Training & Onboarding

Training Video

A video-based learning resource that teaches specific skills, procedures, or concepts to employees through visual and audio instruction.
Read summarized version with

What is a Training Video?

A training video is a recorded visual resource that teaches employees specific skills, procedures, or concepts through a mix of voice, screen captures, demonstrations, and sometimes motion graphics. Think of it as a reusable lesson that your whole team can access whenever they need it. These videos let organizations train people consistently across different teams, locations, and time zones without flying in trainers or scheduling endless meetings.

Training videos have become pretty central to how companies handle employee development these days. There's a good reason for that: people tend to remember more when they watch something versus just reading about it. This makes video-based learning especially useful for showing someone how to use new software, walk through a complex process, or demonstrate something that's hard to explain in writing. Companies use training videos for everything from employee onboarding to compliance requirements to safety procedures.

What makes a training video actually work? It usually comes down to being clear, keeping people engaged, and not dragging on too long. Most research points to 5-8 minutes as the sweet spot. That's short enough that employees can squeeze it into their day without losing focus, but long enough to cover meaningful ground. The best training videos tend to combine screen recording, clear explanations, real examples, and sometimes interactive elements to keep viewers paying attention. For even shorter content, organizations often turn to microlearning modules that deliver quick, focused lessons. Many teams also create video SOPs to document standard operating procedures visually.

Key Characteristics of Training Video

  • Visual and Auditory Learning: Training videos show and tell at the same time. By combining demonstrations with narration or text overlays, they engage multiple senses, which tends to help people understand and remember things better than reading alone.
  • Self-Paced and Accessible: Employees can watch whenever works for them, pause to jot down notes, rewatch tricky sections, and move at their own speed. No waiting for a trainer to be available.
  • Scalable and Consistent: Record it once, use it forever. The same training video delivers identical instruction to every employee, whether you have 10 people or 10,000 spread across different offices.
  • Engaging and Interactive: Good training videos hold attention through demonstrations, real scenarios, annotations, and sometimes quizzes or clickable elements. People tend to stay more engaged than with a wall of text.
  • Easy to Update: Processes change. When they do, you can re-record specific sections or add supplementary clips instead of starting from scratch.

Training Video Examples

Example 1: Software Onboarding Tutorial

Say a customer success team needs to get new hires up to speed on their CRM. They put together a 6-minute screen recording walking through the platform, with annotations pointing out where to click and what each section does. New employees watch it during their first week and learn the interface before they ever talk to a customer. The video has timestamps too, so people can jump straight to "how do I log a support ticket" three months later when they forget.

Example 2: Manufacturing Safety Procedure

A manufacturing plant creates a training video covering lockout/tagout procedures for equipment maintenance. The video shows close-up shots of each step while a voiceover explains the safety requirements and what could go wrong if you skip something. Operators have to watch the whole thing and pass a short quiz before they're certified to do maintenance work on their own.

Training Video vs Microlearning

These two terms get mixed up a lot, but they're actually different approaches to video-based learning.

AspectTraining VideoMicrolearning
PurposeCovers a topic or procedure in fullTeaches one specific concept or skill
ScopeUsually 5-15 minutesBite-sized, typically 2-5 minutes
When to useTeaching complete workflows or processesQuick tips, single lessons, or just-in-time help

How Glitter AI Helps with Training Video

Glitter AI makes training video creation a lot simpler. Subject matter experts can just capture their screen while doing their job, and Glitter turns that raw recording into a polished instructional video. No video editing skills required. Instead of spending hours filming, cutting, and producing content, teams record their workflow once and get back professional training videos with annotations, highlights, and step-by-step guidance.

Keeping videos up to date is straightforward too. When a process changes, you can re-record specific sections, swap out screenshots, or tweak annotations without rebuilding everything from the ground up. That way, employees always have access to training videos that match how things actually work today.

Turn any process into a step-by-step guideTeach your co-workers or customers how to get stuff done – in seconds.
Start for Free

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a training video?

A training video is a recorded instructional resource that uses visuals and audio to teach employees specific skills, procedures, or knowledge. It combines demonstrations, narration, and visual elements so teams can learn at scale without needing a live trainer.

What is an example of a training video?

A typical example would be a software tutorial showing new employees how to use the company CRM. It might include screen recordings of key features, annotations pointing out important buttons, and a voiceover walking through common workflows step by step.

Why are training videos important?

People tend to remember more from video than text, so training videos boost retention. They also scale well across teams and locations, work for different learning styles, cut training costs over time, and give employees on-demand access to consistent instruction.

How do I create an effective training video?

Keep it brief (5-8 minutes is ideal), stick to one topic or process, pair clear narration with visual demonstrations, add annotations to highlight key points, and test the video with real learners before rolling it out widely.

What are the different types of training videos?

The main types are software tutorials (screen recordings), animated explainers for concepts, scenario-based demos showing real situations, compliance videos for regulatory training, and microlearning clips that cover quick tips on specific topics.

Turn any process into a step-by-step guideGet Started

Turn any process into a step-by-step guide

Create SOPs and training guides in minutes
Glitter AI captures your screen and voice as you work, then turns it into step-by-step documentation with screenshots. No writing required.
Try Glitter AI Free