How to Create Training Videos for Employees: 5 Formats and Examples

Creating training videos cuts down company costs, democratizes education, and gives viewers the convenience to learn at their own pace. But the transfer of knowledge through this medium is hit or miss, since poorly produced video training material is boring and ineffective.

How can you be sure your video training won’t put your learners to sleep? L&D professionals need to choose the right video format for sharing subject-matter expertise and helping learners achieve their goals.

This guide explores how to create impactful training videos, along with examples of different video formats you can adopt. From planning and production, to integration and success measurement, let's get started.

Why use training videos for employees?

Let’s look at the benefits of creating training videos for employee development.

Traditional training vs. video training

Creating training videos offers a versatile solution for businesses to enhance employee training. With training videos accessible at any time and from any location, employees can engage with the content at their own pace. Deeper understanding and better retention of the subject matter are plus points of video training for employees. The convenience of on-demand access allows learners to revisit key concepts as needed for improved skills development.

Benefits of video training

Video training is like a secret weapon in modern employee development. It provides employees with tailored knowledge suited to their specific needs. And the best part? It does all of this without a huge cost. Whether you're a fresh-faced startup or an enterprise organization, training videos are cost-effective. They’re a practical solution to boosting your team's skills without draining your budget. 

Foundation for effective training videos

Now, let's establish the groundwork for creating training videos that hit the mark.

Planning your videos

Creating good training videos starts with careful planning. Defining objectives, identifying the target audience, and outlining key topics are essential steps to creating training videos. 

A thorough training needs analysis (TNA) allows you to pinpoint specific knowledge gaps and tailor training content to manage these gaps effectively. During a TNA process, you can assess various factors such as job roles, performance metrics, compliance requirements, and employee feedback to work out the areas that require training. 

Once the training needs have been identified, the next step is to define clear objectives for the training videos. Objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) to ensure clarity and impact. 

Understanding the audience’s demographics, learning preferences, and skill levels allows organizations to customize the content to their needs and preferences. 

Outlining key topics and content ensures that the training videos cover essential information in a structured way. A well-defined outline helps information flow throughout the video, making it easier for learners to follow and retain information.

Training videos can be formal or informal, humorous or serious, depending on your requirements. They should reflect the company’s culture.

By taking these factors into account during the planning phase, organizations can create training videos that are engaging, informative, and impactful.

Key considerations for creating training videos

Budgeting and resource allocation are important for successful training videos. Companies need to see what resources they already have in-house and where they might need help from outside. For instance, some companies might have good writers and designers who can handle scripts and visuals. However, they might not have the technical know-how or equipment for top-notch video production. Hiring professional videographers or using production studios could help get the desired quality.

What makes a good training video for employees? 

There are several things that can make your training videos stand out. 

Defined objectives and outcomes

Every training video should have a clear objective. Do you want your employees to learn a new program? Or do you want to explain the latest company policies via a training video? Setting goals makes sure the content remains focused and relevant to the audience's needs.

Some industries, such as healthcare and finance, have strict rules for training. When making training videos for these sectors, follow industry guidelines and laws to stay compliant and reduce risks. Adding information about compliance protocol can help employees responsibly follow company rules. 

360Learning’s learning management system can help employees stay updated on essential job skills through courses and training videos.  

Clear narration, pacing, and structure

Effective narration, pacing, and structure keep viewers engaged. Breaking down complex topics into smaller sections that promote better comprehension is ideal. And maintaining consistency are key to facilitating learning when creating training videos. 

You don’t want to put your audience to sleep with a video and then overstimulate them with the next. Their learning experience should be consistently engaging to support better knowledge retention. 

Optimize technical aspects

With audience’s short attention spans, high-quality audio and video are key when creating training videos.  

Investing in quality recording equipment with good lighting and sound can transform the output of your training videos. Determine your target audience before starting production. Who will be watching these training videos? Understanding the demographics, learning styles, and preferences of employees will help tailor the content to meet their specific needs. For instance, if you’re designing training for employees in the field who prefer to learn on mobile devices, incorporating interactive elements and modern visuals can enhance engagement. 

Engage your audience

A static talking-head reciting information is not always going to be an effective approach to teach new information. Gamification and training videos go hand in hand for improved knowledge retention, and interactive elements like quizzes and simulations are proven to enhance engagement. Real-life examples and testimonials make content relatable and meaningful and help tie the information better for your employee. 

360Learning's platform uses gamification to make training more fun and engaging.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many organizations have employees from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. To improve learning outcomes in multicultural workforces, localize training videos by translating content into multiple languages and customizing visuals. This promotes learning inclusivity and accessibility, ensuring all employees are getting the training they need.

Effective employee training video formats

1. Storytelling

Here’s a heartfelt story of a disabled chef Alexis who pursued her passion for cooking with the help of YouTube and Google Meet. There’s a reason why we love feel-good movies and such inspirational accounts. Human beings are hardwired for stories. 

Businesses are becoming more aware of the power of human touch in their corporate communications. Sharing real-life stories is highly effective at making content memorable and relatable to wider audiences . 

Take cues from Google’s video storytelling; they specialize in telling local, authentic stories to connect with consumers and seamlessly weave their products into the story (e.g. check out Google India’s playlist of video content). The video storytelling format is a creative way to share your company’s mission, expand on your core values, or even share a day at the workplace.

360Learning has a useful integration with Vyond to enable course authors to effortlessly create videos that engage learners with character-driven stories or compelling data visualizations.

Creating a compelling narrative makes the learning experience entertaining and memorable, and tailoring your video content to your target demographic always increases knowledge retention. But even quick entertaining stories can enhance the onboarding experience for your employees.

2. Screencast explainer tutorial video

These types of videos are used to train employees to use a certain piece of software. It’s typically a recording of a trainer's computer screen demonstrating specific software features along with their audio narration. Depending on your company’s culture, they could use a formal or a conversational tone.

Zoom’s screencast of conducting a secure meeting is a great example.

To add a human touch to your screencasts, consider recording from the trainer’s web camera at the same time. Screen recording software typically offer customization options to choose recording from the web camera on a computer and its screen simultaneously.

Here’s an example from Loom: 

You can also consider toggling between a face-to-face video of the trainer and their screen. For instance, the sequence could be delivering relevant information about the use case of a software’s feature in a face-to-face format. It could then be followed by showing its implementation on their screen.

Check out this example by Alban Brooke, CMO at podcast hosting company Buzzsprout, on how to record a podcast remotely on their platform:

Don’t like the toggling screencast style? It's a good idea to have the trainer quickly introduce themselves in a face-to-face format and communicate the subject they will be explaining.

3. Live videos

Most people are familiar with live streaming, thanks to its popularity on social media. The ephemeral nature of live videos boosts audience intrigue and engagement. Live video sessions enable authentic interactions with your audience while conveying valuable information and answering any questions they may have. 

Live video streaming is also a great way to conduct remote employee training within your organization. You can create a sense of community among employees as they train, discuss, and interact with their colleagues online. Internal collaboration makes training courses 2x as useful for learners:

Live sessions also provide an opportunity for viewers and employees to engage directly with the speaker and share feedback. When done well, live videos effectively deliver important instruction and are highly effective at holding the attention of trainees.

And if your employees are  spread across time zones, you can offer recordings of live video sessions to accommodate different schedules. 

Besides training, live videos also work well for remote onboarding new employees, sharing changes in your business strategy, and for internal communication. Live training videos pass on valuable knowledge and also encourage employee  interactions and discussion.

Note: Live video streaming should only be done when you have a good internet connection. If you know there’s a risk of less-than-average internet connection strength, it’s better to use a pre-recorded presentation that is well-prepared.

You can still conduct a live or hybrid question and answer (Q&A) session at the end to address questions. Learn more about how to create highly effective blended learning programs in this on-demand webinar.

4. Interviews of subject-matter experts or company leaders

This video format is useful for establishing your organization’s culture, mission, and setting the tone for what to expect. You can feature your senior leaders or internal subject-matter experts from specific departments announcing new products or partnerships and how they will benefit the company.

Here are a few tips you can share with the interviewee to make more engaging videos.

• Create an outline for the video: If the CEO of a company would like to inform employees of a new venture, create an outline for the announcement that will clearly define why this solution was needed and show employees why they should be using the new product. You can also ask the speaker to write down some of their own talking points. Some improvisation can help make the video feel more natural, but ask them to keep it concise.
• Get personal: Ask the interviewee to share anecdotes and tidbits from their work lives. It will add an element of authenticity and personality to the message your brand wants to share. 
• Keep it conversational: The interview format is better served colloquially, so being too formal can run them dry. Keep it organic, feel free to use background music to create a vibe, and connect with your viewers emotionally.
• Add visual variety and motion: A static frame of a person talking will become boring quickly. To maintain the audience's engagement, use a physical whiteboard, on screen text, or some B-roll footage. Also consider filming from two cameras placed at different corners. It gives different angles you can cut between while editing. 
• Ensure great sound quality: Clear audio is just as important as engaging visuals. Invest in a high-quality microphone to ensure zero background noise or graining. 

5. Interactive videos

An average employee may forget 65% of the material you share in your training within a week. In six months, that number jumps to 90%.

Interactive videos break the monotony and get the viewers involved, instead of them passively consuming videos. Typically, it’s done using engagement prompts such as questions, quizzes, and reactions in your videos to spark a dialogue. Some software enable viewers to click on the video in “hotspot” areas to choose an alternate viewing path. Such proactive engagement often leads to better information retention:

A great example of this type of video is Lifesaver, an interactive film by The British Resuscitation Council (UK), which puts you in life or death scenarios for CPR training.

Here are some tips to get interactive video learning right:

• Give ownership of your video’s narrative to the learners: You want to offer the freedom and flexibility to your employees to design their own virtual learning environment. Personalized learning that’s based on their decisions and outcomes will keep the learners hooked.
• Reward viewers for engaging: To keep your learners moving forward in their learning paths, reward them with exclusive content, grant a score, or use positive language to reinforce their efforts to interact and learn more.
• Explore innovative tools and platforms: Use tools like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), to enhance the interactivity and immersion of training experiences. VR simulations can provide realistic hands-on training in simulated high-risk scenarios. AR overlays can deliver contextual information and guidance in real-time.
• Mind the script: Ever watch an action movie with lots of stunts but no real plot? That’s how a viewer will find a video with lots of interactive elements but no educational value. Think of the narrative your video wants to paint, and ensure all the possible pathways a viewer takes are captivating and informative.

Production tips for high-quality videos

Here are practical tips for producing high-quality training videos.

Clear audio and visual quality

Granular or pixelated visuals distract audiences from the main objective of your video. Invest in quality recording equipment to make sure you have the proper lighting and sound setup when creating training videos.

Improve accessibility of your video by providing captions and subtitles. The latest AI tools in enable automatic speech-to-text transcription without much hassle.  Many of these tools also make it easy to upload your video transcripts to automatically sync the captions. 

For example, when you upload training videos to 360Learning, we automatically detect and display audio as closed-captioning.

Effective narration and visual structure

Use clear language and maintain an appropriate pace. Avoid using terms that may confuse the audience. For example, when onboarding new employees or clients, it is important to use simple language rather than technical jargon. People are highly visual creatures, so visual aids like animations reinforce key concepts. Incorporating multimedia elements in video training for employees will make sure that the subject matter is conveyed effectively.  

Filming and editing tips

Attention to detail is essential when filming and editing: 

• Plan your shots: Craft a detailed shot list to simplify filming and capture footage that is needed efficiently.
• Ensure clear audio: Use quality microphones. Steer clear of noisy surroundings to achieve crisp sound quality.
• Edit with a goal: Trim excess footage, incorporate smooth transitions, and prioritize improving viewer engagement.
• Test and refine: Collect feedback, track viewer engagement, and fine-tune your videos based on performance.

In the end, the goal should be to deliver the company message via video to an engaged audience. Using elements that will provide a professional touch when creating training videos will improve information retention. 

Integrating videos into training

Let’s discuss strategies for seamlessly integrating training videos.

Create a learning path

Develop a structured learning path with clear instructions that can guide employees successfully. Employees can move along a specified learning path and learn the material productively in a sequenced manner. Using a course management dashboard, you can promote active engagement. Track progress with KPIs to measure engagement success with strategic statistics.

360Learning helps managers and L&D teams set up intuitive learning paths for employees. Managers can track progress and provide feedback throughout the path. 

Measuring the impact of training videos

Here's how to tell if your training videos are working.

Feedback mechanisms

You should measure the effectiveness of your training material consistently. Gather employee feedback through surveys or comments to identify where you need to make any necessary changes to your content creation process. Assess content relevance, engagement, and satisfaction to refine and optimize your training videos.

Tracking engagement and learning outcomes

Assess learning outcomes to measure the impact of training videos on employee development.

Monitor engagement metrics like video views and completion rates. If your training videos have a low completion rate, reassess whether your content isn’t engaging enough, or if the topics covered need to be reviewed. By embracing a culture of continuous improvement, organizations can make sure that their training initiatives remain relevant, impactful, and aligned with business objectives.

Final thoughts

For your training videos to have a tangible ROI, you need to ensure your learners have a memorable learning experience. That’s why choosing the right video format for conveying your message is important.  

Research your audience, craft compelling videos that speak to them personally, and set a realistic budget for the whole project. Only then will you achieve your desired results with training videos.