Corporate training videos are an invaluable asset to your training process. They are far more effective than text-based training material and offer a significantly cheaper and more uniform instruction method than classroom-based learning. Today, with remote work becoming the norm, video-based training is more relevant than ever.
In this article, we’ll discuss the different types of corporate training videos. We’ll also cover best practices and real-world examples to help you produce effective training videos for employees that are valuable and solidify the bond with your brand.
What Are Corporate Training Videos?
Enterprises create training videos to instruct employees and communicate about new products or procedures, policies and compliance, health and safety, career and skills development, etc. Video-based training is also very beneficial for HR-related uses, such as new employee onboarding.
Video offers many advantages over other forms of corporate training that warrant it a prominent place in any corporate training strategy. Corporate training videos enable asynchronous learning, meaning students aren’t limited by place and time. This makes training easily scalable and accessible. Video also has great pedagogical value, boosting learning and development in many ways.
In our report on the state of video in 2019, we established that 91% of respondents have had some form of video-based training.
8 Types of Corporate Training Video (with examples)
Let’s run through the different types of videos for training. Choosing a specific type of training video isn’t just a matter of taste. Every type serves different purposes and budgets.
- Whiteboard and animated explainer videos
Whiteboard explainers became the most common form of corporate training videos in the last few years, and for good reason. Plenty of design and production companies create whiteboard explainer videos for clients. Involving simple designs and animations, whiteboard explainers are easy and cheap to produce.
They are generally well-received (and well retained) by employees, too. Whiteboard and animated explainer videos are perfect for introducing new processes, products, or services. The example video below highlights a specific use case for which animation is a perfect solution … topics that would be too costly to enact with live actors and props.
- Live-action explainer videos
As opposed to animated explainers, live-action explainer videos feature real people, scenarios, and story/narrative. This used to be the most popular form 20-30 years ago, bringing joy to some and exasperation to others, with bad acting and a patronizing tone.
This format has aged well in the last few years, and companies are putting in quite some production value to bring their employees training videos that are as entertaining as they are effective. Take the video below, commissioned by the Ohio State University to instruct staff members and students on what to do in an active shooting situation.
The acting is realistic, and the tone is on point. The visuals and voice-over work together seamlessly. The production value is at Hollywood level, keeping viewers on the edge of their seat and highly receptive to the message the video conveys: run, hide, fight. Note: during the Covid-19 pandemic, gathering crews and actors for larger productions might be unavailable, due to health and safety regulations.
- Stock video-based training video
A cheaper alternative to live-action explainer videos is to use stock footage for your training video. Rather than investing time and resources into directing actors and a film crew, you simply buy stock footage that fits your narrative. This format is often used out of price and convenience considerations but lacks the engagement some other types of corporate training videos offer.
The example below instructs professionals of the Sexual Assault Response Team in Minnesota on how to help victims. Though the images are a bit lackluster, the custom graphics add value, and the main focus remains the message.
- Talking head videos
These videos feature experts giving advice and guidance in front of the camera. This type of video is especially relevant when the person in front of the camera has a specific significance to the viewer, like a senior leader in the company, an authority figure on the subject at hand, or maybe even a celebrity. The viewer connects emotionally with the speaker, giving the message of the video a bigger impact. Talking head videos are a great format when you want to appeal to the viewer’s emotions.
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In the example below, a senior consultant in hospitality talks to us in such a clear and passionate way that it’s hard not to feel inspired. The video is 6 minutes long but keeps the viewer engaged. He invokes family values, the bible, and illustrates his points with b-roll and on-screen text that makes you want to be a part of it all.
- Screencast videos
Screencast training videos show the instructor’s computer screen as they illustrate the topic at hand. Screencasts form a great way to teach new software applications. If you’ve ever looked for a YouTube tutorial on Adobe or Microsoft applications, chances are you landed on a screencast.
The video below is a very informal sounding beginners’ tutorial for Microsoft Excel. This particular video received +1.1M views… It shows how popular this type of corporate training video is.
- Kinetic text-based videos
This video format might be the most visually underwhelming format on this list, featuring mainly text animations on a static background. But make no mistake. Text-based videos serve a specific type of content and audience very well. If the topic of your training video is complex and contains lists, processes, data, and graphics, then kinetic text-based video might be the format for you.
The video below was commissioned by the University of Colorado to highlight the role and importance of their Employee Services department. No story, no voice-over, nothing fancy… just facts and figures.
University of Colorado Employee Services Explainer from Freed Motion on Vimeo.
- Interactive videos
In interactive videos, the viewer follows interactive video paths as he watches the video. These video paths are triggered by clickable choices or required actions with a mouse or keyboard.
Though video is more engaging than text-based training, we still see that 72% of employees don’t give training videos their full attention (Kaltura 2019). Interactive videos offer an exciting solution to recapture attention. Not only do interactive videos engage viewers by requiring regular action, they also help keep the content relevant to the viewer, since they choose which direction the content is going.
The Resuscitation Council UK did an amazing job with their interactive videos on how to act in medical emergencies and save lives. While technically not a corporate training video, you can easily envision a similar use for HSE training videos for office personnel.
In a dramatic setting worthy of Netflix, the viewer decides what the main character will do next, by answering questions, choosing scenarios, or even administering CPR through their computer keyboard. Meanwhile, the narrator explains the right course of action to resolve the emergency situation.
- Microlearning video
These are seconds long videos that deliver bite-sized information to the viewer. Microlearning videos have many benefits for enterprises. The power of this format is that it teaches the viewer about one single process, action, or bit of information. This makes the content easily digestible and actionable. The secret to the latter is to serve the microlearning video to the viewer at the very moment the information is needed.
10 Tips on How to Create Training Videos in Your Organization
Don’t worry, we’re not discussing any technical production tips or how to find a good production company. The tips we’re listing here are valid for both in-house and outsourced productions. They are geared towards corporate trainers who own the training and development processes in their company and want to improve their video training strategy.
- Determine the KPIs of your video
Start with the end. Knowing what you want to achieve will help you make educated decisions and produce the most effective training videos. For example, if your KPI is to train your team to administer CPR, you know you’re going to need an explainer video or an interactive video. A text-based video or a talking-head video won’t be relevant here. You might want to include an in-video quiz or a test to make sure your team members retained the information. You should also involve a medical professional to review the script.
- Choose the right video type
Your budget and your KPIs will very much dictate what format you’ll end up using. Don’t forget that you can always mix things up. Your live-action explainer can and often will be interspersed with talking heads and text-based screens. Try interactive videos to make your videos even more engaging and improve information retention.
- Develop a video script
Have an in-house creative or a hired professional write a script. A good script will support your KPIs while keeping the video as short and to-the-point as possible. The optimal length of your corporate training videos is under 6 minutes.
Your video will only be as good as your script, so take the time to review it and play the script in your mind. Check where you can shorten the script or improve the message, and make sure your video has the right tone.
- Leverage the use of characters in your video to elicit empathy and connection
If you’re trying to appeal to the viewers’ emotions, you’re going to want to use a character that they can relate to. It can be an animated character, a colleague the viewer knows, or a professional actor the viewer can relate to. Screencasts or text-based video won’t be relevant in this use case.
- Make it a professional production
Training video production is for internal use, but it should still be professional. Bad actors, scriptwriting, audio, or lighting will all negatively impact your goal. The impact of your corporate training videos reaches beyond merely educating your employees. They also impact the brand image and the emotional connection your employees have with their company.
- Add captions to your training video
Caption your video for a better user experience. You want your video to be accessible and include anyone who will ever watch your training video. And it’s not only about employees with disabilities. Captioning is an added way of delivering your message, whenever audio is not available.
- Brand your video
A corporate training video is a great opportunity to strengthen the connection between the viewer and your brand. Make sure your video contains the necessary brand logos, music, colors, etc. Have the video shot in a familiar location, such as the company offices.
- Tie your video-based learning within a broader training strategy
Video isn’t a be-all-end-all solution to employee training. It should be part of a broader strategy including text-based training material, live courses, online courses, and quizzes.
E.g., you can have your trainees view a video at home. Next, you discuss the video in a live classroom environment and go deeper into the subject, with the opportunity for the trainees to ask questions. Send them home with a link to review the material online and make them perform a knowledge check with an online test or quiz.
- Analyze your video’s performance.
It goes without saying that this is an essential step in creating an optimal training strategy within your enterprise. Your video analytics will do two things for you. It will enable you to further customize the training trajectory of individual employees, but it will also help you improve your training strategy as a whole and keep your enterprise competent. You can consult the video statistics to see how and how long your trainees interacted with the content. You can also use test/quiz results and trainee surveys to complete your assessment. Make sure to pull clear action items from your analysis and implement them in your training strategy.
- Host your videos on a high-performance platform
Of course, you need a platform to deliver your training video to your audience. Especially after 2020’s remote work revolution, chances are you won’t be rolling the VCR system into a classroom any time soon. Instead, you can use a high-performance platform such as Kaltura’s Video Learning and Development Platform to better engage your learners for results you can measure. Kaltura’s software for training videos offers you powerful capture and broadcasting tools, interactive video quizzing, virtual classrooms, analytics, and so much more, to help you attain your goals and keep your staff competent and happy!
5 Examples of Successful Corporate Training Videos
The videos we mentioned above are all excellent examples of how to make a training video. As a bonus, we’d like to serve you 5 corporate training videos that hit the mark in other ways. Some of them used humor, while others approached their topic from an original and creative vantage point. The key message here is to think of creative and out-of-the-box ways to approach your topic:
- Grab your employee’s attention with an unexpected cameo
- Put a funny and catchy tune in your employee’s mind
- Approach your subject from an unexpected and creative vantage point
- Take your training subject literally for comic effect
Metro Email Service from CCG – Cohn Creative Group on Vimeo.
- Make your video interactive
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