Video-based training is changing the way employees learn. As videos combine visual and auditory learning, they provide a multi-sensory experience that suits different learning styles. They can make complex information easier for employees to understand. The moving images, sounds, and interactive elements capture attention and allow employees to retain information for longer.
As per a report, 95% of companies use some form of video for employee training. Employee training through video offers a flexible way to learn. Employees can watch videos whenever they have time in their busy schedules and from wherever they are located. They can easily watch on their mobile devices and pause, rewind, and rewatch.
Many employees now work remotely or in a hybrid work environment and videos provide an indispensable way to train them. They can help with onboarding new hires and offering ongoing training.
The costs of online training are lower than in-person training with no need for hiring venues, arranging transport, etc. Once you create video content, you can use it over and over. This significantly reduces the costs of training per employee.
The Cincopa platform offers video hosting for training that ensures you can create, store, and deliver top-quality videos. It takes care of all the technicalities for you, such as making sure your videos are responsive across all devices and don’t buffer or freeze.
Steps to create effective training videos
Employees are very familiar with seeing and interacting with videos. To make your corporate training videos engaging and memorable, you will need to take certain steps.
Identify goals
Identify the purpose of each video and what employees should take away from it. For example, your goal may be to train your sales team on the features and benefits of a new product. After watching the video, they should know enough to have confidence when selling it.
Choose the right video format and style
The benefits of video training will depend on choosing the right formats and video styles for different goals.
- Animated videos can explain complex ideas or concepts in a simple, engaging way.
- Talking head videos where the presenter talks directly to the camera can welcome new hires. The presenter must speak clearly with a friendly yet professional tone.
- A screencast video captures step-by-step what’s on a computer screen. It usually comes with an audio commentary to explain the actions. This can help employees learn how to use digital tools or software.
- Video tutorials can show employees how to perform a specific task.
- A whiteboard animation can explain complex topics in a way that’s easy to understand.
Plan engaging content
Using storytelling and real-life examples makes video content more engaging. Using industry-specific examples makes training less generic. Stories and real-life scenarios help to make a connection with employees which increases their understanding and knowledge retention. Some humor can also make dry content more engaging.
- A current employee relating his experience in the first week of working for the company could help to make new hires feel more comfortable.
- A real-life scenario relating to a cybersecurity incident could drive home the importance of understanding certain threats and responding in the right way. For example, it could show an employee clicking a suspicious link in a phishing email and the consequences of this.
- Role-playing real scenarios such as how to deal with a frustrated customer, can bring customer service videos to life.
Script and produce videos
You can create videos in-house using your own equipment and software. This is a cost-effective option and it means you can leverage your subject matter expertise. It doesn’t mean you can take shortcuts. Training videos need to be high quality to promote learning. A well-produced video will have high-quality visuals and audio. You need to take factors such as background and lighting into consideration.
Your script should be clear and concise and not include any irrelevant material. Today you can use generative AI such as ChatGPT to create a video script for you. You need to give it a full and detailed prompt for it to create a good script. You will still need to work on this script but it can help to save time.
A generative AI tool can analyze data like employee profiles and training history to help you customize your training content.
Some intentional editing can help to improve your training videos. For example, you can trim, cut, and stitch video clips together.
Best practices for employee training videos
When creating your employee training videos, here are some of the best practices you should follow.
Keep to a single topic
Keeping to a single topic can prevent confusion and help employees to retain knowledge.
Personalize the learning journey
Video-based training enables you to personalize the learning journey. Employees can choose what they want to learn from a whole library of video-on-demand (VOD). They can revisit sections of a video or skip content they already understand. This helps them to make good use of their time and focus on topics most relevant to them.
Make videos interactive
When videos are interactive, it requires employees to perform certain actions such as completing a quiz, reading an annotation, or clicking a link to another resource in a call-to-action. This increases engagement and reinforces the learning process.
Use microlearning
Consider breaking up video material into bite-sized pieces. Short-form videos from three to six minutes in length are more digestible than long-form videos. They are great for creating a self-paced, asynchronous learning experience. Employees can access what they need when they need it. As they can immediately apply the information in real life, it increases retention.
Enhance accessibility
You want as many employees as possible to learn from your training videos. Using subtitles and transcripts makes them more widely accessible. Foreign language speakers and employees with hearing problems can benefit. It also means employees who want to watch videos with audio muted can still understand them.
Why Use Cincopa for Training Videos?
Using the Cincopa video hosting platform for your training videos has many benefits. You can use images, videos, and podcasts for training to offer variety and cater to all learning styles.
A CDN and mobile-friendliness
Cincopa’s content delivery network (CDN) ensures that your training videos are delivered to viewers from a server closest to them in a network of distributed servers. Remote employees can receive high-quality videos at speed and watch them without any freezing or buffering. Remote employees can watch seamlessly on their mobile devices thanks to responsive design.
Customization options
You can customize your video player with your brand logo, colors, and fonts for a more professional look. It will fit in seamlessly on your training website.
Video creation tool
Cincopa offers a free webcam and screen recording tool called RecTrace. You can choose to use the screen, webcam, or both to create videos.
Interactive elements
Cincopa offers interactive elements such as quizzes, surveys, video chaptering, annotations, and calls-to-action. Video chaptering allows you to segment videos into chapters. Viewers can choose to watch a single chapter.
Integration
Cincopa offers many integration options. You can integrate videos with employee development tools such as a communication tool or an LMS. This helps to improve workflows and enhance efficiency.
Accessibility
Cincopa offers subtitles and transcripts to make videos accessible to a wider base of employees.
Security
Cincopa’s secure video hosting ensures sensitive training content is protected. Your confidential company information, such as intellectual property won’t get into the wrong hands due to measures such as encryption, two-factor authentication, single-sign on and user permissions.
Analytics
Cincopa’s analytics offer in-depth insights into employee progress, engagement, and completion rates. You can access a live feed for detailed viewer information and watch on heatmaps as viewers engage with videos. This allows you to see what parts of videos offer the most engagement, where they drop off, or skip content. With it, you can measure the effectiveness of your training videos.
Making improvements based on these insights, such as cutting the length of certain videos or improving hard-to-understand content, can increase engagement.
Conclusion
Engaging training videos have many benefits for employees. They can help to onboard new employees and upskill current employees. When employees have a chance to develop and improve their productivity, it is good for their own development and for the business. Cincopa can help you to host and deliver professional training videos.
A free trial can help you to explore the solutions it offers.
