Now that so many companies are shifting to a remote or hybrid work model, video is quickly becoming the go-to method to train and upskill employees. But video training is more than merely a solution to bridge the distance between the office and the workforce. When done right, video-based instruction can yield better results using fewer resources, while increasing employee retention, productivity, and well-being. Interest piqued? Learn all you need to know with this complete 2022 guide to employee video training.
Jump to:
- What is video training?
- The importance & benefits of video training in organizations
- 8 types of video training models
- How to create effective training videos? [+examples]
- Must-have equipment to record training video for employees
- Kaltura video training software
- What video training will look like in 2025
What is video training?
Video-based training is the method of teaching people new knowledge or skills through video.
Turning to video for instruction has become a widespread and common practice. And not necessarily in an imposing top-down way. Learners themselves seem to naturally seek video-based instruction. According to a 2018 Pew research, 87% of us turn to YouTube to learn new stuff. Video instruction platforms such as Udemy, Skillshare, and LinkedIn Learning all banked on this trend and gained considerable popularity in the last few years.
If people naturally turn to video to learn new things, then it makes sense for HR departments, trainers, or instructional designers to adopt video instruction as part of their Learning & Development programs. According to Kaltura’s own survey into Video and Learning at Work: The State of Video In Enterprise [2019], nearly 70% of employees prefer learning from video, rather than written material.
The importance & benefits of video training in organizations
Video has proved itself to be an effective way to ensure knowledge retention. Like the good old adage that a picture is worth a thousand (written) words, video reaches the learner with a powerful combination of moving images, spoken word, and text. As a result, people retain new knowledge they learned through video much better than from written course material. According to a research by American Educational Research Association, video learning even outperforms in-person lectures, in terms of knowledge retention and comprehension. But that’s not the only benefit video training has in store for learners and L&D professionals alike:
Video can simplify complex concepts
As said before, video can avail of moving images, narration, and written text to transfer knowledge. Other video techniques include graphics, slow motion, different angles, learning through demonstration, et cetera. All of which can help break down complex ideas and information and present them in way and at a pace that is manageable for all types of learners. Another unmistakable advantage here is that learners can pause and ‘rewind’ the video, whenever needed.
Video training is more engaging
Video can be made highly entertaining and engaging, in the way the content is being delivered. Think humor or cinematic production value. But video can also be made interactive with video paths (where the viewer decides on the outcome of the ‘story’), hotspots, end-of-video assessments, or even 360-degree/VR experiences if such an investment is justified by your corporate training needs.
Video training make sense in remote and hybrid work models
Video training is time- and location independent. Your trainees can consume the video content wherever and whenever fits them best. This type of control over the pacing and timing (i.e., learning when the learner is most receptive to it) positively impacts knowledge retention and employee well-being and motivation. It also offers a great solution for Learning and Development programs of remote and hybrid workplaces, whose geographically dispersed employees might not have the option to travel to the office to benefit from training.
Video training is resource-efficient
The creation of corporate video courses implies a one-time production cost. They can then be reused as long as their content is relevant. Video instruction eliminates costs related to location, travel, instructors, class material, and overhead. This makes video training especially interesting for recurring courses or training sessions.
Video training sessions can easily be revisited
It’s been proven that trainees will have forgotten 90% of the new knowledge after 6 months. But if your training videos are stored in an accessible location or repository, your employees can revisit training videos and do refresher lessons, independently or at the request of their team leader.
Video training performance is easier to assess
Nowadays video training is mostly delivered online, opening a wide array of assessment possibilities. Platforms like Kaltura Virtual Classroom come with advanced engagement analytics that let you know who viewed your videos and how they engaged with them. You can also easily combine your video with an online quiz or post-video assessment.
Video training supports Just-In-Time learning and microlearning
People usually don’t watch instructional videos for the heck of it. They have a need for instruction at a certain time and will fulfill that need by looking up how-to videos on YouTube. Just-In-Time learning is highly effective because it delivers the knowledge at the time it’s needed. The learner immediately applies the new knowledge, promoting better retention.
8 types of video training
Video training is also very versatile. Especially because there are many types of videos that cover the full range of use cases.
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Talking head videos and lectures
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Also known as instructor-led video or presenter videos, this type of video features experts teaching a topic in front of the camera. The advantage of this type of video training is that, if you already host in-person classes, you can set up a camera and record those sessions to use as presenter videos for your video training program. They are easy and cheap to produce. The downside, however, is that presenter videos are often less engaging. This can be improved by adding demonstration or b-roll footage, graphs, etc. in post-production.
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Whiteboard and animated explainer video
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Animated explainer videos became very common and popular over the years. They’re versatile, fun, and effective. Animated explainer videos involve simple designs and animations, accompanied by text and voice-over. They are perfect for introducing new processes, products, or services. Chances are you don’t have the resources to create animated explainer videos in-house, but this is easily outsourced.
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Live-action explainer video
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This is simply the real-life version of animated explainer videos. This type of video follows a narrative or story. The high production requirements, from actors to props and effects, make live-action explainer videos more intensive and costly. But if you are willing to invest in high production value for the sake of your employees’ training and entertainment, then you could approach this as a bit of a prestige project.
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Stock video-based training video
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You don’t have to make it a movie production with cameras and actors. If it fits the topic, you can simply purchase stock footage from online marketplaces and edit it with a voice-over or on-screen text. This is an easy and cost-effective method, but the resulting video won’t be as engaging as some of the other types in this list.
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Interactive video
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With the use of interactive video paths, you can make your training videos more engaging and improve knowledge retention. Throughout the video, the viewer is prompted with clickable questions and choices that will determine the direction of the video. This keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats and actively thinking. Interactive training videos can be easily created in-house, using Kaltura’s interactive video tools.
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Screencast video
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Also called screen capture, screencast videos show the instructor’s computer screen as they present a new software application or computer-based procedure. Screencasts are a popular format on YouTube for application tutorials.
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Kinetic text-based video
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This type of training video uses text animations on a static background. The video version of a PowerPoint presentation, if you will. It’s not the most riveting type of training video, but it’s easy and cheap to produce and it’s great for topics that contain a lot of data and graphics.
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Microlearning video
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We briefly mentioned microlearning earlier. Rather than creating an hour-long training video covering a topic or process from A to Z, microlearning videos highlight a very specific action or tidbit of information in just a few seconds. It should answer that one quick question that a trainee or employee might have when performing a certain task. Therein lies the power of microlearning. It should be easily available to serve the employee at the very moment the information is needed.
How to make effective training videos? [+ examples]
I wrote 10 tips on how to create training videos in your organization in a previous blog post, so do check those out. If you don’t have the time, I will repeat the headings of those tips here:
- Determine the KPIs of your video
- Choose the right video type
- Develop a video script
- Use characters to elicit empathy and connection
- Make it a professional production
- Add captions
- Brand your video
- Tie your video-based learning within a broader training strategy
- Analyze the performance of your videos
- Host your videos on a professional-grade platform
But I will add 5 extra tips here.
Keep it short and digestible
You might be tempted to send your employee a single video covering the entire scope of his tasks, but that wouldn’t be very productive. Instead, break the learning package up into short and digestible videos. Some even say that training videos should last no longer than 6 minutes. It will help the employee or trainee better manage the pacing of his training. It will also enable the employee to easily locate and watch a tutorial of a certain process or task at the time they actually need it.
Show what’s under the hood
Take the viewer behind the scenes. Explain the what and the how, but don’t forget the who and the why. Have employees share stories and experiences in front of the camera. Show the viewers sides of your operation that they otherwise might not see.
The following new driver onboarding video from Grubhub does many things right. It shows “a day in the life” of an actual Grubhub driver as she imparts the viewer with tips and tricks on how to be a successful driver, illustrated with just the right amount of text overlays and graphics.
Reinforce key information with text overlays
Display new terms and key information as text on the screen to help the viewer memorize and understand new information. If you’re citing lists or recaps in your video, it’s good practice to display them as bullet points on the screen. Hearing and reading key information at the same time dramatically improves knowledge retention.
Digital Marketing students and professionals know that Brian Dean from Backlinko is a tremendous educator. Each of his SEO tutorials on YouTube is spot-on in terms of delivery. You’ll notice that anytime Dean mentions a stat, a brand, or any other key piece of information, he supports it with text, helping the viewer understand, structure, and retain the information.
Make your training videos interactive
As we said before, it’s easier than you think. If you use Kaltura’s video editing suite, you can easily add hotspots and interactive video paths in-house. Hotspots can take the viewer to additional information, webpages, YouTube videos, surveys, quizzes, etc. Interactive video tools will deliver a rich experience to the viewer, boosting engagement, motivation, and knowledge retention.
The UK Resuscitation Council created a series of interactive videos teaching people to react fast and well in life-threatening situations. They did a great job adding story and drama while keeping the viewer engaged with clickable questions and other types of interactions.
Leverage the visual power of video
In the end, the objective is to teach your employees new skills and knowledge. While presenter videos or kinetic text-based videos are easy to produce, they will probably not deliver the most efficient learning experience. Enrich your talking head video with demonstrations, graphics, animations, and screencasts to paint the full picture of the topic, in a way that is easy to understand and remember.
Take a look at Betsson’s Blackjack Basic Strategy Tutorial. It blends talking head content, with demonstrations, graphics, text, and animations. Try imagining how much of the tutorial you would understand or retain if it were just a talking head…
Must-Have Equipment To Record Training Video For Employees
If you don’t want to outsource the project, but you prefer producing your training videos in-house, you are going to need the right equipment. The good news is that it’s a prosumer market and top-quality gear is easy to come by.
Video recording hardware
If you’re on a shoestring, you might go as simple as a webcam and some people get great results with the latest smartphone cameras. But don’t be too bashful. A professional-grade DSLR camera from Canon or Nikon that shoots 4K would be advisable. Blackmagic Design creates amazing 4K-capable studio cameras that are very popular among corporate video teams.
Of course, you’ll need a set of lenses, too. I’d recommend a portrait lens between 35mm and 80mm for interviews or talking heads. Shots in confined spaces (like offices) and group shots will require a wide-angle lens, between 14mm and 40mm. Chances are you’ll mostly shoot indoors so a fast lens would be great (f2.8 or lower) to decrease the risk of noise.
Sound recording hardware
Don’t use the built-in mic of your camera or computer. They would be too far away from the sound source, and they are usually omnidirectional, capturing all the unwanted ambient noises. The trick is to keep the mic as close to the sound source as possible. For a presenter or an interview, you should have lapel or lavalier microphones, those tiny microphones that you can attach to the speakers’ shirts. A table-top microphone like the Blue Yeti is also a great option. For run-and-gun shooting, you can place a Rode mic in your camera’s hot shoe. These types of microphones are directional. They only capture the sound that comes from the front of the camera.
Tripods and stabilization gear
Handheld camerawork is amateurish. You’ll need a sturdy tripod with a video head to avoid shaky footage that distracts from the content. The video head will allow you to smoothly follow your subject from the position of your tripod. For run-and-gun shooting situations, where you follow a person or the camera moves around in the action, you’ll need some mobile form of stabilization. In-camera stabilization is a good start, but a gimbal or a shoulder rig will do a much better job.
Lighting equipment
Lighting is another technique to deliver professional quality. Don’t use a hot shoe led light unless you don’t have any other option. It looks terrible. Use a two- or three- lighting setup on stands for studio work. A ring light can create a very pleasing effect for talking-head footage. Brands like Godox, Aputure, and GVM have good quality lighting kits on offer.
Video capturing-, editing-, and managing software
You can definitely edit your videos with industry-grade NLEs (non-linear editors) like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro and use different solutions for screen capture and online hosting. But we of course recommend using all-in-one training video software like Kaltura. With Kaltura, you can do pretty much anything we mentioned in this article: screen capture, video editing, interactive video creation, video hosting, performance analytics, etc. We’ll go further into detail about how Kaltura can support your video training program, below.
Kaltura video training software
The Kaltura Video Portal is like a corporate YouTube, reserved for only your company. That makes it a perfect solution for video-based learning and development programs in remote and hybrid workplaces. Give your employees a powerful platform for on-demand video training, with features that are purpose-built for fostering engagement, knowledge retention, and employee satisfaction.
Keep your corporate training videos 100% on-brand
The Kaltura Video Portal is a white-label, highly customizable platform that you can brand with your corporate colors and logo. Your employees won’t see Kaltura or anyone else. It’s only you.
Create, manage, and distribute video content
The Video Portal has a built-in personal capture app and a full video editing and enrichment suite to create your media from A to Z. You can then manage your videos with tools such as metadata, categories, playlists, smart search, and viewer permissions.
Help your employees focus and retain the knowledge
Kaltura Virtual Classroom doesn’t leave a stone unturned to keep your trainees engaged: on-screen questions, hotspots, interactive video paths, polls, and quizzes.
… and much more.
Kaltura Video Portal comes with an app that can be used on any mobile device and will deliver an uninterrupted stream to any device or connection. It also boasts video conferencing rooms, monetization, and advanced analytics to assess the performance of your training videos.
But don’t just take our word for it. Request a demo, or better yet, start your free trial (see below) to experience Kaltura Video Portal’s power first-hand, without committing just yet!
What video training will look like in 2025
Video-based training is on the rise. After two years of pandemic revolution and countless offices going either remote or at least hybrid, video training is already a daily reality for many enterprises. So, there is a demand. And where there is a demand, there is a market and an acceleration in development.
By 2025, video training will have matured with amazing technological advances, such as AI that will follow up with employees, identify opportunities for learning and upskilling, and compile personalized learning paths. Microlearning and Just-In-Time learning will be the formats of choice, to deliver to the employee only the knowledge that is needed at that certain time.
The current success of interactive video for corporate training, both in reception and in results, can only mean this trend will continue to grow. So, if you’re not on the interactive train yet, then hop on. Immersive video experiences like VR and 360-degree video will have their success and relevance in niche industries but makes much less sense for the majority of enterprises. User-generated content, on the other hand, might be something to look into. Having employees generate video content, also for training purposes, is an empowering and interesting solution to rapidly build a large catalog of video content. Platforms like Kaltura Video Portal are already geared up for this. Depending on administrator-set permissions, employees can easily create and upload video content to the portal, from any device.
The recent changes in the world have made corporate training and remote/hybrid workplace models highly dynamic, so it’s really interesting to see what the near future will bring us.
Whatever happens, Kaltura will be on the front row.
Ready to elevate your video training program? Try Kaltura Video Portal for free, today!
