04Apr

The Ultimate Guide to Creating Customer Testimonial Video that Converts

April 4, 2022 Elle Werle 4

Asynchronous Communication

by Elle Werle

Short marketing video best practices OPTION 2

We all do it: read reviews before making a purchase. In fact, 82% of respondents surveyed by Brightlocal reported reading online reviews before buying a product or service. In fact, a whopping 77% report ‘always’ or ‘regularly’ reading reviews when browsing for local businesses. That’s up from 60% in 2020.

No one will ever do as convincing of a job at selling what your company has to offer than a genuinely satisfied customer. The best Sales and CS teams in the game won’t hold as much weight in the minds of your future customers as a customer testimonial video will.

Customer Testimonial Video is Invaluable: McQuivey’s Equation

As we know all too well, you do not have a generous amount of time to capture your audience’s attention. To hold that attention, communicate a message, and have them retain it is an even more daunting task.

This leads us to Dr. James McQuivey who begged the question: if a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth?

In short, his answer? A one-minute video is worth 1.8 million words. Huh?

Let’s break down his line of thinking.

If 1 picture = 1,000 words, and video shoots at 30 frames per second, then one second of video = 30,000 words.

30,000 words x 60 seconds in one minute = 1.8 million words.

In summary, you can communicate more information in a video than email, images, and any other form of communication.

Why Does This Matter for My Customer Testimonial Video?

Just because video is effective, does it mean you should be sinking time, effort, and resources into it?

Of course! Video is such an in-depth form of communication that you can’t afford to miss out. More people use video today than ever, and those numbers are growing steadily,

We have good news: lucky for you, getting a customer testimonial video does not have to be difficult. You don’t have to spend a ton of money and dozens of hours on these projects. Use our tips below to make creating your customer testimonial video a breeze.

Tips for Creating Your Customer Testimonial Video

As seasoned vets, we have some invaluable tips and tricks for you when creating your customer testimonial video. Follow these steps to keep your teams and customers happy throughout this process!

1. ID customers who are particularly happy with your product or service.

Perhaps these customers have voiced their opinion to your CS team already. Maybe you actively dive into your databases to find the most highly-engaged customers.

2. Don’t ask customers for a video testimonial too soon.

Whatever you do, don’t rush into this too early in the customer’s relationship with your organization. Make sure they are an experienced, veteran customer with known positive experiences with your product or service.

3. Once you ID ideal customers, ask them right away if they are willing to film themselves to participate.

It is possible that someone else in the org would be more willing to speak on camera about your product or service. That’s great! Trust that they know the best person for the job.

You don’t want to waste time researching and planning for an org or team that is unwilling to provide this favor, and that’s okay if they don’t want to.

4. Only ask in an email

Don’t ask in a meeting or on the phone, as this will put the customer on the spot and may make them uncomfortable. You don’t want them to agree to something they don’t actually want to do.

You will find customers who are truly thrilled about your product and will be happy to create a short video for you.

5. Once the customer agrees, send guidelines for them to consider.

Make sure the customer knows details about what you are looking for. Consider details such as:

Preferred video length (usually :30-:60)
Ideal light settings (bright, overhead)
Ideal topics to speak about
How to structure your ideal testimonial

6. If you have them, send examples for customers to reference.

If you have existing examples on your website, share those links to give customers a sense of what you are looking for.

As soon as you make your first customer video testimonial make sure to share it with everyone you ask to create one after.

7. Use a single tool to record, share, store, and organize your customer video testimonials.

This will make a world of a difference for you and your helpful customers willing to record a video testimonial for you. Not requiring 11 different tools to create a short video will save you time – and time is money!

Use a tool like Weet as your one-stop-shop for all video recording, sharing, and organization needs! Your customers can even update their reviews after they’ve been published. You can record multiple testimonials from multiple people in a single video as well!

Examples of the Best Customer Testimonial Videos Online

In this example we from Ascender HCM, we see testimonials from a few people. We chose this video for its thoroughness, diverse cast and their connection with the audience.

Here is another example from Omada Health. We chose this one for its simplicity. Everyone sits in front of an orange background and simply describes their lovely experience in working with this particular organization. It is simple, easy to recreate, and effective.

In this example from Yieldify we see an excellent use of screen recording.

Clocking in at 3:10, this video is a bit long but stands out because Yieldify shows in the video what the customer sees on their computer screen when using their digital product.

We chose this example because it plays like a movie! It keeps you engaged, interested in the story, and wanting to tune in until the end to find out what happened!

Conclusion

A solid customer video testimonial can make or break the decision-making process for future customers. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be! Create these invaluable assets with a tool like Weet today!

The async video communication tool that frees up your agenda

Get Weet for free

07Mar

Your Guide to Creating the Best Customer Service Videos

March 7, 2022 Elle Werle 4

Asynchronous Communication

by Elle Werle

Customer service videos are becoming more and more prevalent as time goes on, and for good reason.

Organizations have gotten increasingly creative with customer service videos. Meetings have been eliminated, customers can easily understand the product at their own pace, complex troubleshooting issues can more efficiently be resolved, the list goes on.

How your organization leverages customer service videos can greatly impact your success. With video, you have the ability to create personal connections with your client base in ways that email doesn’t. Your expertise Customer Success team can spend less time reiterating basic product functionalities and more time troubleshooting higher-level requests. It’s a win-win situation if executed correctly.

List of Best Customer Service Video Ideas

Check out Weet’s curated list of customer service videos that every CSM team should begin with:

Customer Service Video Idea: Basic Product Demos

Every customer-facing team needs a concise, effective video demonstration.

Don’t go through all of the bells and whistles here (perhaps mention them to pique viewer interest), but you won’t have time to cover everything. Try to keep this video under 5 minutes, like in our example above that clocks in at 4 minutes.

Another point to stress here is that you don’t have to strive for perfection with this video. You are presenting a real, human side to the product and company. It’s okay if your cat walks across the background or you stumble over a word or two. We’re human, you’re not a Hollywood actor, and people aren’t looking for that.

The focus of this video is to present your product quickly, efficiently, and effectively. Like an elevator pitch where the elevator got stuck for a few minutes.

Since you have such a short amount of time to present all of this info, order your information in logical sections and chapters that are named and easy for viewers to navigate. Look for tools, like Weet, that can do this for you.

Customer Service Video Idea: Video Tutorials and How-tos

Customer Success teams know how invaluable a pre-made, shareable, and effective how-to tool can be. These assets are so valuable because they both help customers and allow CSMs to prioritize their time and expertise on higher-level matters. Just like with product demos, video tutorials and how-tos are a win-win: for customers and for the CSM team.

Customers love to be able to watch a short video that solves their issue by walking them step by step. No need to pick up the phone to chat or call a support team member. It’s all about saving the customer time and providing the most convenient and fast way to fix their issue. Give them as few hoops to jump through as possible.

Customer Success teams often get repeat questions and find ourselves explaining the same topics over and over. Sure, we have canned email messages for such occasions. But you can have a canned video response that is way more clear and personable than that email could ever be.

Customer Service Video Idea: Knowledge Base

If you don’t have a Knowledge Base, it’s time to create one. Hubspot defines a Knowledge Base as “a centralized database for spreading information and data. Knowledge bases support collecting, organizing, retrieving, and sharing knowledge.”

Many organizations have internal KBs and separate, external KBs for clients and customers. A lot of time a customer-facing Knowledge Base is really the support page, particularly of a SaaS company. Here we see Apple’s contact page and Weet’s help page as examples of Knowledge Bases.

Video has the power to give your Knowledge Bases incredible value and leverage. Do not make the mistake of creating a long, dry, all-text Knowledge Base. In Weet’s KB, every page links to a weet video with a screenshare example of a CSM guiding the viewers through a step-by-step process. Video KB content has more value than the written instructions because

It can be transcribed
Viewers can see the demonstration for themselves
With the right tools, videos can be updated after being saved and shared
Also with the right tools, videos can be divided into sections and chapters so viewers can jump straight where they need to
Videos can change playback speeds to save time
Studies show that 72% of consumers prefer to learn about a product or service via video

Customer Service Video Idea: Troubleshooting

Video is a great way to troubleshoot customer issues. You can create videos to preemptively prevent issues, like our example above, or you can respond directly to customers with weets of helpful screnshares.

Video is so important and undervalued for troubleshooting. As a CSM, what is more valuable than being able to see the customer’s issue and showing them the solution directly. Your customers will appreciate the personal touch of your customer service video.

And even better news, you can re-use these videos! Duplicate weets to save certain sections that you want to use again in the future.

Customer Service Video Idea: Communities and Forums

In today’s remote world, more than ever, we need ways to bring together people remotely and asynchronously. (No one in their right mind is suggesting more Zoom meetings).

Yet we want to foster the connections we would have in an office or client meeting, just outside those settings and on our own schedules.

Video makes this possible! Use tools, like in our example above, that allow you to record with multiple people, collaborate with video, audio, and screenshare in the comments, and provide time-stamped emoji reactions.

Customer service videos oriented toward communities and forums can be fun and inviting and interactive! You just need the right tools.

Customer Service Video Idea: Product Release Updates

Keep your entire customer base up-to-date with your product and service updates! Don’t lose business because customers don’t know that your product or service has improved in some way. Communicate this to your customers through dedicated channels like newsletters, social media, and email lists.

Use video to actively demonstrate these updates. As we’ve mentioned previously, studies show that people by far prefer to learn about these things via video as opposed to text.

Customer Service Video Idea: Employee Training

Incorporate videos into your onboarding process for a smoother experience.

Whether in office or remote, new employees can watch these videos on their time, between the inevitable new-job meeting storm. They can reference the videos again in the future, unlike in live trainings.

When using the right tools, training videos can be updated even after saving and sharing, without altering the original link at all. This saves time for the trainers and helps the trainees hone in on what they need help understanding most. It’s an individualized plan vs. a one-size-fits-all track.

Conclusion

Customer service videos are an invaluable resource for clients and colleagues. Leverage video to positively impact the success of your company by creating personalized connections, focusing your teams’ expertise where it makes the most impact, and demonstrating directly to customers new features and product troubleshooting issues.

The possibilities for customer service videos are endless!

The async video communication tool that frees up your agenda

Get Weet for free

22Feb

10 Reasons to Share Your Knowledge

February 22, 2022 Elle Werle 4

Asynchronous Communication

by Elle Werle

Knowledge is what drives every organization. We all know what happens when we silo it and make it difficult to access. You wind up with frustrated teams, an imbalance and bottleneck of information, and chaos ensues.

Organizations Are Better When You Share Your Knowledge

Sharing your knowledge is the easiest way to cause an organization to run smoother. Think about it: you have dozens, hundred, maybe thousands of employees each with their own brilliant ideas, minds, training, and backgrounds.

Imagine what can be done when people work together within an organization. There are so many benefits. We outline ten below:

10 Reasons to Share Your Knowledge

1. Close the Skills Gaps

Any team is only as strong as its weakest member. When new people and junior members have access to conversations about decisions and procedures, important knowledge is shared and new skills are acquired.

It’s up to you to create an environment where all feel encouraged to ask questions. Ask everyone for their opinions and ideas – not just the execs and directors. Close skills gaps by sharing knowledge with your colleagues and your customers.

2. Create a Sense of Purpose

I would bet that most of us can agree that we prefer to feel a sense of purpose in our work than not to. Nobody wants to grind away doing work that feels pointless each and every day. We universally seek a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives, work, relationships, and more.

This is a great thing in a work environment. Create an environment where people feel like they make a difference when they share their knowledge and ideas. People will have the opportunity to see how their work impacts the bigger picture of the organization. This is key! Help your employees create a sense of purpose by sharing their knowledge, and acknowledging it.

Give people an open platform to share. Keep in mind that different people are comfortable sharing information in different ways. For example, maybe reconsider requiring people to share feedback by grabbing a microphone and sharing in front of a live audience. Give everyone a chance to share their ideas, whether discreetly or not.

3. Increase Operational Productivity and Efficiency

This is one of the top goals of every organization. Yet how often do we acknowledge that sharing your knowledge is one of the best ways to make it happen! Increase team productivity and work smarter (not harder) when everyone puts their minds together.

Give colleagues easy access to internal (and external) expertise and resources. Create Knowledge Bases that are easily searchable and reliably up-to-date. You will be amazed at how smoothly projects go and silos disappear.

4. To Look Good

People want to look good and appear intelligent in front of others. We all do this, and the technical term for it is called “impression management.” In the workplace we have a natural tendency to want to share our knowledge and expertise – and we should! Lean into this inclination and share your knowledge with your team, your boss, colleague, whoever.

This benefits everyone. Not only do you get to shine like the expert in your field that you are, but everyone who hears your message gets to join in the benefit of knowing it. Or considering it, if you are brainstorming ideas.

Every time you share input it will serve you well, regardless of the outcome of your sharing the input. In other words, what you say doesn’t have to be earth-shattering. Just say it.

If you are nervous that people will have a negative reaction, consider how many times that has actually happened when other people said something silly. Did it end their career? Do people think less of them for it? Chances are, that’s not the case. Go for it!

5. Become a Future Leaders

If you want to create an impact and make a difference – within your organization or not- you will need people to notice you. When you share your knowledge you will accomplish just that.

Think back in history about how many boardrooms were and are filled with old, white men. How many of the same ideas have been brought to the table for decades or more on end because no one else was at the table?! Be at that table. Better yet, speak up at that table.

Leaders and inspirations can’t live in their own minds. They must share their ideas in order to make the world a better place.

6. To Persuade Others

You’ve almost certainly shared your knowledge to persuade others in the past. You learned this at a young age because it works. Being educated about a topic is great information to share with others when you want them to form an opinion about it.

A lot of times we share information in order to feel good. It feels good for others to share the same opinions we do.

7. To Connect and Bond

Sharing information bonds humans together today just as it has for millenia. It is often the case that we enjoy talking to each other and exchanging information. If you look back on your life, you probably enjoyed several opportunities to share your knowledge.

An article from the American Psychological Association explains it this way:

“Without that instinct to share the latest on a friend, peer or family member, there would be no sophisticated society, Dunbar claims, suggesting that societies depend on the individual’s ability to rely on others and understand something of the workings of another’s mind.”

In other words, we need to talk to each other! We like it because we need it.

8. To Help and Teach

You have the power to teach others everything you know when you share your knowledge. This is so valuable at work! We have all been that indispensable person who knew all the processes and “secrets” at work. This is really dangerous because it puts a lot of pressure and creates an imbalance of information.

Ultimately you want everyone on the team to know the best processes and most effective workflows. Do this by having that indispensable person (or people!) create video tutorials and SOPs for their respective teams.

Each individual has unique ideas and attributes to bring to the team. When you can capture those unique ideas and share them quickly and reliably, everyone learns and is better off for it.

9. Learn From the Best

How often are we surrounded by industry veterans, teeming with knowledge and insight, but never get the chance to really benefit from that? Very often in our jobs we are surrounded by astounding experts in their fields. It makes sense to compile the best of what everyone knows and to share it!

Organizations hire for the best expertise, and people work hard to learn that knowledge and love to be recognized for it. Share your knowledge so we can learn from each other, share expertise, and sharpen everyone’s skills.

10. To Feel Good

As we’ve mentioned a few times already, it feels good to share your knowledge! We like to talk to people and help them out. It’s natural, and it’s a great thing.

The async video communication tool that frees up your agenda

Get Weet for free

08Feb

15 Knowledge Sharing Practices to Scale Across Your Company

February 8, 2022 Najette Fellache 13

Knowledge sharing practices can mean the difference between a company that works efficiently and one that is always backtracking.

The way your company transfers knowledge matters at every level of the organization. Frontline employees turnover faster, and you need effective ways to train and upskill them to reduce the costs associated with that turnover. Knowledge workers, on the other hand, own important corporate responsibilities. If they knowledge holders transfer over their projects in an effective way, you can lose hundreds of hours of employee work.

US knowledge workers waste 5.3 hours per week waiting for essential information from their colleagues or recreating knowledge that already exists. Because time is money, this results in $47 million in losses to US businesses every year.

Bad knowledge sharing practices aren’t just costly. They can frustrate employees, leading to a lack of engagement and poor employee retention, only fueling further monetary losses.

Here are 15 ways to improve how your employees manage and transfer knowledge.

Implementing Knowledge Sharing

A great video tutorial starts with well-structured content. Here’s how to make your videos awesome:

1. Create a knowledge sharing taskforce

For anything to succeed, it needs ownership.

Set up a knowledge sharing taskforce with people from different departments. The leader of the taskforce might be someone in HR, and other members can be directors or managers of each department.

This taskforce will be in charge of reviewing current practices, identifying opportunities for change, and implementing new practices and solutions. At first, they might need to do a few meetings in order to revamp your company’s knowledge management. And then, their collaboration can likely shift to a quarterly review.

2. Craft a strategic vision for your knowledge sharing practices

Do you have a strategic vision for how your company collects and transfers knowledge? If not, why?

Your knowledge sharing taskforce should work together to create a strategic vision for your knowledge sharing. They should also update this at least annually.

Here are some examples of what you might put in this vision:

Employees should feel supported and safe in sharing their in-progress work.
Employees should understand that sharing knowledge is a priority, that it’s okay to spend time on it, and that it can’t be continuously put off.
Employees should use no more than 4 tools to store and discover knowledge. These tools will have different purposes and will not overlap.
Team managers will regularly assign knowledge sharing tasks to employees and follow up on their completion.

What do you want knowledge sharing to look like? Put that in your vision. Get it written down so that everyone is on the same page moving forward.

3. Get the entire company in one project management software

The right knowledge sharing tools can automate a good chunk of knowledge storage and accessibility. You’ll need a project management software like Asana, ClickUp, Notion, or Monday.com. Encourage employees to not only use the software to track their tasks, but to also include all of the links and assets associated with that task. For example, let’s say that your company is working on a welcome kit to mail to new customers. In the task card for this project, the collaborators should link to the copy and design work, the quotes for the finished product, and anything else that’s relevant. This way, new employees who later want to improve upon this box, can find all of the original work.

You can even create a task card template that reminds workers to link to copy docs or other assets, like this example:

4. Foster a company culture that values transparency

The effectiveness of your knowledge management practices has a lot to do with your company culture. In companies that are very cutthroat and competitive internally, workers might be afraid that someone will steal their ideas and take credit for them or that someone will judge work their work before they’re ready. Research from the Harvard Business Review shows that employees who are afraid of being criticized or losing their job are unlikely to share knowledge.

This means that simply pressuring people to share knowledge won’t work if the company culture doesn’t support those actions.

To address this issue, you need to create a company culture that values transparency throughout every stage of a project―not just when handing it over to someone else.

For example, many tech startups use their project management software or an internal wiki to openly share what core projects each department is working on. People can easily check what their own team and other teams are up to. You might also encourage team leaders to send a weekly email sharing everyone’s main priorities with links to those in-progress projects. But keep in mind that fixing your company culture will take a lot more work.

Learning Management Systems

5. Set up a learning management system for roles with high turnover

Your frontline workers and customer service employees tend to have a higher turnover rate than corporate knowledge workers. Most industries experience about 15% employee turnover, but call centers face rates of 30-45%.

Identify the roles and departments in your organization that have the highest turnover rates. Scale your training for these departments with tutorials organized in a learning management system (LMS).

You can use a tool like Weet to record, store, share, and comment on videos.

Weet offers several useful features for creating tutorials:

Video trimming
Adding chapters to videos
Workspaces to organize videos
Refilming videos without changing the video URL
Comment threads for each video (comments can be text, video, or voice responses)
Viewer and view count analytics

6. Establish knowledge sharing habits at all levels of the organization

You shouldn’t treat knowledge sharing as a big project to tackle occasionally. Instead, it should be handled regularly—little by little. Here are some habits to instill.

Knowledge sharing habits for executives:

Continuously update your knowledge sharing vision
Discuss knowledge sharing frequently with the executive team
Check in with department heads about their knowledge sharing practices
Transparently share company initiatives and in-progress work

Knowledge sharing habits for managers:

Assign knowledge sharing tasks to team members
Check in with team members about the ease of accessing important information
Review and improve team utilization of knowledge sharing tools and knowledge bases

Knowledge sharing habits for workers:

Create a weekly knowledge sharing to-do list (ex: check all project task cards every Friday and add any links, resources, or attachments that you forgot to include during the week)
Proactively take notes about times when you can’t access important information and share this with your manager

Rely on your knowledge sharing taskforce to source ideas from multiple employees, craft the non-negotiable habits, and share these with the right people.

7. Implement a digital asset management system (DAM)

Knowledge workers need a digital asset management system to store and discover assets like logos, press kits, product images, social media graphics, and lots more.

Here’s an example from Bynder of the sorts of assets a company might need to store:

Choose a digital asset management system that offers advanced organization and metadata features such as titles, descriptions, tags, search functionality, folders, categories, etc. And of course, make sure that all employees get in the habit of adding everything they create to the DAM with all of the right metadata.

8. Review onboarding practices across all teams

It’s easy to think of employee onboarding as simply creating a new email address and setting up direct deposit payments. But onboarding is about so much more than HR processes.

The most important parts of onboarding happen outside of HR’s view, control, or knowledge. We’re talking about the team onboarding process—when new hires get introduced to current projects and take over ownership.

Individual team onboarding practices should be reviewed at least twice a year. Someone on the knowledge sharing taskforce can actually be a part of the onboarding process for a new hire by asking to be included in the communications and onboarding calls. This reviewer can then share their constructive feedback with the manager of that new hire.

SOPs and Knowledge Sharing Reinforcement

9. Create and share standard operating procedures (SOPs)

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are documents that can be used to detail and share steps to complete a task. Employees should be in the habit of creating these and updating them throughout their employment term—not just when they are ready to leave a company.

Marketer Jay Desai says that to make process documentation as useful as possible, we should always put in examples. And in good form, he provides plenty of examples himself such as how to run a keyphrase search or what makes for a good landing page:

10. Incentivize great knowledge sharing

Positive reinforcement is a powerful thing. Neuroscience research shows that random positive reinforcement is the most effective. This means that receiving positive reinforcement occasionally works better than receiving it every time you do something. This way, the brain is trained to associate that activity with a positive reward, but we want to keep doing that thing because we don’t get the reward every time. (This is why slot machines are so addictive.)

To utilize this phenomenon, make sure to reward your employees occasionally when they follow great knowledge sharing habits.

Here are some examples:

Send an employee a thank you note when they create a training video.
Give an employee a restaurant gift card for taking on a big knowledge sharing task that positively affected the whole team.
Treat your team to a team lunch for creating new SOPs.

11. Utilize video and voice recordings regularly

There are certain forms of knowledge that just can’t be shared using text. Some things are too nuanced and complicated for text alone to capture.

Make sure that your team has a tool for asynchronous video and voice recordings. Whether added to an SOP, Slack message, or email, links to video and voice recordings allow employees to share complex information and examples quickly. This reduces the need to schedule meetings, meaning that employees can send and receive information right away, instead of waiting for that meeting to occur.

What’s more, these video and voice recordings can be scaled. Employees can share them with other employees. If someone makes a quick explanation video and the recipient leaves the company a month later, the creator of the video can simply share the video with the new hire.

12. Share actual knowledge during your team meetings

Team meetings have a tendency to only scratch the surface. People talk about what they’re working on and any blockers. The team leader shares important updates that apply to everyone.

But what about accessing the actual work? Team meetings rarely include this information.

Make sure to use part of your time during team meetings to update everyone on where certain assets and projects are located. And when people are talking about their work, make sure that they refer to the projects by the official names used in your project management software.

Offboarding and Feedback

13. Improve your employee offboarding procedure

Your employee offboarding procedure probably includes revoking access and other cybersecurity measures. But what about knowledge sharing?

While the hope is that employees share knowledge throughout their employment term, the reality is that some people will procrastinate this until the very end. When someone gives their 2-week notice, make sure that managers encourage them to spend a good chunk of their remaining time sharing knowledge rather than just wrapping up current projects. Your company will lose less money by retaining access and transparency into everything they were working on rather than trying to squeeze more productivity out of that individual.

14. Clarify project ownership as the company scales and roles change

As companies grow, one role will split out into many. For example, a content marketing manager might be managing SEO, PR, and social media. But as a startup grows, that one role could split out into 10 or more. In fast-growth startups, work gets lost and balls get dropped.

Many of the best practices already mentioned here can resolve this (such as the training videos and SOPs). But it’s important to consider how this applies to the creation and separation of roles. Make sure that the department manager is giving existing knowledge to the right new hires.

15. Collect feedback from employees on knowledge sharing practices

As with most things in life, the way to make your knowledge sharing practices better is through constructive feedback.

Here are some ways you can get input from employees:

Send out an annual or bi-annual survey with questions like “Can you access everything you need to get work done?” and “How frequently do you update SOPs?” and “Do you need different knowledge sharing tools or features than what we currently use?”
Ask team mates for feedback occasionally during team or company meetings.
Have a form that employees can use to give feedback at any time, and add “knowledge sharing” as one of the submission categories.

Because knowledge sharing is so complex, many managers tend to throw up their hands or put it off. When you follow these best practices, you accept the complexity and rise to meet the challenge.

With Weet, you can easily create and share video and voice recordings. Use Weet for messages, tutorials, and more. Sign up for free.

07Feb

6 Reasons Why Video is the Best Way to Share Your Knowledge and Expertise

February 7, 2022 Elle Werle 4

Asynchronous Communication

by Elle Werle

Sharing knowledge within an organization is pivotal to its success. Contributors spend a lot of time, effort, and money to improve valuable databases and information within organizations. Information needs to be accessible, up-to-date, easy to find, and searchable if it’s going to make an impact within an organization.

Nowadays there are seemingly infinite ways to share your knowledge and expertise. There’s always a new app or platform or medium to choose from.

So how do you determine the best way to share your knowledge and expertise? It’s all a matter of effectiveness. Sharing knowledge ineffectively practically guarantees you’re not sharing any information at all. Certainly not to the depth you need your recipients to comprehend what you’re sharing.

Video is far and wide the most effective way to share your knowledge and expertise. According to research conducted by TechSmith, 83% of people prefer watching videos as opposed to accessing instructional or informational content via text or audio.

Here we dive into exactly why video is the best way to share your knowledge and expertise.

Sharing your knowledge and expertise via video is:

1. Personal

With video, your recipients and audience can physically see your facial expressions and pick up on your tone and energy. The importance of this can’t be overstated.

There are so many social cues and messages we pick up on when we communicate with someone face-to-face. Video is the medium that best captures the subtleties of this communication without actually being physically together in the same place at the same time.

Relationships are built upon these subtle communications. There are instances and occasions where an email or a phone call simply does not provide the personal touch needed when you still can’t get on an airplane and meet in person.

2. Clear

Communication is an art form that, for better or worse, can leave a lot of room for interpretation. In any organization it’s incredibly important to be crystal clear when you share your knowledge and expertise.

Spending time and money for a contributor to help the organization, only for them not to communicate this clearly, is an enormous waste of resources for the organization and the people involved in the processes.

Video allows an expert to communicate clearly. Not only can they demonstrate and show their own selves and faces, but they can demo any software or physical processes as well. There is basically no limit to what you can demonstrate and communicate via video, which is not the case with any other medium.

3. Asynchronous

It is simply not cost, time, or energy-effective to host every meeting live and in-person these days. The pandemic has certainly collectively caused us to see how wasteful meetings can be.

With teams more commonly spread out all across the globe, the senselessness of synchronous meetings cannot be ignored. Droves of organizations are embracing asynchronous communication. In other words, management teams and executives across the world are realizing that employees not only don’t require regular meetings, but thrive.

Asynchronous communication means replying on your own time. It empowers employees to get the job done and takes the stress and unproductivity out of constantly answering emails and attending live meetings.

4. Collaborative

Video does not have to be a one-way conversation. In fact, the best tools will prevent that and foster an openly collaborative environment.

When you share your knowledge and expertise with Weet video, users can comment with video, audio, emojis, and text. All contributions are time-stamped, so everyone knows what exact part of the video the commenter is referring to.

You can get the same collaboration as a live meeting, even when your entire team is spread across time zones. A lot of users even report chiming in more than traditional meetings, because the stress of physically speaking up in front of others is eliminated!

5. Demonstrative

Video allows you to share your knowledge and expertise by showing your audience. You can’t do that with email, text, or the phone.

Even live meetings can present a challenge of transporting expensive, large materials to a board room for a short meeting. Why not film a comprehensive video demo instead?

Your audience often needs to see what you are describing to them for themselves. The demonstration of a client or sales meeting is absolutely crucial. Record your perfect demo and share it, duplicate it, edit it, embed it, and distribute it as many times with as many people as you want! There are no limits to what you can create and demonstrate with video, especially as opposed to other mediums of communication.

6. Eliminate Confusion

We’ve all misinterpreted the tone of a text message, or written a well-intentioned email that accidentally sounded harsh. It is a harsh reality of communicating with limited sensory input.

Sharing your knowledge and expertise with video communication eliminates an enormous amount of confusion. Your audience will make no mistakes about what your intended message is, what tone you are conveying, or what emotion you are feeling.

This is not the case with text, email, audio, and other mediums. Every sense we leave out of communication creates more and more confusion. Video is the closest medium we have to communicating face-to-face.

Conclusion: Reasons Why Video is the Best Way to Share Your Knowledge and Expertise

Organizations’ success depends on their ability to effectively communicate. Developing a great product is meaningless if no one finds out about it. Having a great customer service team is pointless if the customers can’t reach them.

Video bridges the gap between expensive, unrealistic in-person meetings and dry, open-ended text-based communication. To share your knowledge and expertise in any organization you must master the art of asynchronous video.

Video is not going anywhere, either. On the contrary, video will make up 82% of Internet traffic by the end of this year. That’s up from just 75% in 2017 (Techsmith). It is imperative that organizations empower contributors like you to share your knowledge and expertise effectively – with video.

The async video communication tool that frees up your agenda

Get Weet for free

25Jan

The Ultimate Guide to Knowledge Share Techniques

January 25, 2022 Elle Werle 4

Asynchronous Communication

by Elle Werle

“Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.” – Robert Noyce, Co-Founder of Intel

According to a report from the Society for Human Resource Management, Fortune 500 companies lose about $32 billion each year by simply failing to share knowledge. And these are the most effective, efficient, and profitable companies out there!

We challenge you to find a situation in which knowledge shared would not improve things. Whether it’s at work, home, school, in your relationships, or elsewhere, knowledge truly has the power to change dynamics, motivate, correct, and help people thrive.

Knowledge Share Techniques

While a lot of knowledge sharing is done informally via chats and Slack, we can make an effort to formally schedule into our workflows. Benefits include a better understanding of each other, teams being on the ‘same page’, fewer meetings, more comprehensive understanding, and more.

Here we present and discuss ways that you can infuse knowledge sharing into your organization.

1. Culture

Create a culture where everyone can talk to everyone else. Where everyone wants to talk to everyone else! This can be done in a few ways. First, and so simple it sounds silly, you can start by physically removing barriers. For those of you at the office, an open-plan concept (or at least open-door policy) can make higher-ups more approachable.

For remote and hybrid teams, managers and C-levels can make themselves available with an ‘open-door’ policy on Slack, email, and/or other communication platforms. Video is also encouraged as it creates a much more personal touch, and can take less time than it takes to type up an email.

We all want to be a part of a workplace that is fun and effective. A place where you actually want to be. The very basis of this culture is a workplace where people communicate freely.

2. Knowledge Bases

We’re just going to come out and say it: knowledge bases are awesome.

Most of us see them on websites of products and services we use (here is an example). Typically these are customer-facing, and generally include a list of FAQs and troubleshooting guides for clients to self-serve before having to reach out to a customer service team member.

But there are so many other amazing applications for a knowledge base. Create one internally, as an ordered repository of information. It is a place where knowledge is shared organization-wide and indexed. You can include video tutorials, step-by-step guides, flowcharts, and more.

Dismantle information silos in your organization with knowledge share tools like knowledge bases.

3. Use Multiple Knowledge Share Tools

Do not limit the people within your organization with a lack of tools. People learn in different ways, and you want to make sure everyone is on the same page. People generally share knowledge through email, Slack, text, or just chatting with each other.

We encourage you not to forget video. Video is an indispensably effective tool for knowledge sharing. Specifically a tool that allows you to record yourself and your screen simultaneously. This way you get the personal touch and tonality of a video, with the demonstrative ability of a screen share.

Whatever tools your organization decides to use, encourage the use of them tirelessly. Everyone should use them (see below point). Ask your colleagues what tools they use the most, find to be most effective, and enjoy using.

4. Lead By Example

Whether remote or not, culture and mindset should be modelled from the very top. Senior stakeholders should practice what they preach by demonstrating the value in knowledge sharing.

This means that collaboration will be more important than hierarchy. Senior colleagues shouldn’t be willing to co-author, share, collaborate, co-create, and move toward a goal as a unified team. A vibe and culture that normalizes knowledge sharing from the top down will lead to more of it.

5. Manage Information Silos

According to Investopedia, an information silo is “an information management system that is unable to freely communicate with other information management systems.” Within an organization this plays out as departments that don’t share information.

Some reasons that information silos are formed are because management doesn’t see the benefit of integrating a system with others, or because it does not want to or can’t afford to make the necessary changes.

There are a few key problems with information silos. First, they can create redundancy by making multiple people look for the same info in different places. Second, they create confusion when information from different sources doesn’t match. Gone unchecked, this can lead to frustration. In the end, misinformation due to the lack of transparency ultimately creates preventable inefficiencies.

6. ID Internal Communication Barriers

Clear communication and the natural ability to communicate with colleagues is key to preventing barriers. Online forums or activities to facilitate communication can be helpful, especially to ‘get the ball rolling.’

Whenever knowledge sharing is not a seamless, simple process, a communication barrier exists. Provide tips, feedback, suggestions, and guides for colleagues to improve their communication skills and remove these barriers. Informed and communicative employees have the headspace to help your business grow.

Conclusion

Sharing knowledge within your organization is imperative, but likely won’t come naturally. With a purposefully designed workplace culture, the right tools, and effective leadership, any organization can become a “knowledge share” institution.

Understanding the importance of sharing knowledge is a great place to start, both for senior and junior stakeholders. For happier employees and a more profitable bottom line, make sure knowledge can flow through your organization seamlessly.

The async video communication tool that frees up your agenda

Get Weet for free

21Jan

33 Video Tutorial Tips for Creating Content or Training Employees

January 21, 2022 Najette Fellache 13

Video tutorials can be extremely helpful, or extremely useless. It all comes down to how you create them. In this guide, we offer actionable video tutorial tips across different categories including strategizing, filming, and sharing your videos.

30,000 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every hour, and it’s safe to say that a fair amount of these videos will be tutorials. Plus, with the rise of remote work, millions of online workers are sending asynchronous videos back and forth each and every day to cut back on meetings and improve their productivity.

Whether you’re creating short and sweet tutorials for your audience or sending instructional videos to your team members, we’ve got the guidance you need to be successful.

Content Tips

A great video tutorial starts with well-structured content. Here’s how to make your videos awesome:

1. Choose one purpose for each tutorial

Don’t try to achieve too many things in one tutorial. It’s better to create a series of tutorials that each cover a small amount of information, rather than to create one monster tutorial. Why? Attention spans are on the decline. So, choose one goal for each tutorial. For example, you might make a video to teach someone how to enter SEO metadata in Yoast, or how to move crypto from Coinbase to Crypto.com. Of course, some activities include multiple steps, and that’s fine. Just make sure you have one purpose.

2. Clarify the audience

Who will be watching this video? How knowledgeable are they about the subject matter? Consider whether your audience members are beginners, experts, or in between. This will help you include the right information (without telling people things they already know and boring them to sleep).

3. Decide on the structure of the tutorial

Consider the over overarching structure of the tutorial.

Here are some examples of structures:

Beginning, middle, and end
A set numbers of steps
A simple, one-step process
Problem/solution
A simple trick and why someone should use it

With a clear structure in place, you’ll be able to create a shorter, more succinct video tutorial that will capture the viewer’s attention.

4. Create a script or outline

Before you start filming, write out either a script or an outline. If the video will be viewed by lots of people, a script will ensure that the video is as clear and high-quality as possible. Of course, you don’t have to read the script exactly while filming, but simply having a script can help you practice and stay on track.

Or, if you’d rather wing it a bit more, simply create an outline. For example, an outline for a tutorial on how to create a Facebook lookalike could look something like this:

Log into your Facebook ads account
Create a new campaign and set the budget
Select your top-performing audience
Create a lookalike audience
Write new ad copy or choose your top-performing ads
Turn the campaign on

5. Prepare the materials you need before you film

Before you start recording the video tutorial, consider everything you’ll need to film. For example, if you’re sharing a digital process, have all of the tabs and programs open that you need. If you’re filming a hands-on tutorial about how to create a blue and gold abstract painting, collect all of the supplies. Run through the process in your mind to make sure you have everything.

Filming Tips

The quality of your video tutorial is largely determined during the filming process. Here’s how to film like a pro.

6. Get the lighting right

Great lighting can make up for an amateur camera. Ring lights are affordable and have a major impact on the quality of your videos. This ring light by Bekada is a best seller on Amazon, and this option from Baivinet also has great reviews.

Or, if you have sunlight that streams into your window at a certain time, then make use of it.

7. Check your outline or script without allowing it to become a distraction

Remember that outline or script you made? Now it’s time to follow it. Print it out and pin it where you can see it, or use a teleprompter app (just search for one in the Apple or Android app store).

If you find that checking the outline or script is negatively affecting the speed and pace of your filming, then memorize it instead.

8. Use a podcaster mic or lapel mic for better audio

As with lighting, audio is a huge contributor to overall video quality. For best results, use a mic that is as close to your mouth as possible. Podcasting microphones, which can be plugged into your computer via USB, and lapel mics, which you clip to your clothes, are both great options.

9. Reduce background noise as much as possible

Your air conditioner, dog, laptop fan, and neighborhood traffic can all contribute to poor audio quality. Before you start filming, take a pause and listen to the sounds around you. Take an effort to reduce any background noise within your control. If there’s an unusual amount of noise, such as heavy traffic due to commuter hour, then film your video at a different time or location.

10. Test your audio before filming

Make sure to test your audio before filming. Record yourself talking for 15 – 20 seconds, then playback the video in a silent room, or with headphones. Is the audio working? Are there any background noises that you can take care of? Fix whatever needs fixing before you spend minutes or hours filming your tutorial.

11. Be as specific as possible

Great writers and public speakers have one thing in common: they know how to be specific. Details and examples make for great content. Keep this in mind as you’re filming, and make the content as real as possible. This will ensure that it comes across as a true tutorial and not a bunch of rambling.

Tech and equipment tips for digital tutorials

Digital tutorials are those that cover processes that people can do with their devices (computers, phones, etc.). Here’s how to make these types of tutorials great.

12. Use screen sharing often

Doesn’t it drive you crazy when someone talks about how to do something without sharing their screen and showing you how to do it? (It drives us crazy too.) Use a screen sharing tool like Weet to share your screen and show the exact steps in your tutorial. Weet allows you to include a small video of yourself in the corner to personalize and humanize the content.

13. Don’t overcomplicate the tech (use simple tools)

To make things simple and easy for everyone, use a tool that allows you to create, edit, share, and comment on video tutorials.

With Weet, you can record video tutorials, trim and clip them, send them to people on your team with a shareable link, and comment via text or additional videos.

Here’s how to create a video tutorial with Weet:

14. Tech and equipment tips for physical tutorials

Tutorials for physical processes are a bit different. For the most part, these require that you film yourself doing something, rather than share your screen. Here are some tips to help you succeed:

15. Shoot with your webcam or phone if you don’t have a professional camera

You don’t have to have a two-thousand-dollar camera to film great tutorials. Rely on your computers’ webcam or your mobile phone. Just make sure you follow our tips above on how to set up great lighting and capture quality audio.

Tip: Try Weet for webcam videos. It comes with easy editing, sharing, and commenting features!

16. Use a tripod

People want to see you moving, not the camera. Too much wobbling can make people feel frustrated, or even dizzy. Tripods are very affordable and mobile phone tripods can be purchased for around $20.

17. Shoot the tutorial in segments

When you try to shoot the tutorial in one go, you put too much pressure on yourself. Instead, consider the structure or outline of your tutorial and break it up into smaller segments.

For example, you might first film yourself selecting paint colors and talking about the strategy behind pairing different colors together. Then, take a break and later film yourself painting the background of your canvas. And so on. By taking breaks, you’ll maintain your sanity, get the filming done faster, and make editing quicker too (you can just trim the ends of the clips and string them together.)

Editing and production tips

Depending on the type of tutorial you’re creating and how many people will view it, you might spend no time at all on editing and production, or you might spend hours. Here are some tips to help you either way.

5. Easily record a video tutorial

18. Trim the ends

One of the worst mistakes you can make is failing to trim the video. Attention spans are a mere 8 seconds, and in today’s world of micro-content, even that statistic seems generous. Make sure to trim the video so it starts when you start talking and ends when you stop.

If you’re stringing together multiple clips, make sure to trim their ends as well.

19. Add named chapters to the video

Make it easy for people to skim the video and find the exact step or tip they’re looking for. To do this, give your videos chapter names in whatever tool you’re using. This is a very common practice for YouTube tutorials.

Tip: You can add chapters to your Weets!

Viewers can scroll over the video progress bar to see the names of the different chapters.

Plus, if they click the name of any chapter in the progress bar, the name will also show up at the top of the video while they’re watching.

20. Get the audio transcribed (or transcribe it yourself)

Transcriptions are very useful. Some of your viewers might be hearing impaired. Others will prefer reading as their main learning style. Be sure to include transcriptions for your video tutorials.

Tip: Weet automatically transcribes all your videos and adds the text to the Transcript tab, where viewers can click on the text to take them to that part of the video.

Employee training tips

Employee video trainings have been popular for decades as a way to scale training across a company. And now with the rise of remote work, tutorial videos are more useful than ever.

21. Don’t procrastinate–focus on progress over perfection

Many people don’t feel comfortable on video. If that sounds like you, then you might find yourself procrastinating making a training video simply because you feel self-conscious or worried that it won’t turn out well. Bear in mind the purpose of the video (to train your colleagues), and don’t worry about perfection. It’s better to get it done quickly, so everyone can get to work and be on the same page.

22. Don’t fuss over the production value unless the video will be sent out company-wide

Unless you’re making a video that will be shared with hundreds or even thousands of employees, don’t worry too much about the production value. You don’t need a film crew or bells and whistles. Just use an easy video filming tool like Weet to get it done.

23. Know when to make your tutorial content evergreen

The word “evergreen” typically refers to trees. Well, in business and marketing, “evergreen” refers to a piece of content that can last for at least a couple of years.

When making an employee tutorial, consider whether or not you should keep it evergreen. For example, if it’s for the office manager and it’s an important process, don’t mention the person’s name. This way, you can reuse the video if they leave and someone else fills their role.

Not every video needs to be evergreen. The point is to decide whether or not it is evergreen before you film it.

24. Get feedback on the script or outline before filming

If you’re creating a video tutorial for lots of employees, get feedback on your script or outline from other stakeholders before filming. For example, if you’re teaching grocery baggers the correct way to bag items without damaging them, make sure that your colleagues in the employee education department have signed off on the script. This way, you can include as much feedback upfront as possible and minimize the chances of having to refilm if you left something out.

25. Rollout the tutorial in phases to be sure it’s helpful

For tutorial videos that will be rolled out across hundreds of employees, it’s smart to roll it out in phases. For example, if you’re training customer service representatives, you might want to send it to only 30 reps first, get their feedback and questions, and revise the video if needed before sending it to everyone.

26. Add the video to an employee training LMS or cloud folder

When your video is finished, you should include it in a resource library that employees can access at any time. This might be a dedicated employee learning management system like Tranual or something as simple as a Google Drive folder. In any case, make sure all of the videos have a sensible title, so they’re easy to search for.

Tip: If you’re using Weet, you can share your videos with all of the right people on your team. When they login, they can see all of the videos shared with them, so you’ll automatically be creating a video tutorial library!

27. Include the video in relevant SOPs

If you use standard operating procedures (SOPs), which are documents that detail steps for completing important tasks, then you can add video tutorials to these documents to make them more useful.

28. Use a tool that lets you share videos with links (no uploading or downloading required)

In today’s online working environment, employees need to send quick tutorials on the fly. That’s why you should use a tool like Weet that allows you to share links to your tutorial videos, so no one has to download or upload anything.

29. Make changes to the video if needed, without changing the unique link

Sometimes, you forget something important in your tutorial. Or the process you’re teaching has changed. Make sure to utilize a video tutorial tool that allows you to add new clips or refilm the entire video, without having to change the link. This way, employees can still rely on the link you originally shared.

Tip: With Weet, you can share video tutorial links back and forth and edit your videos whenever!

Social media tutorial tiips

These days, many people create video tutorials in order to grow their audience on social media. Here are some tips for creating great content for YouTube and TikTok.

30. Include attention-grabbing sounds and visuals

The best YouTubers know that you need to hold onto viewers’ attention by surprising them with continued angle changes, new visuals, and unexpected sounds.

For example, Moriah Elizabeth’s art tutorial videos often include funny sounds, manipulations of her voice, and tons of movement on-screen.

31. Add royalty-free music

There are tons of royalty-free music repositories, such as Bensound and Taketones. Background music can make your video more interesting, but it can also be distracting so choose wisely. Make sure to read the comments section, because your viewers will be sure to let you know if your selections are flopping.

32. Create a branded style consistent across all of your tutorial videos

The best video tutorial content creators have a brand style. Maybe their style is dark and mysterious, or funny and wacky. Define your own style so that you can connect emotionally with your audience and keep them coming back for more of your tutorials.

33. Study tutorial creators outside of your niche

To be successful on social media, you need to stand out from the crowd and zig where others are zagging. Look to other niches to get ideas. For example, if you create tech tutorials, you might watch art tutorials to get ideas for how to shoot the products and equipment you’re recommending.

Not all tutorials are worth watching. Follow these tips, and your videos will capture attention and achieve your desired goals.
Start making great tutorials of any kind with our video tutorial app.

The async video communication tool that frees up your agenda

Get Weet for free

27Sep

3 Keys to Tools for Asynchronous Learning

September 27, 2021 Ashley Villegas 4

Asynchronous Communication

by Ashley Villegas

Why Tools for Asynchronous Learning?

The best tools for asynchronous learning allow you the freedom to learn on your time and keep you engaged with new content. Everyone has a unique learning style and can focus at different points of the day. The traditional schedule we were introduced to when we first started school as children models the common 9 – 5 workday today. As remote work is becoming more common, so are asynchronous tools that enable us to work and study when we are our sharpest. For some people it is as soon as they wake up in the morning while others may produce their best work or can learn and absorb information during quiet evening hours.

Live lessons via video stream give the feeling of a classroom or traditional training environment in which the instructor and learner are present at the same time in the same place. Real-time learning gives us the chance to connect face-to-face. Learners can engage with their material at will by watching recorded videos, collaborating and answering questions that arise when live learning is not in session.

Many instructors use asynchronous communication tools for a remote experience that fosters critical thinking and learning culture, but not at the same time. Synchronous learning, which takes place in real time, helps learners feel connected by location. Tools for asynchronous learning give learners more power over their remote education.

Reduce Zoom Fatigue and Learn At Your Pace

Tools for asynchronous learning allow students access to content and to collaborate at their own pace. Tools for asynchronous learning help reduce the time it takes learners to acquire information, reduce costs and increase the availability of digital learning resources to organizations. It describes educational activities, discussions and tasks that lead learners to acquire new knowledge at their own pace and in their own time.

Asynchronous learning helps to reduce zoom fatigue for distance learning students that can lead to a let go, but also provides the flexibility to adapt learning to their specific needs.

Asynchronous tools support those who are unable to attend in person due to work schedules, family commitments or distances, and enables them to participate according to their own schedule. Asynchronous tools also support administrators and trainers in engaging and monitoring students.

Asynchronous learning enables us to work at our own pace and allows us the time to adapt in line with our learning journey as required, supported by their subject-specific expertise.

Foster an environment that encourages motivation and community with tools for asynchronous learning

With the full range of tools available online, you can foster interactions and tailor training content for your colleagues. Whether you are stimulating a spark of discussion or moving away from a key topic, make sure that asynchronous activities encourage collaborators to engage with the content and others. Community engagement and communication will look different in an asynchronous space, but with capabilities like workspaces coming soon in the future for Weet, organizing supporting material and fostering remote learning and collaboration will be even easier in a digital environment.

Various synchronous learning tools are available to help students and teachers build connections in a live environment. Once you get used to remote learning, students and teachers can identify which apps they prefer most. Many of these tools come with free versions like Weet currently, but there are also low-cost options that encourage motivation in a community environment where instant feedback is essential.

The async video communication tool that frees up your agenda

Get Weet for free

16Sep

What is Asynchronous Communication?

September 16, 2021 Ashley Villegas 4

Asynchronous Communication

by Ashley Villegas

What is Asynchronous Communication? 3 Key Points to Remember

What is asynchronous communication? It may sound like a “buzzword, or a totally new concept, but if you’ve been in the remote work world (or even a remote student) for some time, you’ve probably come across articles written by leaders referring to asynchronous communication as their preferred method of communication. Asynchronous communication is not new and you may already be using it daily to conduct most of your interactions with coworkers, clients and stakeholders. Here are three key points to keep in mind as you implement asynchronous communication more effectively throughout your day.

What is asynchronous communication?

Using asynchronous communication requires more effort and research than in-person communication. It forces you to think about what you are going to communicate before you communicate it. Live meetings, or synchronous conversations, tend to have little deep work behind them and facilitate more reactionary responses. Some remote workers can think on their feet during synchronous, or live meetings, but asynchronous communication fosters a deeper thought process and ultimately can help lead to a more productive work environment.

You exchange notes, ideas, opinions, complaints, and so much more throughout the course of a day. With asynchronous communication, be sure to: Plan ahead, or at least have a clear idea of what the person you want to have contact with has going on in their day and how you’ll be able to seamlessly communicate. Prepare for the conversation – or conversations – ahead of time. Send your message (ideas, information, ideas, opinions) when you expect your recipient will be ready to accept them when using tools like Slack. With asynchronous video tools like Weet, your recipient can view your video message at the time that works best in their day.

When should you use asynchronous communication?

You can use asynchronous communication in all interactions and scenarios. There’s no reason that you can’t use it for emails (SMS, chat apps) or voicemails and voice notes. Of course, you’ll want to keep asynchronous communication messages short and simple; and it’s best not to use it on the internet, but hey, most people are on Facebook and Instagram at work, too. If you’re someone who needs to communicate with many different people throughout the day and not only within the organization, then you’ll want to make sure you’re using asynchronous communication respectfully. These tools can easily get us to be in a “constantly available” frame of mind or expect immediate responses. Using your asynchronous communication tools requires you don’t expect an immediate response but you still align with the recipient on a topic.

How to implement it more effectively

Find a fast, easy, low-tech way to communicate with people. Don’t fumble with software downloads or expensive tools. Using video messaging apps like Weet or chat platforms are one way to achieve this, but email is still the main method for many. However, email can be very frustrating to answer or send because it requires a lot of time to read, respond, and then process the message and the replies into a cohesive piece of information. Plus, when you put a lot of time and effort into a single message, it’s frustrating to have it sit there in your inbox, never to be read. With chat, there’s always the risk of messages getting “buried” (meaning you won’t see them or can’t respond), because of all the messages in your inbox. We believe video adds the human touch to communication that text message can miss so we combine it with text, emojis and features of chat apps for a rich experience.

Conclusion

Keeping these three points in mind, you can be aware of how much you can enhance your workday with asynchronous communication. Stop trying to “force” that messaging from your smartphone to your colleague. And stop dreading the awkward silence of a calendar invite that can’t be responded to in a timely manner. Embrace asynchronous communication with the appropriate tools, training and knowledge you’re already familiar with. Not to mention, embracing asynchronous communication will free up your day-to-day to focus more time on the more complex and intricate activities that require more immediate attention. And that’s a win for everyone!

The async video communication tool that frees up your agenda

Get Weet for free

29Jun

The Complete Guide to Effortlessly Create and Share Video Tutorials

June 29, 2021 Elle Werle 13

How to create tutorial videos:

How many times have you turned to a video tutorial to learn something in a pinch?

Whether it was for a hobby, cooking, at work, in class, or anything else, chances are you’re utilizing these fantastic resources.

In 2018, more than half of all people surveyed reported watching two or more instructional videos each week. That’s billions of views daily!

If you’re serious about teaching others, videos are proven to be the best method to do so. Want to level up your tutorial game from the start? Follow this comprehensive guide to create and share video tutorials in no time – with minimal effort!

Table of Contents

What is a video tutorial?
Why are video tutorials valuable?
Who watches video tutorials?
Form a plan before recording
Easily record a video tutorial
Avoid common mistakes when creating video tutorials

1. How to create tutorial videos and what are they?

A tutorial video is a video that transfers knowledge by demonstrating a process, explaining a concept, or showing others how to do something. Video tutorials provide step-by-step instructions and are often referred to as “how-to” videos.

2. Why are video tutorials valuable?

Learning how to create tutorial videos is key with the increasing presence and volume of knowledge sharing content now available. We watch them to complete tasks in our homes, at work, at school, and for our hobbies billions of times each day.

Research from Youtube shows that educational content is viewed on their platform alone over one billion times each day. Hundreds of millions of hours of how-to YouTube videos are being watched every year.

At work, employees absorb information 7% faster with video instructions rather compared to those without video. Two out of three complete tasks better.

Video traffic shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, Cisco forecasts that it will grow fourfold from 2017 to 2022. In that same time, video traffic will increase 75%, making up a whopping 82% of Internet traffic.

Searches related to “how to” are growing 70% year over year. Video tutorials are exponentially growing in popularity already and will continue to do so.

3. Who watches video tutorials?

Nearly everyone with an internet connection watches video tutorials.

A Google study found that 91% of smartphone users use their smartphones for ideas while doing a given task. 70% of YouTube viewers watch videos for “help with a problem” they’re having in their job studies, or hobby.

Chances are you’ve watched and benefitted from several video tutorials yourself!

4. Form a plan before recording

ID the key moments when members of your target audience have a need or knowledge gap.
ID the questions and concerns people have related to the topic you’re covering. What do people want -or need- to learn?
Do some research to find out when relevant how-to searches occur. Are there particular times of the year, week, or day when some topics are more popular?
Plan a rough script. Don’t write out everything you’ll say word for word, but do write out the individual steps you’ll cover. You are the subject matter expert here. You just need the main points and you will naturally fill in the rest.

5. Easily record a video tutorial

Now for the fun part! This does not have to be a tedious, frustrating process. In fact, there are tools out there to help you create high-quality tutorial videos with minimal effort and editing.

1. Record your screen along with audio or video. This allows you to demonstrate the process on screen while personalizing your message and connecting with your audience. A simple yet powerful tool for this is Weet.
2. Record a simple and concise introduction allowing your audience to know exactly what they’re about to learn.
3. Each step should have its own section. There is no limit to how many sections your Weet can have, however the maximum recording time for a Weet is 8 minutes.
4. Rearrange and re-record sections as needed.
5. Turn on Search Engine Indexing so Google and other search engines pick up your new, amazing tutorial! Online search continues to be the most common way for users to find tutorials. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to increase traffic to your tutorial! Weet makes it super easy.
6. Share your video tutorial. You can send your Weet to individual emails, post them directly to social media, embed your video on a website, and more!

6. Avoid common mistakes when creating video tutorials

You don’t need to shoot for perfection. Think of the various how-to videos you have watched.
Were they filmed in production studios with mics and lights and professional equipment? Probably not.
Did they explain what you needed to learn? Probably.Aim instead to be relatable, personable, and concise in your message. Your goal is to teach, not to be perfect.
Don’t make your video too long. Over half of viewers prefer instructional videos between 3-6 minutes long. More than nine out of ten viewers agree that “great videos” are less than 20 minutes long.
For more complex instructions, section your information into bite-size chunks. This makes it super easy for your viewers to navigate to different steps, repeat them, and skip forward when necessary.

Video Tutorials Summary

Video tutorials and how-tos are already a huge part of our daily lives. Research shows that their presence is only growing.

They are easy to understand, solve a huge need, and can even be super easy to create! All it takes is a little planning and a simple yet powerful platform for asynchronous communication to get going!

The async video communication tool that frees up your agenda

Get Weet for free