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Four Tips for High-quality, Not High-budget Videos: Make the Most of the Resources at Hand
Manyinstructors, whether in educational, government, or corporate settings, areunder the misconception that in order to create professional-quality videos,they need a large budget or movie-style production. This is not always the case.In fact, it’s easy to create engaging, quality videos with minimal time andmonetary investment. By cutting out effects and fancy transitions, educatorsand managers can rely on a few key tricks to produce informational andcompelling videos.
Video can bean important learning tool in the classroom or in the online environment.Through “flipped” classrooms, for example, teachers take ownership of limitedand precious time to give students hands-on help with difficult concepts orproblems by assigning video clips of lessons. In 2014, 48 percent of teachers surveyedsaid they used video to “flip” a lesson, up from 44 percent in 2012, accordingto Sophia Flipped Learning Network. When students bring lessons home, they are ableto watch the videos and learn at their own speed by skipping ahead throughcontent they already know or replaying sections that they are less sure of. Teacherscan supplement in-class lessons with videos that bring material to life in anew way.
Similarly, workplacetraining commonly uses videos; this saves money and time for organizations withmultiple offices. Through onboarding or skills videos, managers can ensure thatnew or existing employees have access to the same quality material no matterwhere they’re located or when they join the company.
However, thechallenge of making useful, quality videos for the workplace or classroom, withinlimited budgets and time frames, still exists. There are many more tools andtricks expected from a video than just flashing lights. In actuality, thefollowing aspects are the most important.
Clarity is key
For a videoto share important information, it must first and foremost be easy to watch.The quality of the video doesn’t have to be worthy of a Blu-ray player, but ithas to play easily on a laptop or cell phone, and it must be clear. Videos thatappear blurry are difficult to watch and will quickly lose the viewer’sinterest. Videos should not include effects and different transitions without aclear purpose. Only effects that support or reinforce points should beincluded. For example, if a video is about how to use a particular softwareapplication, consider drawing a box around, or darkening the screen around, thepart of the software being addressed as a way to highlight that area.
For real-worldvideo footage, good lighting is very important. Lighting is to video what paintis to a canvas. Viewers shouldn’t struggle to understand what they are seeingbecause the lighting is too dark or too bright. Using a smartphone to recordthe video often resolves issues of clarity by giving high-quality results withoutthe need for an expensive camera. If narration is part of the video, make surethe audio is clear and easy to understand so the audience can hear it. Furtherclarify content by hitting two senses with the same message: “showing andsaying it.” For example, show a recording of the mouse cursor clicking a screen,and narrate “Click the red button with the mouse” while a mouse click sounds.All of these actions help reinforce the lesson of where to click and why.
Engaging content
A video isonly as useful as the content it shares. Videos should cater to a specificaudience—a teacher working through a difficult math problem will define “engagingcontent” very differently than an HR manager training a new employee. Pickcontent that is engaging to the specific audience and is a good representationof the concept being taught. It doesn’t require extensive creative training orstoryboarding to choose a difficult concept and work through it similarly tothe way that it would be presented in person. Get the viewer involved—have viewersclick in the video or answer a question that directly reinforces the trainingor lesson before they can move on. Add text overlays to the screen with subtlemotion to reinforce the words. Be careful not to include too much text; simplicityis critical. Relate back to buzzwords and phrases that will help solidify keypoints in the viewer’s memory.
Subtlemotion as part of the emphasis will draw viewers’ eyes and focus theirattention. Adding motion will create engagement, but ensure that any images,diagrams, or graphs are not too busy. Even adding an arrow that moves or drawson the screen to highlight a data point in a graph will make it more engaging.However, fast, abrupt motion may cause the audience to become disoriented andmiss a message while trying to understand what just happened. Another valuabletechnique to provide clarity and emphasis is a subtle zoom, pan, or tilt. Whenthe camera slowly zooms in on an area of the video, the viewer focusesattention in that area and is more engaged with the content. This is becausethe human brain is wired to detect motion.
Pace
Videosshould generally keep a faster pace than a presentation given in person.Information delivered in a video can be absorbed faster, so the viewer may quicklylose interest if the video spends too much time on a concept that was understoodimmediately. An additional benefit of video is that audience members can rewindand rewatch segments they don’t understand, offering the freedom to learn at theirown speed. The quantity of information should be limited to five to nine “chunks,”or topic areas that are very specific. Break videos down into a table ofcontents, summary, and key parts, with a short narration to maintain focus.
Measure your success
The mostimportant requirement for a quality video for learning is that the concept isunderstood and committed to memory. This holds true whether the video means toemphasize the importance of company culture or help students study for theirfinal exams. Make sure the video works—engage with viewers throughout the video,and test them afterward to make sure they paid attention and the video wasmeaningful. Tricks such as adding polls throughout the video, offering quizquestions, or a “choose your own adventure” method encourage viewers to engageand interact throughout.
The numberof “views” alone is not a very clear indication of whether the audience actuallywatched the video. Most view counts happen when “play” is clicked. A moreaccurate and informative metric is the percentage viewed. Understanding howmuch of the video and which specific parts were watched will help you identifywhat is and is not working in the video content. Combine that with quizzing fora true measure of your video’s effectiveness. By monitoring responses and viewrates, instructors can ensure that their audience grasped the information andthe video was effective.
Video can bean extremely helpful learning tool for education and training. While manyeducators and companies fear that they lack the proper resources to fund ordevelop a quality video series, in reality, the more simple and clear a videois, the more likely it is to serve its purpose. With technological tools thatare readily available, instructional designers, managers, and teachers candevelop high-quality videos that yield stellar results with little training ortime investment.
