beginning. So while recorded presentations are useful for topics with shorter lifespans, they’re not the best option for long-term training needs.

Video Platform Editors

For more dynamic content, online video platforms (OVPs) offer the features needed to seamlessly stitch together various clips, music beds, and slides. Thus, you can incorporate different camera angles, graphics, and even B-roll footage to make the content more engaging, especially for long-form training videos.

Some editors, like the Brightcove Video Editor, allow you to record custom voice-overs for your content. This gives you more flexibility to switch between talking heads and relevant graphics, charts, or other visuals. Or perhaps you’d rather present the content and the speaker at the same time. Features like Brightcove’s Slide Sync allow you to display a video and related PDF side by side. As the content plays, the PDF pages change in concert.

Brightcove also makes it easy to transfer and store video files by integrating with cloud storage solutions like Google Drive and Dropbox.

Professional Productions

For initiatives that demand the highest quality, proper production equipment and editing software can greatly improve the impact of your training content.

One major benefit of professional productions is the ability to record separate video and audio tracks. This is particularly helpful for editing and stitching together multiple takes into a seamless and polished final product. Improved quality also creates more engaging content, since it allows viewers to better pick up on nonverbal cues like facial expressions and eye contact.

Further, when explaining a specific process, professional video shows each step in more detail, making it easier for viewers to follow along and understand the material.

It’s also important to note that the production quality can signify the value and importance of the content. Just as a company would never announce their newest product via a laptop webcam, the same principle applies to employee training videos. Quality often reflects the priority and seriousness of the material.

How To Make Training Videos More Engaging

A common mistake companies make with corporate training videos is thinking that “more engaging” means “fun.” For brands that are already “fun”, this may work well. But learning and development benefits more from clarity than comedy. The following tips will help you achieve your training goals without getting distracted by needless bells and whistles.

1. Start with a Concept

An often overlooked but important part of the process is to start by taking a step back.

Think about your overall goals and ask yourself, “What exactly do we want the employee to learn?” Once you answer this, don’t write the script yet. Instead, write bullet points that give you both the structure and flexibility to brainstorm creative concepts.

Consider starting with these simple, but essential questions:

• What is the purpose of the training?
• What are the actions we want employees to take after watching?
• How long will the materials stay relevant or accurate?

These kinds of questions will give you the foundation of the training video and what type you should create. They’ll also help you determine the best approach for breaking multiple objectives into chapters, a series, or entire online courses that make the information more digestible.

As you think through your concept, you’ll want to consider the diversity of learning styles and vary the training methods for different employee videos. For example, depending on the type of training, auditory learners may be best served with voice-over, music, or other auditory stimulus. While visual learners will appreciate detailed graphics and features like Slide Sync experiences.

2. Incorporate Your Brand

It’s important to align employee training videos with your brand’s personality and culture. That way, while people are being trained on a particular topic, they’re also becoming immersed into the brand as a whole. So don’t use stock footage or paid voice-over talent the way you might on an external-facing project.

Remember, the training videos that new hires watch could be their first exposure to the broader company, so use this opportunity to introduce your brand culture. Consider things like featuring real employees in company offices and incorporating company-specific anecdotes throughout the content. Similarly, using branded elements and templates will both reinforce your brand identity while also creating a cohesive learning experience.

3. Feature Experts

If you have an internal expert who’s personable, passionate, and knowledgeable about your concept, put them on camera. Some of the best training videos start with talent in mind and build from there.

Internal experts who’ve worked to become masters of a specific topic or field will most likely be passionate about the content, which will be evident on camera. Also, it’s a good idea to consult these team members during the scripting and concepting stages. Their in-depth knowledge will be useful for vetting ideas and shaping the script.

4. Be Authentic

Authenticity can be the difference between viewers actually retaining the content or completely tuning it out. While elements like humor can make mundane topics more engaging, overusing them can turn viewers off or not take the content as seriously. The key is finding the right balance.

Authenticity is another key benefit of using internal experts. Their natural passion and knowledge about the subject matter will shine through and have a positive, lasting effect on the viewer.

5. Include Interactivity

With interactive video, training modules can foster two-way conversations with your viewers. Quizzes and knowledge checks can reinforce key concepts and ensure that viewers are understanding and internalizing the material. Likewise, links to related content and story branching can make the training experience more immersive and personalized.

Don’t forget to add supplemental content on the webpage around the video player. Including headshots, bios, and LinkedIn pages of your senior leadership team below an onboarding video can help viewers feel more connected after the training ends.

Employee Training Videos Empower Workforces

Creating effective training videos is much more than just presenting information, and it can have a much bigger impact than an employee just receiving information. Whether you’re welcoming a new employee or upskilling current ones, engaging training is the key to having a motivated and competitive workforce.

As you refine your training program, remember that success lies in balancing informative content with engaging delivery in a way that educates and empowers your employees.