Planning Employee Training Videos: 12 Decisions to Make Before Filming
Most organizations do not begin with a blank page. They begin with an employee handbook, an SOP binder, a slide presentation, a recorded webinar, a knowledgeable employee, or a collection of documents that everyone is supposed to understand.
Turning all of that information into useful video is where the real work begins.
The camera is rarely the hardest part. The bigger challenge is deciding what employees need to learn, what should be demonstrated, who should appear on camera, how the information should be divided, and who must approve it before it is distributed.
Organizations considering professional training video production in Chicago can use this planning checklist to organize their content before filming. It can help reduce production delays, unnecessary revisions, and the all-too-common problem of creating a polished video that does not actually help employees do their jobs.
1. Begin With What the Learner Must Be Able to Do
Before writing a script, decide what should change after someone watches the video.
Should a new employee be able to complete a process without supervision? Should a volunteer understand how to handle a difficult situation? Should a technician be able to operate a piece of equipment safely? Should a manager understand a new company policy?
A useful learning objective describes an action rather than a broad topic.
For example:
Too broad: Understand the company’s customer service policy.
More useful: Demonstrate the five steps employees should follow when handling a customer complaint.
The second version gives the writer, presenter, videographer, editor, and learner a much clearer target.
The CDC’s guidance on conducting a training needs analysis recommends considering who the learners are, what they need to do, and the barriers that may affect their performance. Those are good questions to answer before production begins.
2. Identify the Audience More Specifically Than “Employees”
A video created for experienced supervisors should not be structured the same way as one created for first-day employees.
Consider what the intended viewers already know, what terminology they understand, and where they are likely to watch.
Your audience could include:
- Newly hired employees
- Experienced employees learning a new system
- Managers and supervisors
- Customers learning to use a product
- Healthcare professionals
- Manufacturing or warehouse employees
- Nonprofit volunteers
- Sales representatives
- Remote workers
- Contractors or temporary staff
- People who speak English as a second language
It is also helpful to know whether viewers will watch at a desk, in a training room, on a mobile device, inside a facility, or through a learning management system.
A technically detailed screen demonstration may work well for employees sitting at computers. A safety procedure watched on a phone in a noisy warehouse may require larger graphics, shorter sections, and captions.
3. Decide Whether Video Is the Right Format for Each Topic
Video is useful, but not every sentence in a handbook needs to become a scene.
Video is particularly effective when learners need to:
- Watch a process being performed
- See equipment being operated
- Recognize a physical location or hazard
- Hear how a conversation should be handled
- Follow a sequence of steps
- Observe correct and incorrect behavior
- Learn from an experienced employee
- Understand a visual product or software interface
Some material may work better as a downloadable checklist, reference sheet, policy document, quiz, or supervisor-led discussion.
The strongest training programs often combine video with other resources. The video demonstrates the procedure. A short document summarizes the steps. A supervisor or quiz confirms that the employee understands them.
For safety-related material, determine whether video can provide the entire lesson or whether hands-on, worksite-specific, or instructor-led training is also required. OSHA has noted that online or virtual instruction may not satisfy requirements when employees also need hands-on practice. Its interpretation concerning virtual safety training provides a useful reminder to check the standards that apply to your workplace.
4. Divide the Material Into Manageable Modules
One long video may seem easier to produce, but it can be difficult to update and inconvenient for employees who only need one answer.
Instead of creating a 45-minute video covering an entire job, consider dividing it into modules such as:
- Introduction and responsibilities
- Preparing the workspace
- Starting the equipment
- Completing the procedure
- Handling common problems
- Cleaning and shutdown
- Safety reminders
- Final knowledge check
This approach makes the information easier to find. It also allows one section to be replaced when a policy, screen, product, or procedure changes.
The correct length depends on the subject. A simple software task might take two minutes. A complicated medical procedure or equipment demonstration may require considerably more time.
Do not force every module to be the same length. Give each topic enough time to be clear, but do not add material simply to make the sections uniform.
5. Choose the Best Presentation Format for Each Module
Not every section needs a person talking directly to the camera.
Possible formats include:
Presenter-Led Instruction
A trainer, manager, physician, executive, or subject-matter expert explains the material directly to the viewer.
This works well when the speaker’s credibility, personality, or leadership role matters.
Process Demonstration
An employee performs a procedure while the camera shows each step.
This is especially useful for equipment, manufacturing, installation, maintenance, healthcare, safety, and customer-service processes.
Screen Recording
The viewer watches a software program, website, internal platform, or digital workflow while hearing an explanation.
Scenario or Role-Play
Employees or actors demonstrate how to handle a customer, patient, donor, coworker, or difficult situation.
Voice-Over With Supporting Footage
A narrator explains the material while viewers see relevant workplaces, equipment, documents, graphics, or demonstrations.
Animation or Motion Graphics
Graphics explain information that is difficult, expensive, unsafe, or impossible to film directly.
A training series can combine several of these formats. The format should be selected according to what makes the information easiest to understand, not because one approach looks more impressive.
6. Select the Right Subject-Matter Experts
The person who knows the most about a process may not be the person who should deliver every line on camera.
A subject-matter expert can help:
- Confirm that the information is accurate
- Identify steps that outsiders may overlook
- Demonstrate the procedure
- Explain common mistakes
- Review the script
- Approve the finished video
A separate presenter or narrator can be used when the expert is uncomfortable on camera or tends to provide overly technical explanations.
It is often helpful to interview experienced employees before writing the script. They may know about shortcuts, exceptions, recurring problems, safety concerns, and machine quirks that have never been formally documented.
This is particularly important when longtime employees are retiring. Capturing their knowledge can help prevent valuable information from walking out the door. Video One’s article about how manufacturing video can preserve and improve company processes discusses several practical uses for this kind of documentation.
Employees and executives who will appear on camera can also benefit from the preparation ideas in this guide to planning an on-camera business interview.
7. Build an Outline Before Writing a Script
Begin with a content map showing the order of the modules and the purpose of each one.
For every module, list:
- The learning objective
- The information that must be included
- The process or action that must be shown
- The person responsible for accuracy
- The visuals needed
- The documents or screens that may appear
- The desired length
- The person who must approve it
Once the outline is approved, the script becomes much easier to write.
This step also prevents a common problem: spending time polishing a script before the HR, legal, safety, operations, or compliance department has agreed on what the video should cover.
For a large project, consider creating one sample module first. That allows everyone to approve the tone, appearance, pacing, graphics, and instructional approach before the entire series is produced.
8. Write for the Ear, Not the Employee Handbook
Written policies often sound awkward when read aloud.
A sentence that works in a manual may be too long, formal, or complicated for a narrator or presenter. Spoken language should generally be more direct.
Handbook style:
Employees are required to ensure that all applicable documentation has been completed prior to commencing the equipment shutdown procedure.
Spoken style:
Before shutting down the equipment, make sure you have completed the required documentation.
Read the script aloud before filming. You will quickly hear where the language becomes stiff or confusing.
Also watch for:
- Long sentences
- Unexplained acronyms
- Legal language that can be simplified
- Too many ideas in one paragraph
- Instructions that are given in the wrong order
- Visual steps that are not described clearly
- Statements that sound natural on paper but unnatural when spoken
A teleprompter can help presenters deliver exact language, especially when the wording has been approved by legal or compliance departments. The script still needs to sound like something a person would actually say.
9. Plan Every Demonstration Before Shoot Day
A procedure that takes five minutes in real life can take much longer to film.
The crew may need close-ups, wide shots, repeated actions, alternative angles, equipment details, safety gear, screen views, and clean shots without people blocking the process.
Create a shot list that identifies:
- Each step that must be shown
- Important controls, tools, screens, or materials
- Actions that need close-up views
- Required safety equipment
- Common mistakes worth demonstrating
- Before-and-after conditions
- The person performing the procedure
- Any step that can only happen at a certain time
- Any process that cannot easily be repeated
Make sure the equipment, workspace, products, uniforms, and documents shown in the video reflect the way the procedure should actually be performed.
An installation training video project can require a combination of new filming, existing footage, narration, graphics, and step-by-step editing. Planning those elements in advance helps the shoot stay organized.
10. Consider the Location and Production Logistics
A functioning workplace can make the video more credible, but it can also create challenges.
Before scheduling the shoot, consider:
- Background noise
- Machinery that cannot be turned off
- Restricted areas
- Patient or customer privacy
- Confidential information visible on screens
- Employee releases
- Lighting conditions
- Available electrical power
- Loading and parking
- Security clearance
- Elevator access
- Required insurance documents
- Union or facility rules
- Whether operations can be paused
- Whether the procedure can be repeated
Chicago office buildings, healthcare facilities, hotels, manufacturing plants, conference venues, and nonprofit locations can all have different access requirements.
An experienced Chicago video production company should ask about those details before arriving with cameras, lighting, audio equipment, and support gear.
For hospitals, medical offices, pharmaceutical companies, clinical sites, and other regulated environments, additional approvals may be required. Video One also provides specialized healthcare and life sciences video production for organizations working with sensitive or technical material.
11. Plan the Final Deliverables Before Editing Starts
Do not wait until the videos are finished to decide where they will be used.
Determine whether the content will appear on:
- A learning management system
- The company intranet
- A private website
- YouTube or Vimeo
- A mobile training platform
- A conference portal
- A customer support page
- An employee onboarding system
- A presentation or live workshop
- A healthcare education portal
Ask what file formats, dimensions, naming conventions, and size limits the platform requires.
You may also need:
- Closed captions
- Transcripts
- Spanish or other language versions
- Separate audio tracks
- Chapter markers
- Quizzes or knowledge checks
- Branded and unbranded versions
- Short refresher clips
- Vertical or square versions
- Thumbnail images
- Source files for future updates
- A clean master without captions or graphics
Accessibility should be addressed during planning rather than added as an afterthought. The W3C recommends providing synchronized captions for prerecorded video containing audio. Its explanation of caption requirements for prerecorded media is a useful reference when determining your deliverables.
12. Establish the Review and Approval Process
Training content often has more reviewers than marketing content.
Depending on the organization, approval may be needed from:
- Human resources
- Operations
- Safety
- Legal
- Compliance
- Medical or clinical reviewers
- Department managers
- Information technology
- Corporate communications
- Brand management
- Executive leadership
Decide who can request changes and who has final approval.
Without a clear approval process, an editor can receive conflicting instructions from several departments. One reviewer may ask to shorten a section while another asks to add more detail.
Select one person to collect and consolidate feedback. Set review deadlines and determine how many revision rounds are included.
It is also important to separate factual corrections from personal preferences. A safety error must be corrected. A reviewer’s preference for one transition over another may not justify delaying the entire project.
Test the Material With a Small Group
Before releasing a large training series, ask several people from the intended audience to watch a sample.
Do not only ask whether they liked it. Ask whether they can use it.
Useful questions include:
- Was anything confusing?
- Was a step missing?
- Did the demonstration move too quickly?
- Could you find the information you needed?
- Were the graphics easy to read?
- Did the presenter use unfamiliar terms?
- Could you perform the task after watching?
- What questions remained unanswered?
- Would a checklist or reference document help?
The CDC recommends building an evaluation plan early in the development process. Even a small pilot group can identify problems before the videos are distributed to hundreds or thousands of learners.
Trust and Experience Matter When Choosing a Production Partner
Training content may remain in use for years. It can affect employee performance, customer satisfaction, regulatory compliance, safety, and the way new employees perceive the organization.
That makes reliability just as important as camera quality.
A production company should be able to explain how it will:
- Organize the content
- Prepare presenters
- Capture demonstrations
- Record clean audio
- Handle workplace logistics
- Protect confidential information
- Manage multiple reviewers
- Create captions and alternate versions
- Deliver files for your training platform
- Update individual modules later
Look at relevant work, ask for a detailed scope, and confirm who owns the footage and completed files. Video One also offers a checklist for hiring a video production company that covers reputation, deliverables, deadlines, insurance, and ownership rights.
Video One Productions has worked with Chicago businesses and organizations since 1987. You can also read Video One Productions reviews to see what clients say about the company’s communication, professionalism, responsiveness, and finished work.
Employee Training Video Pre-Production Checklist
Before filming, confirm that you can answer the following questions:
- What must the learner know or be able to do?
- Who will watch the video?
- What does the audience already know?
- Where and how will the video be viewed?
- Should the subject be divided into multiple modules?
- Which sections require a presenter?
- Which sections require a demonstration?
- Who is responsible for technical accuracy?
- Has the outline been approved?
- Does the script sound natural when read aloud?
- What footage, screens, equipment, or locations must be shown?
- Are employee, patient, customer, or location releases required?
- Are there privacy or confidentiality concerns?
- Who has final approval?
- What file specifications does the delivery platform require?
- Are captions, transcripts, translations, or quizzes needed?
- Will hands-on instruction also be required?
- How will the organization measure whether the training worked?
- Who will review the videos when policies or procedures change?
Answering these questions before shoot day can save a considerable amount of time during production and editing.
Common Questions Before Filming
How long should an employee training video be?
There is no universal ideal length. A video should be long enough to explain one defined topic clearly and no longer than necessary.
A two-minute demonstration may be appropriate for a simple task. A complicated technical procedure may require several modules. When a video becomes difficult to navigate or update, it is usually a sign that the subject should be divided.
Should employees memorize a script?
Usually not.
A presenter who must deliver exact legal, medical, safety, or policy language may use a teleprompter. For demonstrations and less formal explanations, approved talking points can sound more natural.
The best approach depends on how exact the wording must be and how comfortable the employee is on camera.
Can existing PowerPoint slides and documents be reused?
Yes, but they may need to be redesigned for video.
Slides created for a live presentation can contain too much text or rely on an instructor’s explanation. Documents may need to be condensed into graphics, demonstrations, screen recordings, narration, or downloadable reference material.
Should the company create one long video or a series?
A series is usually easier to navigate, revise, assign, and reuse.
One longer video can work when the subject must be understood in sequence and will not change often. The decision should be based on the learner’s needs rather than what is easiest to film.
How often should training videos be updated?
Review them whenever a policy, process, system, product, regulation, location, or piece of equipment changes.
It is also sensible to conduct a scheduled review, even when no one is aware of a change. Subject-matter experts may spot outdated terminology, screens, personnel, branding, or procedures that other departments have missed.
Final Thoughts
A useful training video begins long before the camera is turned on.
The strongest projects start by defining what the learner must be able to do, organizing the material into manageable sections, selecting the right presentation format, planning demonstrations, and establishing a clear approval process.
For help turning your material into clear, professional learning content, review Video One’s training video services. You can also explore the company’s broader Chicago video production services or contact Video One Productions to discuss your audience, content, schedule, and production needs.
