Training videos save you time and help you avoid headaches when bringing on new team members. They're also handy for other types of internal communication.
In this article, we’ll share why every business needs to make training videos, how exactly your business can benefit from how-to videos, and how companies like yours can make them.
Why create training videos
Video is the most engaging content format whether you're a visual or auditory learner. You can watch and listen to a video's content, while reading on-screen text, subtitles, or following a transcription.
If you’re trying to optimize a part of your company's training docs, training videos are the smartest option.
Thankfully, we’re now living in a time where anyone can easily make videos with the click of a button. You don't have to think about downloading large files, difficult software, and learning all the keyboard shortcuts!
Now, you can watch a how-to video with a detailed step-by-step process and finish editing in a few minutes!
Benefits of creating a training video
Still not sure how training videos can make your life easier? Here are more benefits of making a training video.
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- More Engagement: Video-based learning materials can engage both visual and auditory learners. This can lead to more engagement from your viewers.
- Increase Learning Retention: Viewers can rewind when necessary. Unlike in-person training, they can always revisit the training anytime they want.
- Save Money: No need to pay someone for in-person training when you can click to watch the video.
- Convenience: Missed a training? Watch the replay. Share the file with anyone who missed it too!
- Flawless Content: Re-shoot parts of the video you’ve made a mistake on to achieve flawless results. The beauty of video is being able to rework it until you’re happy with it.
- Save Time: No need to be somewhere within a set timeframe. Do things on your own time. A flexible schedule is key for global remote teams with many time zones to balance.
How to easily make a great training video with VEED
It’s time to learn how to make a training video. So what tool should you use?Â
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The best tool is the one that:
- Fits the needs of your business feature-wise
- Works with the video creation skill level of whoever will make the content
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To make it easy, we’ll be teaching you how to make training videos with VEED–our simple but powerful online video editor. VEED helps people of all skill-levels easily create eye-catching professional videos.Â
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Let’s begin!
Step 1: Pick the topic of your training video.
If you can, choose a specific topic. A clear focus makes it easier to keep the video concise. Or, you can go as broad as you want and divide the topic into more digestible chunks of videos.
For example, let's say your company wants to train new hires on information security. Data privacy would be a good specific topic. The idea is you shouldn’t talk about many topics in a single video because it’s too much info to process in one go.
Pro Tip: Figure out the title of your video and then to make sure you address that subject as concisely as you can.
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Step 2: Pick the type of training video you want to make.
Different videos serve different purposes. And some videos are more time-consuming to create than others (such as a simple screen recording versus an animation). Here are 7 types of videos you can use for training and educational video content.
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Presenter videos (Talking Head)
This type of training video involves a moving object or person in front of the camera. This is perfect for when you have a charismatic speaker who’s comfortable on camera and can keep new hires engaged with the training.
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Animated videos
This video uses fully animated visuals such as graphics, type, and icons. Animated videos are best for explaining complex tutorials, ideas, and data. Think of them as an infographic turned into a video.
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Screencast videos
A simple screencast (or screen recording) is usually the fastest, easiest, and most affordable way to create a video. These are especially great for informal videos for communicating with a coworker. You can also produce a more polished and edited video of your recording for training purposes.
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How-To Videos
This type of video is versatile. It can range from easy and fast to make to more time consuming. For example, you could do a hybrid of a talking head video with some screen recording elements for a tutorial. This is the most popular video type used for training videos on YouTube. It tends to get the most engagement.
Live Videos
Sometimes, some training topics will require more immediate audience engagement. This includes once-in-a-blue moon live video events. These are great for company-wide training.
Interactive Videos
Interactive videos let the viewer watch a short clip before choosing what step to take next. For example, you might watch a short clip on how to get started with YouTube. You might be asked to interact to express whether you are a beginner or expert with video. The following clips would then be tailored to your skill-level.
Interactive videos require the most resources to build but can come in handy if you’re able to make them.
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Employee-Created Videos
It doesn’t always have to be the video pros who get on camera!. Video is for everybody!
Videos by your employees are ideal to share their expert knowledge companywide. But these videos are not only for managers. Any teammate can make one. It's a best practice to document what you learn and share it within your company’s documentation.
Step 3: Outline and storyboard your video.
Once you’ve decided on the topic and the type of video you’re going to make, the next step is to outline and script your video. This will make it easier for you to visualize what exactly you’d want to see on the final output. For more complex, high-production videos you might want to storyboard.
A storyboard visually explains how the video will play out using sketches or images. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Even simple screenshots or stick figure drawings will do.
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Step 4: Record your training video
Make sure to set up your space with proper lighting, audio, and backdrop. If you don’t have a lighting kit, camera, microphone, or backdrop don’t worry.
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Here’s what to do instead:
Lighting: Find a window with good natural lighting coming in. You can also make sure you have a lamp on your desk for better lighting.
Audio: Most earbuds and headset microphones will do the trick. Check your room is quiet and has little echo.
Recording: Your smartphone camera is perfect if you don’t have or want to use a DSLR. You can also use your phone’s amazing camera and use it as a webcam when screen recording!
A few more best practices include...
Eye contact: Look into the lens of your camera. This is equivalent to looking your viewers in the eyes.
Keep a positive facial expression: You don’t have to exaggerate with a smile but do keep a cheerful yet relaxed look. You can’t expect people to be eager to watch if you’re not eager to be there.
Share one idea at a time: To make editing easier, talk one idea or sentence at a time. When you edit, you can easily trim out the pauses in your audio.
Step 5: Edit your video and create a VEED account.
Creating an account lets you save your videos to VEED’s cloud storage. You can either continue with VEED using your Google account or input your email address on the box provided. Then, click the Get Magic Link button to get started.
Step 6: Set up your brand kit with brand fonts and colors
If you have a pro or enterprise plan with VEED, you can set up your branding. Add your brand fonts, colors, and logo to your kit for professional-looking videos.
Step 7: Record or upload your video
Say you’re making a screencast or a hybrid type of video for your training topic. With VEED, it’s so easy to start because it’s already one of the options laid out for you in creating a new project.
You can either upload a file from your device, YouTube, or Dropbox. If you want to record a video instead, you have that option as well as recording your screen. VEED offers a screen recording Chrome extension for easy accessibility as well.
Step 8: Customize your video
Once you’re done with all the prep work from the earlier steps you can finally customize your video with edits!
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Here are some key features you can use within VEED:
- Add subtitles: Increase comprehension, viewer retention, and engagement with subtitles. You can automatically add subtitles to video, upload an SRT subtitle file, or manually type them.
- Translate subtitles: Translate your video subtitles with the click of a button. Improve comprehension across a global audience.
- Draw on video: If you’re editing a screen recording, VEED’s screen recorder lets you draw on your screen. Our rainbow pen is so fun to use! If you’re editing a video you uploaded you can add annotations in the editor with the drawing tool.
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Step 9: Review video
Before you share your training video, you’ll need feedback. AVEED’s collaboration features makes this frustration-free. Use the share button to share the video with people you want feedback from. They can then use the commenting feature to add feedback with a timestamp so you know exactly which part of the video they’re talking about.
You can also add teammates as collaborators into your VEED account.
Remember, the purpose of training videos is that they’re evergreen and won’t need replacing often. Take the extra time to make sure it’s perfect!
Step 10: Share your video
Sharing your video through VEED takes just a few clicks. Share the link in an email, add your video to Google slides or Powerpoint, or download the file and share it on social media.
5 examples of effective training videos
Here are five examples of the best training videos to refer to in the future.
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1) Learn how to manage people and be a better leader
This is a whiteboard video from Workforce Singapore. It has gotten over 3.4 million views. It's also a great example of how you don’t need to be an expert video editor to get your idea across.
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2) Apple — Inclusion & Diversity — Open
Apple is a visionary company who has made significant innovations. They want to convey this in their videos to help educate and attract outsiders who might want to join them.
If you take a look at his Open company video, you can see that their video makers have combined different video types to create it. It's simple and elegant.
3) How does the stock market work? - Oliver Elfenbaum
From animated videos targeting students to educators, TED-Ed has established an award-winning reputation. Committed to their slogan of “Ideas worth spreading”, TED-Ed’s videos have a consistent large viewership. This shows consistency and an ever-present branding in their content. This business training video, for one, had over 5 million views.
4) Motion Graphics Infographic - Ahrefs 2D
In under 2 minutes, this motion graphics video introduced the client–Ahrefs 2D. Since the client is an SEO platform, this could be a good reference for IT training videos.
Although it doesn’t have much viewership, this video gets the message across. It covers the important details and uses visually-appealing graphics to entice its audience.
5) How to Record Your Screen for FREE Online - VEED
Last but not the least, the perfect example of how to do a screen recording video using VEED is this one. It’s quick, comprehensive, and easy-to-follow.
The video combines screen recording with presenter-style videos into an effective how-to video. Our channel has gone from 0 to 33K subscribers with tutorial videos just like this.
Frequently asked questions
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How do you make training videos?
If you want to know how to make training videos, pick a topic of interest. Then, think about the most suitable type of training video for that topic. Once you’ve decided, make a script and storyboard. Finally, get your recording equipment ready and start filming.
How do you create an employee training video?‍
To create an employee training video, look for the most knowledgeable person to shoot your video with. Make the video more personal by doing a presenter style video if possible. You can also get creative professionals to help if your budget allows.
What should be included in a training video?
A training video should have  well-scripted content with eye-catching visuals. It should also have a goal or intention and easily-recognizable branding. Keep it short but impactful.
How do you make interactive training videos?
You can make training videos interactive by embedding other educational materials in it. Create quizzes, examples, or workbooks learners can use while watching the video training.
Why are training videos useful?
Most of the population are visual and auditory learners. So, if you want to teach people, it will be easier to learn and understand in video format. Training videos engage your sense of sight and hearing. This can stimulate a deeper learning process.
Let's recap!
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You now have everything you need to create training videos for your company (or any corporate setting). This investment of your time, energy and budget will save you money with video training material that can be played anytime anywhere.
Plus, not having to block out countless hours on your calendar for in-person training helps you and your team avoid burnout.
The last thing you want to disrupt this peace is clunky hard-to-use video editing software that eats away at your storage space.
With a simple online video editor like VEED you can easily edit videos like a pro online.
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Here are some more things you can do!
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- ‍Record, collaborate, edit, review, and distribute with one tool: Say goodbye to a multi-tool workflow and hello to a simple but powerful tool that has your back for the whole process. With VEED you can record a training video, edit it, share it with teammates (or clients), and comment feedback!
- Automatic Subtitles: Add captions with the click of a button and customize them!
- Translations: Translate your video subtitles into 100 different languages.
- Cloud Storage: All your content lives safely inside your VEED workspace. Never take up precious storage space on your computer again!
- Screen recorder. Record training videos for free from the comfort of your browser!
- Online video editor: Do everything you need to make a polished video. Add text, music, sound effects, progress bars, annotations, images, compress video, combine videos, and more!
Curious about how VEED fits into your team’s workflow? Learn more about how we can simplify your video content workflow with VEED.
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