Training videos are effective tools for communicating information to an audience who are learning about a specific subject. The audience can range from employees or curious individuals who are looking to expand their skill set.
Training videos can be a stand-alone tool or a part of a training module. They are available online and can be accessed anywhere. However, sometimes these videos can come off as boring or even cheesy. This results in ineffective learning and even worse, the message the video is trying to deliver isn’t received and the viewer is left baffled.
What makes a bad training video? We’ve heard countless people say those lousy instructional videos from the 90’s as an example. Let’s not forget the stiff acting and cringe-worthy lines; not to mention, unclear instructions. We now know what to avoid.
What makes a training video good? Take Melbourne Metro Trains’ video for raising awareness for train safety for example. You might’ve heard of the Dumb Ways to Die video. Train safety sounds like a pretty mundane subject so how can Metro get their point across about safety without the audience taking a snooze?
They decided to make a weird, yet pretty scary video to promote train safety. In the end, the catchy video ended up generating $50 million in free ads, contributed a 30% reduction in “near-miss accidents,” and went viral.
Although there are several things that make it good, here are some simple elements to keep in mind when making effective training videos.
Visuals
Research shows that people are able to retain information from visuals or graphics in their long term memory in a much more effective way than written or spoken information. A study showed that individuals are only able to retain 10-20% of written or spoken information whereas they were able to