According to research, the average attention span lasts only eight seconds, so the key for engaging eLearning videos is to focus on bitesize, interactive lessons that grab and hold the attention of your audience.

In this blog we share our five step process to build impactful eLearning videos, so you can get it right too.

Step 1. Build your Boxes

To do this, you need to define a solid plan broken down into the key messages (the Boxes) you need to deliver.

Once you’ve defined your boxes (3-5 is a good number to aim for) you can start to populate them with the content. This approach will keep your content concise and on point.

The second but equally important point around defining your boxes is how long they are. If you don’t set up a duration at the beginning, your content will almost always run over.

Define your duration both for the overall video (e.g. 3-4 minutes) and then set out how much of this time each topic should use.

Step 2. Pick your style

What style you select will make all the difference to your learners’ experience. Choosing the right style of video for both your audience and the subject is one of the most critical steps.

Here are some options:

Talking head - A video of a key stakeholder or expert recorded on camera / webcam / phone and edited with your branding, intro and outro.
Screen capture - Screen recordings are great for systems training but need to be optimised and enhanced with annotations, sped up segments or zooms and pans to learner focused on what’s important.
Animated - Custom animation can help explain a complex concept but also great when you want to show your learners in abstract rather than associate a particular behaviour with a real individual.
Motion graphics - Similar to animation but possible with a lower budget. Think well-scripted, super-slick Powerpoint animations with pro voiceovers and better graphic design.
OR perhaps a hybrid of a selection of the above

Step 3. Storyboard

The storyboard is a step-by-step plan of the video end to end and is actually the most critical phase of the development.

This blueprint starts with the Boxes you defined at Step 1. and systematically fills each one out. Each box will need details of the headline messages which are then expanded on into a script with associated visuals and text to support them.

You can do this in a very structured way for maximum efficiency, by using simple spreadsheets to keep projects on time and within budget. Storyboards don’t have to be fancy and visual, they just need to be right.

Our top tip: Use a spreadsheet to count words automatically and estimate duration.

Step 4. Visuals

When creating the visual style for your eLearning video one of the main things you need to follow are your brand guidelines.

Make sure your fonts, colours, logos and any existing motion graphics are on brand. This is also the time to decide on how you want your video to “feel”. You might want it to look professional, slick, corporate vs fun & cheeky or something in between.

The visual style (AKA Art Direction) usually happens in parallel with the storyboarding, and should be reviewed and signed off before producing the video.

This could include mocking up a few static scenes and perhaps a short animated sequence to ensure correct colours, fonts and overall style is agreed.

Step 5. Review process

The last step in building your digital learning video is the review process to ensure everyone is happy with both the content and how it’s delivered to your audience.

This can be managed in three stages:

Alpha = Storyboard

Before you start creating any video content you need to know what everyone is happy with the storyboard. You need to review this in it’s raw text format to ensure you are covering the right subjects in the best order with an appropriate level of detail.

Beta = Draft build

This will be your draft finished video, end to end, including voiceover and all the visuals and animations set out in the storyboard. You can manage this review on a platform like Vimeo so all relevant parties can view, check and comment on any changes that may need to be made.

Gold = FINAL build

This is the very last review stage before the video will be shown to your audience. It’s the last run through that you can also do on Vimeo. At this stage any changes should be very minor timing issues or small tweaks to the visuals.

Our top tip: Vimeo Pro is a great way to manage the review cycle. The “Review Tool” feature in Vimeo is an interactive function that allows you and your stakeholders to comment and easily markup any changes throughout the video. It really does dramatically transform the review cycle process, streamlining any edits.

If you would like to see some examples of our work or are interested in producing some digital learning videos in partnership with us then please do get in touch.

How to build rich and engaging video eLearning