How to augment live class training with AI videos

The challenge

The L&D team creates leadership development programs that help managers develop skills such as delegation, communication, team management, etc.

The topics covered are soft skills that require a certain level of human interaction to achieve optimal results. Therefore, the company organises 2-3 day live leadership courses up to five times a year.

The pandemic and the general shift to work from home required a solution to transition to a hybrid learning approach that combines live courses with on-demand video content.

This meant:

• Making learning content accessible to those who couldn't physically attend a live class.
• Sending follow-up materials to reinforce topics covered in the live course.
• Creating on-demand micro-learning videos that can be accessed by teams in different locations.

However, traditional video production comes with a number of limitations:

• Lengthy production: The creation of a video would take 30 days and more, taking into account changes.
• Costs: Internal production would require video production experience that was not there and third-party providers are expensive.
• Lack of flexibility: It would be nearly impossible to update the videos once created, and it would require additional time and resources to recreate the videos.
• Hard to scale: Without a big budget, it's almost impossible to scale video production.
• Difficult to localise: Localisation of traditional video content is time-consuming, costly and difficult to scale.

The L&D team was looking for a solution that would enable the creation of eLearning videos at scale without requiring specialised equipment or advanced video editing skills.

The solution

The L&D manager used Synthesia, to turn an entire introductory module into a short video. It covered all the preliminary work participants needed to do before the live course.

This is how she went about it:‍

1. She transformed existing texts into small scripts
2. She inserted them into Synthesia's script box
3. She chose one of Synthesia's 140+ Avatars
4. Generated the video - and done!

Synthesia is so user friendly that I could create a professional-looking video in about 30 minutes, and I am not a eLearning designer. — Learning and Development Manager

This is what the L&D manager appreciates most about Synthesia:

• Ease of use: The platform is easy to use and includes all the necessary video editing features to create high-quality training videos without the need for additional tools.
• AI Avatars & Voices: The 140+ diverse stock AI Avatars and 120+ AI voices provide an easy way to create engaging, relatable video content without having to hire actors or record voiceovers.
• Flexibility: Once created, a video can be easily updated at any time, without having to start from the beginning.

The results

The short videos were a full success:

• Time savings: The training videos saved participants 1 hour of classroom time – making classroom time count and leave more time for social intactions.
• Increased engagement: The short videos made pre-work content more engaging and set clear expectations.
• Fast video production: In just about 30 minutes she created a 10 minutes video, covering the agenda as well as introducing key concepts and desired outcomes of the course.

Here are some quotes from course participants on how they experienced their first AI video training:

The video was helpful and well made A+. The pre-work was easy and not overwhelming, I found it very helpful. — Training course attendant

I thought the video was helpful to start thinking about some of the concepts in advance and make it applicable to my role as manager & my direct reports. — Training course attendant

Now that it's so easy to produce professional-looking video at scale, the L&D team is looking to innovate and expand the use of Synthesia to truly enhance the in-classroom experience.

In the future, I plan on expanding the hybrid learning approach. After a live session, I would like to send participants follow-up AI videos on the topics discussed. — Learning and Development Manager

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