You’re creating an online course. How can you make sure your video content is engaging?

Target audience Right content Short n crisp Right approach Clear communication Viewer’s view matters Engage audience Feedback Clarifying doubts

Creating engaging video content for an online course is crucial to keep learners interested and facilitate effective learning. Know your target audience and tailor your content to their needs, knowledge level, and learning preferences. Consider creating different modules or sections to cater to different skill levels if applicable.

When it comes to online video coaching, these are 3 areas I pay special attention to: 1/ Each video should have an objective One video, one point, 3 ways/examples to explain it. This 1-1-3 rule helps the student understand it better without having to go over it multiple times. 2/ Videos are crafted to be consumed easily Simple English, shorter sentences, less text on the slides, more images - makes it easy to consume. 3/ Each video ends with a summary A summary acts as a quick revision and helps the brain connect concepts. It's also beneficial to share a small teaser info about the next lesson. Makes the student continue to the next lesson. If you've been thinking of creating a video, just get started. It's your best bet to success.

In creating engaging online course videos, understanding your audience is crucial. Research or survey to discover what types of videos they find most engaging, even from adjacent or different topics. Find out what aspects they value — be it the content, duration, audio quality, music, interactivity, or the topics themselves. You can either talk to them or run a survey to find out what they like. I often like to harness UX user research methods like interviews to gain deeper insights. This hands-on approach helps in gathering detailed feedback. This feedback can guide you in tailoring your video style to match their preferences, ensuring your content resonates and maintains their interest.

User Experience is key for your video to meet your objectives, provide great feedback, to be recommended and for the adoption/goal of the video to be met. This is not possible if you don't know your audience. Is your audience Real Estate agents that are mobile? Cater to short, easily accessible modules. Is your audience Data Engineers that are performing learning exercises? The audience and object are the key factors to address for success.

Clear Objectives: Clearly define the learning objectives for each video. This helps learners understand what they will gain and maintains focus throughout the content.Concise and Organized Structure: Break down content into digestible segments. Keep videos concise, around 5-10 minutes, and organize them logically to enhance comprehension.Visual Appeal: Use visually appealing graphics, animations, and high-quality visuals to enhance the video's aesthetic appeal. Well-designed slides or images can aid understanding and retention.Engaging Introductions: Start each video with a captivating introduction. Pose questions, share anecdotes, or present intriguing facts to grab learners' attention from the beginning.

Outline a clear and structured plan for your video content. Break down complex topics into digestible segments, and ensure a logical flow of information.

The one simple thing that people often forget is to think about the transformation. If someone takes the course what will be the end result? What will they walk away with? How does it transform them? Then once you have that nailed down the content becomes easier to create as you will know from your own experience the different elements that are required to achieve it. Often one chapter becomes a breakdown of five or more classes as you break down the details of how to achieve success!

Integrate storytelling techniques to make your content more relatable and memorable. Real-life examples and anecdotes can help illustrate concepts and engage learners emotionally.

The kind of stories you want to tell are about people who learned the material from you, implemented it, and the result was what you promised would happen. In this situation, the easiest thing to do is use a "PAR" approach, which is to describe the problem, outline the solutions and their implementation (including the obstacles, because nothing ever goes perfectly), and then end with the result. If you want to get fancier, you can start with some kind of inciting incident the person experienced (get permission to share!) where they had to do something or there would be big consequences. Then unpack the impact of whatever that decision was. The more details the better because that details are what the viewer will relate to most.

Use a mix of visuals, such as slides, graphics, and on-screen demonstrations, to break up the monotony of talking heads. Visual variety helps maintain interest and aids understanding.

Incorporate interactive elements like quizzes, polls, or discussions within your videos. Platforms like Edpuzzle or PlayPosit or something of your choice to allow you to embed questions in your videos, promoting active participation.

In my classroom as an adjunct professor, I found interaction and variety keys to keeping an audience engaged. Learning new content can be challenging, but breaking up the information receiving by putting it to work, moving and interacting can help the information be absorbed and the individual ready to start receiving new information.

People signed up for your course for a reason: To upskill and get value (Something that will actually help them in Real Life) Don't let them down

Ensure your videos are compatible with various devices and screen sizes. A responsive design ensures that learners can access your content seamlessly on desktops, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Regularly gather feedback from learners and use analytics to assess engagement levels. This will help you refine your video content and continually improve the online learning experience.

Make it personal and offer personal stories that are told well. Use names and be authentic. Try and ensure you also rehearse and deliver the content well with strong body language and audio variance and emphasis. Also start and finish strongly laying out key points or a disruptive absurd position to grab attention or statement that hangs they you reconnect with at the end to keep your audience hanging.