Welcome to my no fluff, step-by-step guide on how to make educational videos for the 21st century. Unlike other articles on this topic, this one actually has HELPFUL ADVICE instead of useless fluff (looking at you TechSmith).
Everything in this how-to-make educational videos guide is based on real instruction videos I’ve made for my own marketing training course, videos for clients, and upskilling training for team members at a real high-paced marketing agency.
I swear that every other article ranking for this term is from a writer who’s never really made a video in their life.
Like, TechSmith leading their article with “what is an educational video?”, then saying “lol, plan an article and write a script, bro!” instead of actually offering any real help…it’s a joke.
OK, rant over.
If you want to teach students, educate or pitch clients, or upskill staff the quick and easy way, this guide is for you.
When I first started making educational videos for my online course, I literally had 0 clue what I was doing. I hit record, stared at my own face in the corner of the screen, then mumbled uhhh..uhhhh…uhhh CUT. It sucked.
I had to learn everything from the ground up on my own, and I don’t want you to have to go through that.
Stick to this guide, and you’ll know exactly how to make a high-quality educational video quickly and easily while still providing maximum value to your viewers.
Ready? Let’s get to it.
How to Use This Guide on Making Educational Videos
I don’t care if you’re making how-to videos, teaching skills, or talking about the Big Bang, teaching is teaching. There’s a right and wrong way to do it.
Remember high school (cringeeee)? Pretty much every class made your eyes bleed, right? That’s because the teacher at the front of the classroom just talks at you.
If you want to make engaging educational videos – the types of educational videos that hook a viewer and actually add value to their lives – you’ve got to follow the right format and deliver it the right way.
Creating videos is actually easy, but planning a good educational video takes a specific process, good knowledge of a topic, speaking skills, and a few hacks for taking your educational videos to the next level.
So, here’s what I recommend you do when making your own educational video or videos:
- Learn my step-by-step process for creating educational videos – it’s really easy.
- Go through my tips for making educational videos more engaging, digest the key points, and choose the ones that speak to you. Not everyone can be all things. Do what feels natural. You’ll understand more when you read them at the bottom.
- Go to YouTube and watch some educational videos on your favorite topics. Take notes of what they say and what gets you interested. Try to mimic these in your videos.
- Plan out your first videos and do a test run to practice and gain confidence speaking while recording.
OK, let’s get to it for real.
How to Make Educational Videos Step-By-Step
This is the same process I used in my course.
And I use it for all my instructional videos for my teams, so I know it works. Just throwing it out there…
Step 1. – First, Decide Which Type of Educational Video You Need
Educational videos usually fall into one of three categories, and each one comes with its own optimal length. Don’t worry too much about this, the advice in this article applies to each video format.
The three categories are:
Theory Videos
This is where you create videos based on explaining a topic and what it is/how it works. An example could be, “what is search engine optimization and how does it work”?
How-to Videos
These are practical videos where you show exactly how to execute a skill or apply the knowledge that a student has learned in a theory video. These usually have the best student engagement.
An example could be “keyword research: how to build a keyword list that ranks your site on Google”.
Demonstration Videos
These are the longest video type. They are pretty much just you sharing your screen or doing something in real time to show students how a skill works in the real world.
An example could be “watch me do keyword research for 12 hours and want to quit this business forever”.
In general, the video length for theory videos should be between 4-5 minutes max, as student engagement falls off a cliff after 6 minutes. Practical videos can be anywhere from 5 – 9 minutes.
With demonstration videos, the world is your oyster. I’ve seen videos up to an hour-long get high levels of engagement. In general, don’t go over 20 minutes for your own sanity.
Step 2. – Plan Out Your Videos Using This Simple Format
Now, plan out your videos.
That’s all. Just plan them, bro.
…just kidding, I’m not TechSmith or any of those other BS companies ranking for this keyword.
This is the most important part of creating educational videos, so pay attention here. And DO NOT rush this. You will pay dearly if you do.
Here’s how to plan a video in a simple and easy way. This applies to theory and practical videos. Demonstration videos you can do as you go along. No need to plan.
- Introduce the topic: Use the first part of the video to introduce what you’re going to cover. Video clips that immediately convey the topic and the value they’ll provide engage listeners far better than ones that waste time. Keep it lean.
- Explain what the listener will get from this video: After you introduce the topic, explain why this video is important and what they’ll gain from finishing it. For example, “In this video on the Big Bang Theory, we’ll explore the fascinating evidence proving the theory of this massive explosion, and teach you all of the mind-bending physics involved in creating the universe”. If it’s a practical skill like keyword research, explain that by the end of the video, they’ll have learned the most valuable skill in SEO and be one step closer to building a full-time passive income.
- Display your expertise: If you’re teaching a practical skill, now is a good time to explain to the reader why they can trust the information they’re about to learn. If not, they’ll have lingering doubts like “who the hell is this guy, anyway?”. For example, with keyword research, you could say that everything in the video has been tested on real sites and it’s the same process you’ve been using to rank websites on Google for 10 years.
- Problem -> Solution: Believe it or not, this works for both theory and practical videos. And problem -> solution has shown to create the most effective education videos in most cases. This is where you show either how everyone is doing a skill wrong or, with a theory video, explaining the core issue that you’re solving. Let’s start with the theory first and use the Big Bang again. You might say something like “the universe is kinda big, but where did it come from? It doesn’t seem to be created. It probably hasn’t always existed. It must have come from somewhere. That somewhere is the Big Bang, and here’s the evidence”. For practical videos, it could be something like “most site owners just jump right in and start writing about whatever they want. That leads to failure. Here’s why. Now here’s how to do keyword research the right way.”
- Add further explanation: This is where you extrapolate on your ideas. Start from the very beginning and build your case using as much real data and practical explanation as you can. Add in as many practical, visual examples as possible. Students love these and they are essential to the learning process.
- Reiterate everything you’ve said: Use the final minute to provide a TL;DR wrap-up of everything you’ve covered in the video and its practical applications.
- Call to action: This applies to videos that ARE NOT in courses. If you’re making videos for a class or for the public, ask them to add their thoughts in the comments, sign up for more info, or click on the next video to learn more. In a course, they’re going to do this anyway (or they’ve already bought something).
Step 3. – Create Your Video Material
Phew, are you still with me? Imagine doing this exact process for 60 videos. This is why I have white hair so young. Does anyone know a good hair transplant service in Turkey?
Anyways.
Creating video material is actually really easy. I would just use Google Slides/PowerPoint along with a free images service like Pexels or Canva.
If you have your own images, even better.
Here are a few tips for creating PowerPoint slides:
- Keep things to a minimum – only basic notes matter
- Summarize key points in a “headline” and use bullet points below to introduce key points
- Use animations like “fade in”, so that students who are watching can follow along easily. This is where each bullet point slowly appears when you click on the screen
- Use a template so all colors and branding are the same
- Keep text on the left and always use an image on the right except for interstitials
- Use Canva’s free version to create graphics, and use their free images
That’s really it.
Your slide deck doesn’t have to be out of control. Just keep it simple. This is especially true if your face is going to be in the videos.
Students learn best with minimal distractions, so unless you want to be an infotainment channel on YouTube, you don’t need many visual elements or fancy production factors in your educational videos.
Step 4. – Record and Edit Your Videos
Back to my arch nemesis: TechSmith. Their screen recording equipment is the industry standard.
I highly recommend recording your videos with Camtasia. It’s the best screen recording program out there, and it’s super easy to record, edit, and upload videos to the web straight from the tool.
The real reason I like Camtasia is that it’s so easy to edit videos. Check it out:
Those spikes are audio, and you can even separate audio and video super easily. Just select “split at playhead”, then delete white space, dead space, or whatever else you don’t want in there.
If you want to move the audio or video around, simply drag it to where you want it to go.
One neat hack I found was cutting and pasting dead space from other parts of the video into edited areas to make it sound like a more natural pause if I was speaking too fast.
Remember, when students are watching videos, they want everything to go smoothly, but it doesn’t have to be 100% perfect. A little hiccup here or there isn’t going to ruin everything.
You don’t need a fancy microphone either. A simple lapel mic for $20-$30 from Amazon will do just fine. They look like this:
Step 5. – Enhance Engagement if Possible
I personally don’t have any problem with dry instruction videos, but I’m a nerd.
Effective educational videos usually have a few hacks added in to keep students in the loop.
Here are a few hacks I’ve learned:
Draw In Your Videos
Use a program like ExplainEverything to add animations or draw doodles into your videos like arrows, exclamations, or even stick figures to keep students laughing. I’ve never used it, but I’ve seen it a lot in other videos.
Add Quizzes at the End
If you’re teaching skills or key ideas, make sure to quiz students at the end to really make things stick. When you create educational videos for a school, make sure you warn the students in the beginning that they’re going to be quizzed.
Add Little Breaks
I like putting “pit stops” in the middle of long videos to make sure students are still awake. These are little rest areas where students can pause and chill.
You can use this time to do a 30-second recap. These are especially effective in longer demonstration videos. It can even be as simple as “let’s cover what we’ve learned so far”.
Tell Stories
Nothing keeps an audience hooked like a good story. When you make an educational video, keep some notes about a story you can tell – either a personal one or one from pop culture – that’s related to the topic.
This is especially good for skills. Focus on how you used to do everything wrong before you learned this skill. Your audience will love it. TL;DR – stories are super engaging.
That’s it.
Once you finish recording, all you have to do is upload to your learning platform, YouTube, Facebook, or wherever else you plan to host your videos.
You can even keep them in your Google Drive and give the students a link to access and download the videos. It’s up to you.
5 Tips for Making Bada** Educational Videos Based on My 5 Years in the Course Business
Over the years, I’ve learned a lot of cool nuggets that have really helped make my videos better.
Nobody wants to be bored to death. Again, remember high school?
That doesn’t fly in 2023. You’ve got to keep things fun. I’m not a natural at this at all. I had to learn the hard way.
Learn. From. Me.
Speak in an Enthusiastic Tone
No, this doesn’t mean a GuRu hype voice from YouTube. An engaging tone is a natural tone that fits your target audience. If you’re doing programming training for nerds, then a straightforward, monotone delivery with no humor might work.
If you’re talking about science to school kids, be more upbeat and throw in some humor around the important information.
The point is that there is no single correct tone. You need to find a tone that’s appropriate for your audience. Go online and find influencers in your niche, see what they’re doing, and incorporate that into your own tone.
Do Everything in One Take
Trust me, just do it. Most tools make it super easy to edit, so don’t worry. If you make a mistake, pause for 3 seconds to leave enough space to make editing easy, and to keep the speech flow natural.
If the mistake is a big one, consider using animation on your video to avoid looking like a complete idiot.
Start Off With a Bang
Get the audience’s attention immediately, especially if you’re doing a series of videos. I like you a lot. You seem like a cool person. But students are going to get tired of your voice really quickly.
Toward the end of my first course, I literally started screaming into the mic “helloooo, is anyone still there?”. I’ve gotten a ton of great feedback on it, too.
Don’t Script Your Videos
If you’re truly an expert in your topic, you don’t need to script your videos. If anything, scripting makes you sound less natural and more robotic.
Just sketch out some notes if you have to. All you have to really do is run through your slides a few times and get a good idea of want you want to say. Then, just talk slowly and let it flow.
Ask Questions in the Middle of Your Videos
I love this hack. I didn’t really catch on to it until later in my course, but it really helps keep students on their feet.
Once you’ve taught them something interesting, ask a question that illuminates their mind and gets them thinking.
For example, when talking about finding their own voice in writing, ask them how they think a real expert on their topic might sound. Tell them to think about an expert in their niche and what they sound like in reality.
It’s a good way to break up the monotony.
Note: I highly suggest you add captions, make a video transcript, and if you’re making a course, add a description below each video explaining what’s inside.
If you’re making content for YouTube, choose a descriptive title with your keywords in it, so that it will rank on YouTube.
How to Make Educational Videos F.A.Q.
Q: What is an educational video and why are they important?
A: An educational video is a video that teaches somehow about a topic or how to do something. They can be how-to, theory, or live demonstrations. They’re important because they hold the students' attention longer and result in better retention. Many people are visual learners rather than text-based learners, so producing learning material for them is imperative in the modern school environment.
Q: What is the best software for making educational videos?
A: The best software for making educational videos is Camtasia. It allows you to record your screen and your face at the same time, then upload it to the web quickly and easily. It’s definitely the right tool if you want to make educational videos. Just click the recording button, record your educational video or instructional video, save it to your desktop, or export it to Google Drive, and you’re set. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never used an editing program before. Camtasia is dead simple.
Q: How do you make a short educational video?
A: The best way to make an educational video on the shorter side is to quickly state the purpose of the video to your audience, lead with the problem, explain the solution, and back it up with as much data and clear examples as possible. And remember, if you want to create educational videos that really engage viewers, you need the right tools like Camtasia and PowerPoint.
Q: Which tool can be used to create video lessons?
A: The best learning software for creating video lessons are Camtasia, SnagIt, ExplainEverything, and Vimeo. Learning software should be able to record your screen, engage an audience with markup, perform editing seamlessly, and export to the web in one click. If you want to create learning material that viewers love, you 100% need these tools for your viewers.