If your answer is yes, you’re not alone. According to a study by Microsoft, the average adult attention span has shrunk to a shocking 8 seconds. 

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Disengaged employees not only have lower knowledge retention, but they’re also more likely to jump ship. This translates to wasted resources and a less skilled workforce.

The problem lies in traditional training methods that often rely on lengthy lectures and dense text-based materials. Let’s face it, if you’re still using old-school training methods in 2024, it’s a recipe for disaster.

But don’t worry, there’s a better way to make L&D training more than just a mandatory chore. Through engaging strategies that cater to different learning styles, you can keep employees hooked and actively learning.

In this blog, we’ll explore 5 effective tips to create engaging learning experiences. From bite-sized learning modules to training videos, we’ll show you how to ditch the disengagement and ignite a passion for learning within your workforce.

The Science of Engagement & The Pro Trainer Mindset

The Attention Challenge

Our brains are wired for a world of constant stimulation. The rapid rise of social media and short-form content has fundamentally changed how we consume information. 

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A productivity report found people now switch between tasks an average of 12 times per 30 minutes, highlighting the struggle for focus in today’s digital age. This presents a significant challenge for L&D professionals who rely on traditional training methods built for a different era of attention.

Active Learning & Spaced Repetition – The Keys to Engagement

Effective training relies on two key concepts: active learning and spaced repetition. 

Active learning, where participants engage with the material through discussions, activities, or problem-solving, boosts retention far more than passive lectures. 

Spaced repetition involves revisiting key concepts at increasing intervals. Think of it like strengthening a muscle through exercise.

Understanding the Learner

Effective L&D programs recognize that employees have diverse learning styles. 

Some learn best visually (videos, charts, diagrams) while others prefer auditory learning (discussions). Kinesthetic learners thrive through hands-on activities. By incorporating a multi-modal approach that caters to these variations, training becomes more engaging and resonates with a wider audience.

How to Develop a Pro Trainer Mindset?

A “pro trainer” prioritizes three key elements:

• Engagement First: Keep participants actively involved throughout the program.
• Learner Centricity: Understand the audience and tailor content to diverse learning styles.
• Measurement & Improvements: Measure the effectiveness of the training and use data to continuously refine and improve.

Alright, lesson over! Let’s dive into how you can apply this knowledge into your training practices.

5 Actionable Ways to Keep Employees Hooked From Start to Finish

1. Incorporate Microlearning through Bite-Sized Modules 

Gone are the days of information overload. 

Today’s learners crave microlearning, a powerful strategy that breaks down lengthy and difficult to grasp topics into short, focused modules (text, audio, video). These bite-sized bursts of knowledge, ideally 5-10 minutes long, are easily digestible and readily accessible, making them perfect for our attention-challenged world.

Microlearning Tip: Chunk information strategically. Don’t overwhelm learners with a giant block of text. Break down the content into clear, concise segments with headings and visuals. 

Microlearning in Action:

• Problem: New sales onboarding program is text-heavy and overwhelms trainees with technical product details.
• Microlearning Solution: Create a series of short video modules, each focusing on a specific product feature. 

2. Embrace Gamification

Add some fun and friendly competition into your training programs! 

Gamification isn’t just for teenagers glued to their consoles. By incorporating game mechanics like points, badges, and leaderboards, you can transform dry content into an engaging learning experience for your employees. 

Think about it – you’d be more motivated to learn a new software program if you could earn points for completing modules and compete with colleagues!

The Power of Play: Research from the University at Albany, published in 2022, shows that gamification can boost learner motivation by up to 40%. Healthy competition and the desire for recognition can significantly increase engagement and knowledge retention.

Gamification Beyond Video Games: The beauty of gamification lies in its versatility. You don’t need fancy video game graphics to make learning fun. Consider these ideas:

• Points for completing training modules or quizzes.
• Leaderboards to showcase top performers in a compliance course.
• Interactive video case studies where learners make choices and earn points for successful outcomes.

3. Make the Most of Video Storytelling

Humans are suckers for a good story. 

They capture our attention, stir our emotions, and make information more relatable. A well-crafted employee training video can simplify complex topics, and make them easier to understand and remember.

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The Stats Speak for Themselves: According to a 2023 report by Cisco, online videos will make up 82% of all internet traffic by 2024. People lean towards visual content, and incorporating engaging videos into your training programs is a fool-proof way to boost engagement.

Storytelling in Action:

• Problem: A company needs to train employees on a new cybersecurity protocol.
• Video Solution: Create a short animated video that tells the story of a data breach, highlighting the consequences of poor security practices and showcasing the importance of the new protocol.

4. Craft a Multi-Modal Training Experience

Variety is the spice of life, and the same holds true for learning! 

Employees have different learning styles, and a one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t cut it. By incorporating a variety of training formats, you can cater to diverse learning preferences and keep things interesting. 

Here’s your toolkit:

Identify Your Audience: Before crafting your training, understand your learners’ demographics and preferred learning styles. Are they visual learners who thrive on videos and infographics? Do they prefer hands-on activities to solidify concepts?

Mix and Match Formats: Don’t rely solely on lectures or text-heavy modules. Offer a blend of:

• Videos: Ideal for visual learners and demonstrations.
• Case Studies: Allow learners to analyze real-world scenarios.
• Interactive Activities: Keep learners engaged with quizzes, polls, and exercises.
• Hands-on Exercises: Offer opportunities for practical application.

5. Add Playfulness to Learning

Let’s face it, a little laughter goes a long way! 

Strategic use of humor can lighten the mood, boost your training video engagement, and make even dry topics more enjoyable. Wouldn’t you rather learn about compliance regulations with a chuckle than endure a monotonous lecture?

Here are some pointers to keep in mind:

Find Your Humor Sweet Spot: Humor should complement your learning objectives and company culture. Avoid offensive or insensitive jokes, and use humor that resonates with your audience.

Integrate Humor Seamlessly: Consider incorporating humor in various ways:

• Well-placed jokes or anecdotes woven into your training content.
• Funny images or visuals that are relevant to the topic (think relatable memes or cartoons).
• Lighthearted video narration or storytelling elements that add a touch of whimsy.

Remember, humor is a powerful tool, but it should be used thoughtfully and strategically.

Putting these tips into action

Okay, let’s be real for a second. 

You’ve probably read all the similar articles – microlearning videos, gamification, storytelling – the training world throws around these buzzwords like confetti. 

But here’s the real challenge: How do I make this happen?

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When you’re an L&D pro juggling a million tasks with deadlines breathing down your neck, how do you transform those good ideas into reality?

This is where training gets seriously exciting. We’re talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI), and its potential to take your training to the next level.

Did you know you can use AI to turn Text to Video?

As an L&D professional, you must be sitting on a treasure trove of valuable training content – scripts, articles, manuals – just waiting to be used somehow. 

We’ve already established that in 2024, traditional training methods are too boring to keep anyone engaged. So, AI text-to-video tools like Steve AI are exactly what you need to automatically create informative L&D training videos from text. No fancy film sets or animation degree needed – just you, and a couple of minutes of your time.

Why AI Text-to-Video Tools Are Your Best Option –

• Super efficient: Production headaches are a thing of the past. AI handles the heavy lifting, freeing you to focus on crafting killer training content.
• Even a rookie can do it: “Oh, but I don’t know anything about video making videos or editing”. What if we tell you that you don’t need to? Steve AI can generate videos in multiple formats and languages including English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, ensuring your training is inclusive and borders don’t become barriers.
• Doesn’t cost an arm and a leg: Hiring a video production team can be pricey. Steve AI, on the other hand, is a smart investment, delivering high-quality training materials without breaking the bank.

How to Create Captivating Training Videos (in Minutes!)

If you’re tired of the old and want in with the new, here is how easy it is making training videos with Steve AI –

Step 1: Create an account and go to the Steve AI dashboard. Choose the type of video you want to create, whetherit’s text to animation, text to video, or talking heads style.

Step 2: Upload your topic of your training video and polish the auto-generated script to match your goals.

Step 3: Pick a video template that aligns with your training content’s tone. You can also customize your video to be horizontal, vertical, or square.

Step 4: Personalize your training video by swapping visuals or backgrounds on screen (only if you need it!) Remember to make it fun like we discussed easier. Review it before launch.

Step 5: Download your finished piece in minutes and share the training videos with your employees! We offer a wide variety of video resolutions, so whether you need a mobile friendly 480p or 4K Ultra HD quality for the big screen, we got you!

Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s a case study on how Steve’s Animation Videos Helped 2x Audience Engagement.

The future of L&D is here, and it’s powered by AI!

Forget stale training materials and resource constraints. 

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By leveraging Steve AI, you can transform your existing training content into captivating and informative videos, all without the need for extensive production expertise.

This isn’t about replacing your expertise. Steve AI is here to assist, giving you freedom to perfect the content without worrying about the technical aspect. 

So, ditch the boring ways and make learning fun for you and your team. 

Ready to make your first video? Click here to get started with your first training video, or get in touch with our sales team for any queries.

5 Pro Tips to Create Educational Videos with AI

The COVID pandemic changed the world in a lot of different ways. And, that is an extensive topic with many many layers to it. However, talking about something that is relevant to the video eco-system, one thing that definitely changed is that digital video consumption skyrocketed. 

More specifically, 58% of respondents in a content consumption survey said that they used digital video to learn new skills. Clearly, while videos have always been used for more than just entertainment, educational videos are very important tools for a wide range of content creators to connect and deliver value to their audiences.

Now, the challenge with this is that the expertise to create great educational content is possessed by educators and not necessarily content creators. How then can a subject matter expert create educational videos that the audiences can consume and learn from? Well, that is where AI puts the pieces together and bridges the gap. 

With a tool like Steve that turns script to video, content creation becomes simple and more of the creative aspect rather than the technicalities of video creation.

So, where does one start? How can one ensure that educational videos created using AI are engaging, wholesome and of high-quality? Here are some tips.

Zero down on your audience and set the direction

The best way to approach content creation is to clearly define who your audience is first. Understand who you are talking to through your content, what is their expectation and what their persona is. The more you analyze your potential audience, the better you can tailor your content to them. 

A great script is half the job done

Once you have your target audience defined, you can now jot down ideas for the videos at the intersection of your subject matter expertise and the audience expectations. And, the next step is to start writing the script for the videos. Points to keep in mind – Keep the structure of the script simple, keep the length short and add a little peek of the most valuable piece of content in the beginning of the script.

Define a good, consistent visual language

Visualize the kind of visuals you want for your video and maintain a standard visual tone to really connect with your audiences at the get-go. The visual language should also be consistent to the kind of content you are creating or the topic of your educational video. This includes color themes, animated or live-action visuals, text layout, presentation format, etc. You can narrow down your choices by going back to what the preferences of your audience may be and what would help them learn better through your videos.

Choose the best stack of tools for content production

Creating videos from scratch is a cumbersome process. Using AI tools makes it utterly convenient, especially with the number of options available to choose from! You can stack multiple tools for every step too. For example – You can use a tool like ChatGPT to generate a script for your video, and append it with a tool like Steve to convert that script to a video!

Add unique elements to the video to stand out

There are tons of educational videos out there and to set yours apart, the most striking way is to differentiate through the visuals. You can choose to create animated videos using AI tools, add elements of humor through gifs or memes to your content or create your own images using AI tools like DALL-E as well.

So, get started with your educational video and make the best of AI tools to delegate the technicalities while you focus on knowledge-sharing and creative ideas. It is the best time to be creating informative, educative content. Join the squad and share your valuable knowledge with a wide range of learners.

Three Educational Video Content Types to Create and the role of AI

As the audience for digital video content grows in leaps and bounds everyday, the conventional modes of communication and interaction between various segments of people are changing rapidly too. It is no different when it comes to learning. 

Today, educational video content is a big part of the learning process for people at varying levels, age groups, and contexts. In fact, surveys show that 52% of users have said they watch over 2 instructional videos every week. On the other hand, content creators from a wide range of backgrounds are creating more and more educational content to cater to the audience as well. Within the corporate training sector, which is only a section of L&D content eco-system, a survey of over 2000 companies has revealed that 74% of trainers use videos as part of the educational content.

So, whether you are creating corporate learning content, or are a subject matter expert sharing your knowledge with your world or simply sharing your knowledge to the world through educational content, videos are a tool with great potential to reach your audience. 

However, producing video content is not easy, nor is it inexpensive. Planning, scripting, shooting, editing and finally putting together the post-production work for a video takes weeks and the equipment and software alone are considerably expensive. 

How does one consistently produce educational videos at scale without burning their pockets then? That is where AI comes as a great solution. 

AI video making tools such as Steve are designed to do all the heavy lifting of video production and turn your script into videos while also giving you the flexibility of reviewing and customizing the content on the go. 

You can create a variety of content with such AI tools. Let us look at 3 basic types of educational content that you can explore and the advantage that AI video making tools give for each of the types.

Image/stock-footage-based videos

You can create educational content with images or stock video footage as the visuals. This is suitable to explain simple concepts, introduction videos or theory-based learning that can be understood easily through such visuals.

AI video making tools that take you from script to video are perfect for such content. All you have to do is enter the script and the tool puts together the perfect video for you. You can customize certain visuals with your own images or footage as required. 

Additionally with Steve, you can also choose to create animated content that is more engaging and interesting.

This is a type of learning video mostly used while explaining tech products. As the educator gives a walk through the product on their device, their screen is recorded and is used as a way of teaching how about the technology/product/service.

Screencast videos

For this type of content, while the recording of the screen is achieved through various digital tools available, it is generally seen that creating content with just the screen recording gets monotonous and fails to engage users. This is where AI video making tools help create a more wholesome video where the screen recording can be used as part of the video while including varied video elements that the AI chooses for other parts of the script.

Presenter videos

This is a content type where a person or, in case of an animated video, a character, present educational content directly to the audience. In-person training that is recorded as a video is also often categorized as this type of content. AI video making tools help brilliantly with this kind of content by providing options to present using digitally created characters!

Bonus Tip: With Steve, we are currently working on something that makes takes presenter videos to another level and will be revealed shortly, so stick around and don’t miss it if presenter videos are important to you.

So, those were the three basic types and you can use a combination of these for your video content depending on your audience and topics. Create a strategy where you optimize the use of AI video making tools as well as conventional video making where needed to keep your audience hooked and educate like a boss!

Make a Branded Educational Video Series With AI

At first glance, brands and educational videos don’t seem to be made for each other. Brands are known to be associated with businesses. An educational video is associated with learning institutions and classrooms. Brands need advertisements to communicate with users, institutions need curriculums to cater to students. Not a lot of intersections, fair enough.

However, here is a stat – It is found that potential users who consumed educational content related to brand offerings were shown to be 131% more likely to convert into actual customers!

Especially in the early stages of a brand when there is not enough awareness among consumers about the problem that the business is solving, educating them becomes foundational for the success of the brands and of course, an integral part of marketing too.

Some potential topics for brands to create educational content for would be:

• The problem that the brand’s products solve
• The way that the solutions would impact the world
• Why the problem needs to be solved in the first place
• Topics that would interest the user community and offer additional value

While there are already tonnes of educational videos out there, branded and otherwise, it is important to make your content stand out so the audience finds the content amidst the clutter. This is where animated content plays a big role. Further, it creates a consistently strong tone for your content that will encourage the audience to keep following your content and associate more with your brand. The good news is that with Steve, you can create animated educational content for your brand in minutes!

Let us look at the steps to create not just an educational video but a series of animated content with Steve in a few simple steps:

Step 1

Divide the educational content into bite-sized topics and keep the text for each topic ready to be added to the script.

Step 2

Login to Steve with your e-mail id. Select the animation tab on your dashboard and click on the Script to Animated Video button.

Step 3

You will come to the script page where you can either enter your own script or select from a pre-generated list of popular script templates that include multiple educational video templates.

We have selected an existing template. 

You can now edit the text to suit your content. You can also select the source for the visuals, add music and voiceover, and most importantly enter a keyword for the AI to understand the context of the video.

Click Next and choose a template for the video. For this example, we are choosing the Newscaster template that comes with the feature of animated characters lip-syncing to the script!

Step 4

On your workspace, you can review the scenes and make any edits as needed.

You can swap characters, expressions or actions. 

You can also edit other aspects of the video such as scene length, colours, text placement, etc in one click.

Step 5

Preview the final video, hit Publish and your video is ready!

Download the video in various qualities of exports and share it on your preferred channels!

Try it out and make educational videos with utmost ease with your AI assistant by your side!

Make an Animated Educational Video for Children with AI

Animated videos have an element of magic about them, they just are inherently special, aren’t they? Animated characters attract adults and children alike and keep us hooked on the stories they are narrating. For kids, this type of content is particularly useful for educational purposes. Especially since Covid, 69% of parents have said that their kids have been consuming more animated content now.

When it comes to educational content, the power to keep viewers really immersed into the content even when the content is dry has been a struggle for educational content creators. And, this is exactly where animated content comes to the rescue. Animated educational video content has the potential to really connect with children.

But then, isn’t animation a complicated process that takes a lot of training and resources to make? Well yes, but with Steve, you have your very own personal animation creator who acts on your command! Basically, the AI learnt animation so you don’t have to. All you need to do is implement your creative vision with a few simple clicks. So, creating interesting, unique animated educational content is easier than ever!

Since children are big consumers of educational content and are known to love animations, let us see how we can make animated educational content for kids in just a few steps with Steve.

Step 1

Login to Steve with your e-mail id. Select the animation tab on your dashboard and click on the Script to Animated Video button.

Step 2

You will come to the script page where you can either enter your own script or select from a pre-generated list of popular script templates that include multiple educational video templates.

We have added our own script in this example for a fun video for kids.

Once script is entered, add music and voiceover, and any other media additions required and most importantly enter a keyword for the AI to understand the context of the video.

Click Next and choose a template for the video. For this example, we are choosing a colourful, fun template.

Step 3

On your workspace, you can review the scenes and make any edits as needed.

You can swap characters, expressions or actions. 

Pro tip: Use our special animal characters or kid characters to give that additional element of appeal for your young audiences.

You can also edit other aspects of the video such as scene length, colours, text placement, etc in one click.

Step 4

Preview the final video, hit Publish and your video is ready!

Download it and share it on the required channels and your content is out in the world!

Try it out and make educational videos with utmost ease with your AI assistant by your side!