How To Create Engaging Microlearning Videos in 5 Minutes

Your training videos are underperforming.

I hear this from L&D teams every week. Learners drop off mid-course, completion stalls, and knowledge just doesn’t stick.

If you've ever been involved with building an employee training program, chances are you've come across the term microlearning once or twice.

While microlearning as part of employee training isn't a novel concept, combining microlearning with video-based learning has been steadily rising in popularity.

The data shows they can boost knowledge acquisition by up to 41% compared to traditional formats.

This guide will show you how to build short, focused videos that engage learners, scale easily, and actually make an impact.

Why are microlearning videos the perfect vessel for learning?

1. Microlearning is more cost- and time-effective

This statement doesn't only apply to videos, but to microlearning as a whole.

According to learning expert Ray Jimenez, Ph.D., creating microlearning content instead of traditional learning methods can increase the speed of development by 300% and decrease cost by 50%.

Microlearning modules are easier and faster to create because they don't require in-person subject matter experts, classrooms, or expensive equipment to create.

Besides, digital microlearning modules are easier to maintain and keep up to date than traditional course materials.

2. Microlearning breaks up information into easily digestible components

The roots of this statement stem from Miller's Law, which states that the number of objects a person can hold in their short-term memory is limited to about 7 plus/minus 2.

However, if objects in short-term memory are not being pushed out by competing stimuli, they can get embedded into long-term memory.

How does that translate into microlearning? If information is presented in short chunks targeting one objective without competing stimuli, the likelihood of the information being remembered is higher.

3. Microlearning delivers measurable business outcomes

In my experience working with enterprise customers, the organizations that see the biggest wins are those using microlearning for just-in-time support—quick answers when employees need them, not lengthy courses they have to schedule.

The business impact is real. Companies using microlearning videos report faster onboarding times, with some reducing their training period by up to 50%.

Completion rates soar compared to traditional hour-long sessions, and employees actually retain what they learn.

One of my clients saw their support ticket volume drop by 30% after implementing microlearning videos for common troubleshooting tasks.

4. Microlearning video content is more engaging

According to a study from MIT researchers analyzing 6.9 million video watching sessions, shorter videos are much more engaging.

They follow up with a recommendation to keep the videos less than 6 minutes long for best engagement.

How to make microlearning videos in 5 easy steps

Producing videos, especially multiple videos, is a lengthy and often expensive undertaking, that involves multiple stakeholders.

To create microlearning videos quickly and on a budget, I recommend using an online AI video maker like Synthesia.

Step #1: Choose a microlearning video template

One aspect of video content creation that takes up a large chunk of time is design.

Choosing the right background, finding the right stock footage, and adding transitions and animations - all that can be bypassed by using video templates.

We have made the job easy for you by creating a wide variety of video templates.

Simply add the template to the video canvas whole or just use individual scenes and combine them to your liking.

You can also browse our searchable video library for inspiration. All our training video templates have been professionally-designed, and are fully cloneable and customizable.

Step #2: Prepare a short video script

Now prepare a short video script that goes well with the template outline.  I suggest you check out our guide to writing a video script.

Here's the formula I use for maximum impact:

Step #3: Paste your script and choose a voice

Head over to the video canvas and paste your microlearning video script into the script box slide by slide.

You will notice that the tool automatically chooses a language and voice style to create a text-to-speech narration. You can change to a different voice, and you also create microlearning videos in more than 140 languages.

You can also use expressive avatars to add more personality and engagement to your learning companion. I've found them especially effective for onboarding and soft skills training.

Step #4: Personalize video

If you're creating a microlearning video from a template, you don't have to personalize it, but it always helps.

You change up every element in the template: images, videos, shapes, animations, transitions, text, and AI avatars. I also always make sure I'm using the correct brand colors for the project I'm working on.

I'll typically leverage stock media to quickly find relevant images and videos, but you can also generate your own with a variety of AI models.

Step #5: Generate video

Your microlearning video is now complete!

Click on 'Generate' and the video will be processed in a few minutes.

If you have made personalized changes to the video that you would like to duplicate across multiple short microlearning videos, turn it into a template by clicking on 'Create template' on the video sharing page.

6 tips for creating engaging microlearning videos

Now that you're familiar with the step-by-step process of creating microlearning videos, check out these expert tips for making the best microlearning videos for employee training.

1. Keep the video short

A successful microlearning video is anywhere between 30 seconds and 3 minutes in length.

If it's any longer than 3 minutes, it's not micro anymore. 😉

But here's what I've learned from analyzing thousands of videos: the sweet spot depends on your content type. For quick procedural tasks, aim for 60-90 seconds. For concept explanations, 2-3 minutes works well.

Research shows that videos under 5 minutes maintain the highest engagement, with 100% of learners preferring this length. The MIT study referenced earlier found that engagement drops significantly after 6 minutes, so if your script runs longer, it's time to split it into a series.

Microlearning training content is meant to be consumed on the fly and at the learner's own pace, so keep the long training sessions for another day.

2. Focus on 1 learning objective

Based on what we've discussed above regarding Miller's Law, sticking to 1 learning objective for the entire video with no competing stimuli will enable learners to retain that information in their long-term memory.

Besides, it's pretty difficult to cram in more than one topic into such a short video anyway.

3. Microlearning videos should be self-contained bits of teaching

On their own, microlearning videos should be able to provide enough laser-focused information to teach a skill. Learners should be able to understand what they need to from just the piece by itself.

As our in-house learning expert Kevin explains it:

Think of microlearning videos as TikTok videos. You don't need to know the full backstory... you understand a moment as a whole by watching it. You get all the valuable information you need just by watching that one tiny experience.

We couldn't have said it better, Kev.

4. Minimize distractions

Remember Miller's Law?

If we want our learners to retain information, we have to omit any competing distractions or stimuli.

That means, when creating microlearning videos, remember to:

• Focus on one learning objective
• Present information in a clear and concise manner
• Not add too many visual stimuli in your microlearning videos

5. Use a learning companion

At the core of this statement lies the Personalization Principle developed by R. Clark and R. Mayer.

According to the principle, we as humans are social creatures that like sharing knowledge. We learn better when we're having a conversation, and when we're spoken to politely and informally.

Adding a visual character can simulate a person-to-person interaction and, in turn, increase learner engagement.

That can be done by either including a human presenter in the video or using a lifelike AI-generated avatar to do the same job.

6. Add interactive elements to boost retention

Synthesia’s Interactivity lets you turn videos into dynamic experiences with clickable buttons, branching paths, and built‑in quizzes that score responses and surface analytics—all inside Synthesia’s player.

Buttons can open links or jump between scenes to create non‑linear “choose‑your‑own‑adventure” flows, and interactive videos can be published via share links, iframe embeds, or SCORM with LMS tracking.

While Synthesia videos can include interactive elements, you can also design your script to include "pause and practice" moments that encourage active learning.

Even in a 90-second video, you can pause and ask, 'Which option would you choose here?' Then reveal the answer.

I then like to follow up with a 1-2 question quiz. Customers tell me this simple addition dramatically improves knowledge retention.

5 Microlearning video layout ideas

If you're creating microlearning content from scratch or transforming your existing microlearning modules from text into video, knowing how to visualize information can be challenging at first.

Here are a few visual layout ideas for your next microlearning video, showing you how to simplify ideas for learning content in a video format.

1. Key objectives slide

This bold layout with bullet points is perfect for outlining the single learning objective for the microlearning module.

I suggest to use this at the beginning of the video to let your viewers know what to expect.

Use Bloom's verbs to write the objective.

Let me show you a concrete example of Bloom's active verbs in action: at the end of this blog post we would like you to be able to

• Describe why microlearning videos are important
• Apply the 5 essential tips to your video creation process
• Create a microlearning video using Synthesia

2. Comparison slide

This slide layout has placeholders for on-screen text to compare two different groups or terms.

A comparison is a useful tool that helps viewers draw parallels between the new concept and something they are already familiar with. I've found this works perfectly for 'old way vs. new way' or 'option A vs. option B' scenarios.

3. Slide for key visuals

Engage learners by breaking up text with visuals. Video is a visual medium, after all.

Frame the content of your slide with the title, and use no more than 3 key points to call out from your visual on the right side. I favor this style of slide when I'm building process demonstrations or showing real product interfaces.

4. Knowledge check slide

Engage viewers and increase knowledge retention by including a quick knowledge check.

In this example we use a short multiple-choice quiz to create interesting learner interactions. I recommend including one of these every 2-3 videos in a series to reinforce learning.

5. Key takeaways slide

Recap the learning module by providing up to 3 key takeaway points lead your learners to any additional resources for more information. I pretty much always end with this to cement the learning objective.

Feel free to use these as an inspiration for your microlearning videos.

How to measure microlearning video effectiveness

I always tell customers: what gets measured gets improved. The organizations I work with that see the best results are tracking both engagement metrics (completion rates, watch time) and business outcomes (time to productivity, support ticket reduction).

Start simple—even just tracking completion rates will tell you if your videos are hitting the mark.

Track completion rates and engagement using either Synthesia's video analytics or through your LMS using SCORM.

This gives you detailed analytics on who's watching, how much they're completing, and where they might be dropping off.

You can also monitor knowledge retention through pre/post assessments to see if the information is actually sticking.

Don't forget to gather qualitative feedback from learners. I've found that sometimes the most valuable insights come from a simple "Was this helpful?" survey. I like to look for business impact metrics too: faster onboarding times, reduced support tickets, improved performance scores. These are the numbers that really matter to leadership.