Apr 20, 2011
Posted by Mike in Safety,Tips,Video Production
1 Comments
5 Tips to Make Your Training Videos Less Mind-Numbing
We do a lot of training videos here at Brunswick Media Services. Let’s face it, in general, training videos tend to be on the boring side.
It’s not surprising really; training videos aren’t meant to be entertaining, they’re meant to convey important, sometimes life-saving information, but that’s no excuse for boring training videos. Here are a few tips we’ve come up with over the years to help take the mind-numbing out of your training videos:
1. Edit Ruthlessly
One of the deadliest sins of producing a training video is to try and cram too many concepts into one video. The second deadliest sin is to go into such minute detail on one topic that you sacrifice the video’s effectiveness. The answer to both situations: Edit ruthlessly.
With estimates of adult attention spans ranging from as little as 8 seconds to as much as 20 minutes, one thing is clear, you only have a limited time to hold the attention of your viewers, so bogging your video down with extras can only hurt its effectiveness.
The editing process begins well before the cameras even start rolling. Start with the script. Have someone read the script to you out loud to get an idea of how it flows. Rewrite, cut sections, lose the fat from the script, you’ll save time & money in the end.
Here are a few more intra-tip tips:
- You know that introductory section that goes through a detailed history of the company? – Lose it.
- Is there a simpler way to say something? Rewrite, re-record, and re-edit.
- Have a scene that only applies to a few employees? – Cut it and see Tip #2.
2. Create a Series
One of the biggest problems with one-size-fits-all training videos, is that they are one-size-fits-all. They’re long, boring, and unless everything applies to everyone watching, they can be ineffective. Rather than doing one, 45-minute training video, break it into a series of shorter, more targeted videos. Do your machine operators really need to sit through the office safety section? Do your office workers really need to watch 10 minutes of forklift operation instructions?
Break the videos into job or work area specific chunks. Even if everything in the video applies to everyone watching it, still consider breaking the content into more watchable, and understandable chunks.
With this all being said, don’t become a slave to the stopwatch: if it takes 10 minutes to say what you have to say: great! If it takes 11 minutes: great! 14 minutes: Huzzah! (You get the point.)
3. Hire a Professional Actor
“The only thing worse that sitting through a boring speaker’s presentation is sitting through a video of a boring speaker’s presentation.” – Mike (Yeah, I quoted myself.)
By actor I mean both on-screen and voiceover actors. Nothing quite says “we care about your training so much that we cut the budget” as having Bob from accounting do the video narration, or having Loretta from HR fidget her way through a scene.
If your video needs a host, hire a professional. They’re more natural in front of the camera, which makes production days more productive, which saves you money in the end. Besides, they also make the quality of the video better, and can communicate the ideas in your script better than Good ‘Ole Bob from Accounting (apologies to all the Accountant/Actors named Bob).
For voiceovers, there really is no better way to up the overall quality of a training video than to hire a professional voice over artist. While Loretta from HR may have a great phone voice, you’ll still need to pay someone to record her voice over, so what are you really saving? Hire a pro.
4. Include Peers
…but didn’t you just say… No, I’m not contradicting myself here: including peers, coworkers, or colleagues can be an effective way to get buy-in from your staff for the training video. Interview them about an important point you want to get across, have them demonstrate the proper way to do a task, use them as “extras” in shots: people pay attention when they see people they work with on screen.
Including peers in your training video also suggests a corporate culture of inclusion, or buy-in for the training. Interview a floor worker about how a safety issue has effected them personally; have Bob from Accounting demonstrate how to properly do a task, use the folks from shipping to fill in an empty room for a b-roll shot. Get them involved.
5. Be Positive
In their article “Positive Reinforcement: Misunderstood and Misused“, Aubrey and James Daniels say it best:
“You get more of what you reinforce. Emphasize the wrong behavior and you get more of it. It is a folly to reinforce one behavior and expect another, but it happens in organizations every day”
Don’t waste your valuable video time showing the wrong way to do something, just show the correct way. Simple as that. Show me the wrong way, and that’s what I remember.
Bonus Tip: Leave the funny for the pros
Unless your first name is Shecky, funny will most likely backfire on you. It will distract from your message, believe me, one bad joke, and that’s what the people you are trying to train will remember. If they walk away saying “Boy that training video was entertaining!” you’ve sent the wrong message. You should be going for “Boy that training video was informative… hey don’t forget your eye protection.”
What are your tips for taking the mind-numbing out of your training?
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