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Making instructional videos is very valuable, provided you meet the conditions. From what perspective do you film? Which main character do you choose? How long is the video? We give tips!
How-to videos whether educational videos are here to stay these days. We are overwhelmed with it on social media, we are all members of Netflix, and we've all attended an online training session sharing videos about the subject.
Instructional videos are an incredibly valuable tool for conveying knowledge, provided that the videos meet a number of conditions. In this blog, we'll give you 8 tips for making super interesting tutorial videos.
You may have a general topic in mind that you want to cover, but you're not sure which part of the topic is worth covering in the video. Find the right angle by interviewing the target audience of your video about the topic. Determine what they already know and where there are still “gaps” in their knowledge and skills - these are the most useful, relevant topics for your tutorial video.
Choose one learning goal for each video.
Different topics require different formats for your instructional videos:
Research shows that students learn best from videos in which a “first-person perspective” is used. This means that the viewer sees through the eyes of the person performing the action in the video. This perspective differs from a “third person perspective”, where the viewer sees the situation as if someone is outside the situation.
In addition, it is important to consider with each word whether it contributes to the learning goal of the video. Limit jargon as much as possible to avoid misunderstandings or confusion.
Use students' words: what language do they use? What descriptions? Is more formal or informal language used within the company? All things to take into account.
Educational videos with images of the speaker and slides are more engaging than just slides.
The presence of the teacher/trainer is engaging for students, so try combining visual content such as slides, images, and screencasts with a video where the teacher is talking, in the picture, and “connecting” with the students. Choose a main character that matches the audience of your video (age, clothing style, way of speaking, etc.).
You quickly lose your viewer's attention when you present them with a long list of facts and figures. When you use storytelling, the message comes across much clearer and stronger and is also much better remembered. One HR training video about recognising negative behavior in the workplace, for example, can be illustrated with a video in which a character experiences discrimination, what impact it has on him/her, and what he/she would recommend to prevent discrimination in the workplace.
Emotion in videos is allowed and even desirable: this way the viewer can relate even better to the protagonist.
Is it useful to use gestures and visual elements to control the viewer's focus? That depends on the topic. If you want to illustrate something, you can have the “presenter” point to the different steps/sections you're discussing. It turns out that when the protagonist actively points to different elements on the screen, the viewer's attention mainly goes there. You can also use arrows and highlighting in the image, for example.
If you want viewers to really pay attention to the story and not stray, it's better to let the protagonist talk directly into the camera without too many gestures and distractions.
Make your tutorial videos up to 3-4 minutes long. This is in line with the principle of microlearning. Microlearning consists of small, manageable pieces of information that are aimed at achieving a certain learning goal. As a result, the information is easily and quickly accessible from various devices such as a laptop, tablet and phone and can be learned in the blink of an eye and in just a few minutes.
Just watching a video isn't enough, it's important to get started with what you've learned right away during and after watching. With interactive videos, viewers can click, drag, and perform other digital actions to really actively engage with the video's content. Adding these interaction options increases engagement by encouraging the viewer to pause and actively demonstrate their knowledge.
By the way, did you know that Pluvo itself has a film studio where you can high quality videos can you record? Take contact contact us via chat to discuss the options!
