Educational videos DO NOT have to be boring
How many times have you been made to watch a video, that’s supposed to be teaching you something, and it’s so dull it goes in one ear and out the other? It’s either someone ranting at you for a VERY long time, or a voice talking you through a powerpoint presentation. Yawn.
It’s so boring that you can’t focus your attention or absorb any information, which is exactly what the video SHOULD be helping you do. So how do you get people to engage with your educational video and learn? This is how:
Prepare: Work out what your key messages are and have an overarching plan for your video or videos. If you’re doing a series of videos, work out the topic for each video and what lessons will be in each. The best way to do this is to write out a good old fashion visual plan or storyboard. When we create our storyboards for a video series, we start by working out our roadmap using a whiteboard. We will put the topic of Video 1 in a box with the key lessons next to it, so we know the exact points we need to hit for each video and it’s easy to see if there is anything missing.
Choose your presenter or talent wisely: Some people are great in front of the camera. They’re energetic, engaging and clear talkers. Other people WANT to be in front of the camera, because they think they’ll enjoy it, but don’t do such a great job. So pick your talent based on their performance as opposed to their position. They might be the CEO of your company, but will they do the best job in educating and engaging your audience?
How is this video going to be engaging to your viewer? An easy way to make an education video is to put a spokesperson in front of a camera and get them to read a script for 15 minutes to camera. Is this easy to do? Yes. Is it engaging? Definitely not. So sit down and dive deep into what you would watch and how you can make this engaging and interesting. Is it by having an interview scenario, is it by creating an animation, is it a combination of both?
Short and Sweet: Unless you have all the time in the world most people don’t have hours to sit and watch a video, and the average concentration span is getting smaller, so short and sweet is best. Make your video duration as short as possible, without missing out any of the key elements. If it’s a long lesson break it down into a few videos and lessons rather than just one big chunk of information.
If you need help developing and producing your next education video, drop us a line at hello@clotheslinecontent.com