When designing instructional videos, it's important to keep your content short, concise, meaningful and relevant. Here are some tips and best practices to follow when designing learning content for videos.

1. Designing Instructional Video Content
Tips & Best Practices

2. Rajon Tumbokon – Instructional Designer
Global
Learning
Experience
Team

3. Learning Objectives
Part One

4. Learning Goals & Objectives
Hardest and most
important part of
designing
instructional
content
Helps manage
scope of content
Roadmap for
content and
assessment

5. Learning Goal - Definition
Your expected outcome of the learner’s
knowledge and behavior

6. Learning Goal - Definition
Your expected outcome of the learner’s
knowledge and behavior
Example: The
goal
of
this
workshop
is
to
enable
subject
ma7er
experts
to
write
and
structure
instruc:onal
content
that
will
be
used
for
instruc:onal
videos.

7. Learning Objective - Definition
Sequence
of
knowledge
or
tasks
for
which
learners
will
demonstrate
mastery

8. Learning Objective - Definition
Sequence
of
knowledge
or
tasks
for
which
learners
will
demonstrate
mastery
Example: By
the
end
of
this
workshop,
you
will
• Write
learning
objec:ves
• Structure
content
in
an
easily
diges:ble
format
• U:lize
Instruc:onal
Design
best
prac:ces

9. Learning Objective - Definition
Some words that help begin defining objectives:
• Knowledge/Awareness
-­‐
Determine,
Understand,
Specify,
Break
down,
clarify,
explain,
discuss
• Skill/Applica4on
-­‐
Iden:fy,
solve,
dis:nguish,
create,
use

10. Activity
In the next 5 minutes:
• Write an overall learning goal of
your topic
• Write 2 or 3 learning objectives
that achieve your learning goal

11. Content Structure
Part Two

12. Standard Structure
1
Introduction
2
Objective 1 +
Assessment
3
Objective 2 +
Assessment
4
Objective 3 +
Assessment
5
Conclusion

13. Introduction
Your opportunity to pull in your audience

14. Introduction
1
Introduce landscape and/or characters. At what
is your audience trying to succeed?

15. Introduction
1
Introduce landscape and/or characters. At what
is your audience trying to succeed?
2
Present problems or roadblocks of your
audience trying to achieve their goal

16. Introduction
1
Introduce landscape and/or characters. At what
is your audience trying to succeed?
2
Present problems or roadblocks of your
audience trying to achieve their goal
3
How does your topic help your audience
overcome those roadblocks?

17. 1 Section = 1 Objective
Reinforces the solution to the problem
Content must align with objective. If you need to
drill down deeper, refer to external content
Add knowledge checks (assessments) at the
end of each section

18. Example

19. Example

20. Example

21. Use a Template

22. Best Practices
Part Three

23. Reduce Cognitive Load
Keep content
concise and
relevant
Short videos -
typically 3 minutes
(about 400 words)
If longer than 3
minutes, break it up
into more videos
Introduction and
each objective is
typically one video

24. Writing Tips
Avoid industry jargon. If introducing a new term,
define it the first time you use it
Avoid long sentences. If sentences are long,
break down to shorter sentences.

25. Writing Tips (Continued)
Try speaking your sentences out loud as you are
writing them
Have a colleague review and give feedback

26. Imagery
Suggest images that would reinforce script
Only put words on screen if absolutely
necessary
• High-level bullet points
• Avoid using same words on screen as said in
speech

27. Conclusion
Define your learning goals and objectives
Align your content to each learning objective
Keep your content short, concise and relevant