Here's the uncomfortable truth: that 45-minute compliance training video you commissioned? It has a 12% completion rate. The safety induction that cost £8,000 to produce? Most employees skip through to clock it as "done." Your beautifully filmed onboarding video? They're checking their phones halfway through.
We've produced training videos for law firms, hospitality groups, engineering companies, and major infrastructure providers. The difference between videos that get watched and videos that get ignored isn't budget - it's approach.
The Completion Rate Problem
Before discussing how to make better training videos, let's acknowledge the baseline problem: most corporate training videos have abysmal engagement metrics.
Industry Averages (And Why They're Terrible)
- • Videos over 20 minutes: 15-25% completion rate
- • Talking head presentations: 35% average watch time
- • Screen recording tutorials: 45% completion (better, but still losing half your audience)
- • Generic stock footage montages: Skipped by 60% of viewers in first 30 seconds
The cost isn't just the wasted production budget. It's the knowledge that didn't transfer, the compliance that didn't happen, the safety protocols that weren't learned, and the culture that wasn't communicated.
So how do you create training videos that people actually complete? Start by choosing the right format for your content.
Choosing the Right Format
Not all training content works as a talking head. Not all of it needs dramatisation. The format should match both your content and your budget.
Role-Play and Dramatisation
Best for: Customer service training, sales techniques, conflict resolution, security awareness, interpersonal skills
Real Example: Marriott Hotels Sales Training
We produced a multi-lingual training series for Marriott Hotels featuring professional actors role-playing customer interactions. One actor played the customer, another played the hotel salesperson demonstrating proper techniques.
Why it worked:
- • Employees saw realistic scenarios they'd actually encounter
- • Both good and bad examples demonstrated clearly
- • Delivered in English and French for international rollout
- • Specific techniques shown in context, not just described
Real Example: UK Infrastructure Provider Security Training
We produced a dramatised security awareness video for a major UK infrastructure provider that approached training like a short film - scripted, acted, and shot cinematically. Professional actors played potential security threats attempting to breach the site, while other actors demonstrated correct and incorrect employee responses.
Why it worked:
- • Employees saw security protocols succeed vs fail in realistic scenarios
- • Correct behaviours (challenging suspicious people, following reporting procedures) shown in context
- • Incorrect behaviours (tailgating through doors, ignoring visitor protocols) demonstrated consequences
- • Narrative-driven approach kept engagement high for what could be dry policy content
- • When security training feels like a thriller, completion rates skyrocket
Note: We can't show this video publicly as it contains sensitive content requiring confidential production protocols.
Budget reality: Role-play requires actors, scripting, and typically multiple camera angles. Expect £2,000-£20,000 depending on video(s) length and complexity.
When to skip it: If your training is purely informational (company policies, software tutorials, factual knowledge transfer), dramatisation is overkill.
Interview / Expert Presentation
Best for: Subject matter expertise, leadership messages, technical knowledge, industry insights
This is the most common corporate training format - and often the most boring. But it doesn't have to be.
Making Interview-Style Training Actually Work:
- Keep it conversational: Use an off-camera interviewer asking questions rather than a teleprompter script
- Cut ruthlessly: No fluff, just get to the point
- Add visual interest: Cut away to b-roll, screen recordings, graphics, or demonstrations
- Shoot multi-camera: Even just 2 angles lets you hide jump cuts and maintain energy
- Light it properly: Poor lighting makes people look tired and untrustworthy. Professional lighting builds credibility.
Budget reality: Interview-style can range from £1,500 (single camera, minimal setup) to £5,000+ (multi-camera, professional lighting, location filming, extensive editing).
Animation vs Live Action
Animation works brilliantly for certain training contexts-and is completely wrong for others.
When Animation Works
- • Complex processes or systems
- • Technical explanations
- • Abstract concepts
- • Showing things that can't be filmed (inside machinery, data flows, etc.)
- • Global audiences (easier to adapt/translate)
- • Evergreen content that won't date
When Animation Fails
- • Human skills training (communication, sales, leadership)
- • Building company culture or connection
- • Showing real people and authenticity
- • Emergency/safety training requiring real-world context
- • When budget is tight (good animation is expensive)
Budget reality: Professional animation starts at £3,000 for a simple 2-minute explainer and can easily reach £15,000+ for complex character animation or technical 3D work.
How Long Should Training Videos Be?
The research is clear: shorter is almost always better. But "short" depends on your training type.
| Training Type | Ideal Length | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-learning / Single Concept | 2-5 minutes | Maximum attention span for one idea |
| Software Tutorial | 5-10 minutes | Enough to demonstrate workflow without overwhelming |
| Product / Service Training | 8-12 minutes | Allows depth without losing engagement |
| Onboarding / Culture | 3-6 minutes | High-level overview, inspire rather than inform every detail |
| Compliance / Mandatory | Under 15 minutes | People resent mandatory training - respect their time |
Better approach: If you have 30 minutes of content, create 5-6 short videos instead of one long one. Employees can watch them in sequence or jump to relevant sections. Completion rates skyrocket when people can finish a video in one sitting.
Onboarding Videos: Culture Over Information
Onboarding videos have a different job than skills training. They're not teaching a process - they're communicating culture, values, and belonging.
Real Example: AtkinsRéalis Onboarding
Onboarding video featuring narration-driven storytelling with graphics and b-roll
We created this onboarding video for AtkinsRéalis (a major UK engineering and infrastructure company) with a specific brief: make it engaging and uplifting, not a dry information dump.
What we focused on:
- • Leadership voices (2 leaders) welcoming new employees and explaining culture - short and to the point
- • Visual storytelling showing project work, team collaboration, and company impact
- • Show, don't just tell-visuals of exciting projects and good culture backing up what leadership says
- • Energy and optimism through pacing, music, and edit style
The result: new employees feel excited to join rather than overwhelmed by HR policies.
Onboarding Video Checklist:
- ✓ Keep it short and sweet - respect people's time and concentration (see the stats above)
- ✓ Show real people, not stock footage
- ✓ Focus on "why" not "what" (mission/values over org charts)
- ✓ Make it feel welcoming, not intimidating
- ✓ Save detailed policies for documentation - this is about connection
Multi-Lingual Training: Plan It Early
If you're a multinational company, language considerations need to be baked into your production approach from the start.
Option 1: Shoot in Multiple Languages
For the Marriott project, we filmed entirely separate versions in English and French with native-speaking actors. This costs more upfront but delivers the most authentic result.
Best for: Customer-facing training where language authenticity matters, role-play scenarios, culture/onboarding videos.
Option 2: Voiceover Replacement
Film once in your primary language, then replace the audio track with professional voice actors in other languages. Requires careful planning (don't show people's mouths talking if possible).
Best for: Technical training, process videos, animation, screen recordings.
Option 3: Subtitles
The cheapest option, but research shows comprehension and engagement drop significantly when reading subtitles. Only use this if budget is extremely limited.
Best for: Internal comms where everyone has strong English comprehension, supplementary content, or budget-constrained projects.
Measuring Training Video Effectiveness
You can't improve what you don't measure. If you're hosting training on an LMS (Learning Management System) or video platform, track these metrics:
Engagement Metrics
- • Completion rate: % who finish the entire video
- • Drop-off points: Where are people abandoning?
- • Replay sections: What are they rewatching?
- • Average watch time: Are people skipping through?
Learning Outcomes
- • Assessment scores: Did they learn the content?
- • Behaviour change: Are they applying it?
- • Time to competency: Faster onboarding?
- • Manager feedback: Real-world impact
Red flag: If your completion rate is below 60%, your training video isn't working. Don't throw good money after bad - diagnose the problem (too long? wrong format? boring?) and fix it rather than forcing more people through failed content.
When to DIY vs Hire Professionals
Not every training video needs a production company. But some absolutely do.
You Can Probably DIY:
- • Quick software updates or feature demos
- • Screen recordings with voiceover
- • Internal team updates or messages
- • Temporary content with short lifespan
- • Video supplements to in-person training
Tools: Loom, Camtasia, or even PowerPoint recording
Hire Professionals For:
- • Company-wide rollout (100+ employees)
- • Customer-facing or external training
- • Compliance/regulatory requirements
- • Content you'll use for 2+ years
- • Onboarding representing your brand
- • Multi-lingual productions
- • Role-play or dramatised scenarios
- • Sensitive/confidential content
Cost-benefit calculation: If 500 employees will watch your training video, paying £5,000 for professional production costs £10 per employee. If it saves even 30 minutes of manager time per person through better training, you're massively in profit.
Stop Making Training Videos Nobody Watches
The goal isn't to produce a training video. The goal is to transfer knowledge, change behaviour, build culture, or ensure compliance. Video is just the tool - and it only works if people actually watch it.
Before you commission your next training video, ask: What format will keep people engaged? How long can this realistically be? Are we measuring completion rates? And most importantly - would I sit through this entire video?
Need Training Videos That Work?
We've produced training content for Marriott Hotels, AtkinsRéalis, Eversheds Sutherland, and major UK infrastructure providers. From multi-lingual role-play to secure productions, we create training videos that employees actually complete.