“Do you do videos?”

A common question from students.

The cornerstone of the Training Link study experience has always been our study books. Exclusive to us – and regularly improved after continuous feedback (both verbal and based on exam pass rates).

But people learn in different ways and we’ve thought a lot about producing our own videos. But to do it well takes time.

Well, this year we’ve been busy…

We started planning in September 2020 and we knew exactly what we didn’t want to do…

How NOT to do a video

These days we’re drowning in video content.

You’re never more than one YouTube click away from crudely assembled videos shot on an iPhone.

Unscripted, unedited, and often inaccurate.  Everything we wanted to avoid.

We knew immediately that our videos should follow the same rigorous development process that we use to develop our study books.

Introducing Training Link’s Video Content

We showed this clip on the webinar we recently hosted with ICB (available to watch on-demand here). It gives you a 40-second demonstration of the videos you’ll be watching when you enrol with Training Link.

Planning our collection of videos

The speed that videos can be thrown together means that they can be churned out as a way of being found on YouTube. More of a form of content marketing than an educational resource.

But that’s not the Training Link way.

So in early September 2020 our academic team pondered how to create videos that added genuine value.

• What format should they be?
• Are they scripted or more like pre-recorded lectures?
• How many should we film?
• What are the priority topics where we can make a real difference in improving our students understanding?

There were frank and impassioned discussions. Flipcharts were filled with ideas for topics and diagrams about where they would fit into the student experience. Next it was time to try some scripting and filming.

Our first prototype videos helped us to find out what worked (and what didn’t)

Some of you may remember our videos from last September. The Ask Jen videos tackled topics suggested by our students.

These were fun to make and we had some great feedback.

But they were invaluable in learning in how to improve. They were a way to find out what worked, what didn’t, and to get feedback to inform the development of the videos we really wanted to make. For example, in these initial efforts there just aren’t enough diagrams in them.

Our next test was to film some content about Learning Techniques for the ICB’s annual conference.

It’s a little long and could be edited down a bit more but things were taking shape. That’s why in January we felt confident enough to start writing scripts.

But there’s a strict educational writing process that must be followed…

3 drafts of a script before we film a single frame

A first draft lands on the desk of our Head of Education. And that’s when the red pen comes out.

All entries and all figures are checked, and examples scrutinised. If a sentence isn’t as clear as it could be, if the terminology used isn’t appropriate for the awarding body (we create videos for our ICB and AAT courses, but not all of them can be used across both), if it can be improved in any way then there will be red pen all over it.

So back it goes to the writer for the second draft. And after this there should be a lot less red ink scattered across the pages. But improvement is always possible – even if it’s just by that extra 3 or 4 per cent, so it’s still unlikely to be ready to film just yet.

Lights, camera, action

It’s usually the third draft that reaches the studio teleprompter.

After a few trial runs, you’ll hear a click of the camera, a snap of the clapperboard, and then one of our tutors talks directly to the camera.

It’s because they are so tightly scripted, proofed, and edited that makes them effective.

Nobody wants to watch an hour-long death-by-powerpoint. Long, flabby presentations, whose only real value is as a cure for insomnia, won’t help you get through your exams will they?

That’s why our videos are only as long as they need to be and no longer.

Most are five minutes long. Others may be fifteen minutes. But the scripting and proofing process delivers an economy and clarity of language that leads to understanding.

So to answer the original question – “Do you do videos?” Yes we do, and we think you’ll love them.

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