Human memory is tricky. You may have heard that when people learn new information, they forget approximately 75% of it within two days. 

Research suggests that repetition is the key to boosting memory, and video makes rewatching (i.e., repetition) simple. By creating training videos for employees, you can increase the practice of repetition and help your team better retain knowledge, expand their skill set, and do their jobs better.

In this article, we’ll walk through everything you need to know when producing your employee training content. We’ve also included tips from learning and development professionals on how you can set every learner up for success.

What is a training video?

In a business context, a training video provides employees (both new and existing) with the guidance to learn a particular skill or area of knowledge.

When it comes to corporate training, the quality of content and the delivery method matters.
In order to make your training videos impactful and engaging to your staff, we have two main tips.

First, keep it short and sweet. If a video is under 60 seconds, 62% of viewers will watch it to the end. While longer videos may be packed with more information, they may not always be engaging for your audience. Only 26% of viewers will completely watch a video more than 20 minutes long. 

Second, you should consider video trends, like interactivity. When you create training videos for your employees, make sure you’re taking best practices, and your audience’s preferences and learning styles into account (more on this later).

The better the training, the more impact employees can have doing their jobs. By making video content short and sweet, you’re guaranteed to keep your audience’s attention. With interactivity, your team is brought into the story of the learning and helps cultivate an immersive learning environment. 

Investing in a robust training program with video can help your team feel more supported at work and fuel a positive employee experience.

Why make a corporate training video

One of the most important factors to consider during employee training video production is matching the right kind of training with the trainee. Most people are visual learners in some capacity — 90% of the information that is transmitted to your brain is visual in nature. However, people learn in all different ways, even within the medium of video.

Online training tools like videos can result in better information retention, higher engagement, and lower cost for training. Below, we’ve listed some of the top reasons businesses choose videos to train their workforce.

1. Easier to retain information

Video helps people recall information. Combining visual and auditory/verbal content allows learners to make more relevant connections and associations that assist with memory. 

One study shows that three days after learning, 65% of verbal/visual presentation (video, in this case) audiences can recall presentation information. Compared to only 10-20% who recall information that was spoken or given as a lecture, and 10% who recall only written information, it’s clear which method works best.

2. Higher engagement

People watch, on average, 17 hours of online video each week. Even branded video — 66% of consumers have viewed marketing content to learn about a product or brand.

When it comes to building brand advocates (which your employees should be), viewers are 52% more likely to share video than any other type of content. When you’re looking to create an engaging training experience, data says to look to video.

3. It’s cheaper

Since we’re talking about business here, one of the major benefits of using training videos instead of having in-person training sessions is that it keeps costs down — especially if you produce your own training videos.

In 2022, the Training Industry Report predicted a 6% increase in training budgets for this year and expected the global training market to grow by 2%. These days, remote training with video is about as useful as it can be — but you still need to maximize its benefits. 

So, what type of training video would be best for your organization? Let’s take a look at the different kinds you can use.

5 tips to master the art of online training videos

If you want to create the best training videos for your employees, there are a handful of considerations to keep top of mind. Our team chatted with Elizabeth Hodos and Emma Wisehart, Senior Sales Enablement Managers at Vimeo, to better understand what makes a successful video training program.

1. Understand training goals

The first step to making a great training video is matching the content to the learning outcome you want your employees to achieve. Before beginning the creation process, identify the main messages you’re trying to convey. For example, if you’re training a sales organization and want your sales team to learn how to create customer accounts using all the different tools in your tech stack, that means you’ll need videos that touch on your organization’s account setup process.

2. Make training content for all learner types

Employees’ ability to learn directly correlates with their ability to retain and apply the information they’ve recently acquired. Although there are additional (and hybrid) ways your team can learn, educators and leaders typically refer to four main styles:

• Reading/writing learners work well with text-based data and information through reading and/or writing. 
• Auditory learners excel when they’re able to listen to content.
• Kinesthetic learners are hands-on and rely on their tactile senses to learn.
• Visual learners — the most common type of learners — respond best to images, graphics, and video.

Video can actually help with all of these styles. For instance, you can supplement video with one-sheeters and other educational resources and activities.

3. Make training actionable

Learning means very little unless employees can put what they’ve learned into practice. When it comes to employee training videos, you want to design them to be actionable.

Leadership teams should immediately encourage employees to use what they’ve learned to reinforce their education. For example, once you’ve taught your employees how to use a tool from your company’s tech stack, make sure you provide a relevant test (or real-life) scenario for them to work through using the tool.

4. Identify knowledge gaps for learners

When an employee lacks the information they need to be able to complete an important business task, a knowledge gap forms. And if it’s not addressed quickly, it will lead to a skills gap and an inability to perform their job well.

To identify employee knowledge gaps, provide different types of skills assessments for them: pre-training, post-training, and self-assessments. Once employees receive the training they need, use video to share your company’s institutional knowledge. 

5. Find ways to track learning

With modern video production platforms, tracking video analytics is easier than ever. In fact, 83% of today’s companies use some form of analytics. Typically, organizations track functionalities like performance (views and engagements, for example) and CTA click-through rates.

For employee training videos, it’s important to see if your employees are watching all the way through and, if not, where they dropped off. Using this knowledge, you can make any necessary adjustments to your training materials.

6 types of training videos

When you’re creating employee training videos, you’ll quickly find out that certain skills are better learned through specific training approaches. Whether your video is lecture-style or an interactive presentation, each type of video serves a unique purpose in your training.

1. Tutorial videos

Tutorial or instructional videos can help your new employees understand step by step how to perform a certain task or follow a process. Great tutorial videos often include interactive visuals, quizzes, annotations, and more to help improve retention.

Even within tutorial videos, there are a couple of different approaches you can take, including:

• Animated videos. These are usually quite short and work well for data visualization, where having a real-life person explain might confuse viewers.
• How-tos. These are the most common type of instructional videos. These explain how to do something, usually in numbered steps.
• Demos. Similar to a “how-to,” demonstrations are what you’ll want to use if you want to show a process or product in action.

Tutorial videos are pretty flexible, and you can cover almost any topic with them.

2. Just-in-time training

Elizabeth Hodos, Senior Sales Enablement Manager at Vimeo, describes just-in-time learning as “serving up information for people when they need it.” She says the most important question to ask is, “What’s the one thing viewers need to remember?” 

With just-in-time training, employees are provided “microlearning” videos at specific touchpoints that help employees learn in the flow of work. This way, they’re more easily able to integrate what they’ve learned into their everyday roles. And since we already know about ol’ Ebbinghaus, we know it’s also important to serve up just-in-time training videos frequently because people will forget.

3. Live virtual trainings

The digital workforce is alive and well, as 97% of employees are open to onboarding virtually. And HR and onboarding teams agree — 69% find live video training to be most effective outside of in-person training. Creating a “virtual classroom” with a live streaming event can be a highly effective way to train a remote team. To best make use of your trainees’ time, consider including some pre-work in the form of presentation decks, reading material, visuals, or instructional video that your teams can sift through before meeting live. 

4. On-demand training

With on-demand training, employees can access video courses from wherever they want and at their own pace. On-demand training is also a great way to reuse and repurpose live training sessions that employees can catch later. Hosting your on-demand videos in a centralized place like a video library can help trainees search and find information quickly.

5. Interactive training

Interactive video is a way to let your employees interact with your training content within the video file itself. According to 47% of marketers, interactive video (and live streaming) is the most effective type of interactive content.

The main thing that sets interactive video apart from other video content is its nonlinear nature. Interactive video allows trainees to jump around and choose their own educational adventure.

6. Screencasts and screen recordings

Screencasts and screen recordings function the same way, but serve different types of training use cases. 

If you want to make short, quick explainer videos around a small computer-based task, screencasts or screen capture videos are for you.

For screencasts, presenters record their screen while explaining or performing a task. These recordings can be shared with specific team members who need them. And while quick explainers are the most obvious use case, there are a few others use cases including:

• Website walkthroughs
• HR explanations
• Project deep-dives
• Technical walkthroughs

These are also some of the easiest and budget-friendly types of training videos to produce and a great way to provide more training material for your team. 

Screen recording is great for capturing longer remote sessions like educational webinars. But if you have in-person presentations like product launches, you’ll also want to record those for playback.

Recording live events to keep inside your internal knowledge base is a great way to ensure valuable sessions are available for everyone, both for those who couldn’t attend and for future employees.

How to create an effective training video

So, now you know what benefits you can get from making training videos and what types you can create. Let’s take a look at the steps involved in training video production.

1. Choose a format

The very first step you need to take when producing a training video is to decide the format for it. Thinking about the types of videos we’ve already gone through, try to match one up with the type of training you want to provide.

One format, for example, can be using Vimeo Record. You can create a screencast-type training video walking the new employee through your customer interface.

However, if you want to use an animated instructional or interactive video (but you perhaps lack the skills of a professional animator), you can check out a Vimeo Create template for employee trainings.

Emma Wishart, Senior Sales Enablement Manager at Vimeo, shared the types of video learning content that work best for training sessions:

• Short-form video
• Repeatable, straightforward “process information” 
• Information that won’t change much (e.g., organizational definitions, etc.)
• Personalized content
• Marketing content that’s professional and inspirational
• Human-focused content

2. Film your video

So, here’s where you’ll start recording your training video unless you opt for an animated one (which you can make with Vimeo Create). In which case, at this step, you’ll be working through your template.

If you’re using Vimeo Record, all you’ll need to do is click on your Vimeo Record Chrome extension, decide if you’re recording just the screen, just the camera, or both, then hit Start Recording.

With other types of videos, like presentation captures or HR onboarding videos, you’ll likely want to invest in high-quality cameras. You might cringe at the initial costs, but you’ll be saving money in the long run since you only need to record these videos once.

3. Editing

The beauty of producing your own training videos is that you’re in control of how they come together. After filming or putting your animations together, you can edit the video files using video editing software.

While you don’t always need a video editor, especially for screen recordings, it can help polish the video up by adding branding, transitions, and editing out speaker pauses.

Some of the best video editing software tools on the market include:

• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Apple Final Cut Pro
• Apple iMovie
• Pinnacle Studio
• CyberLink PowerDirector 365
• Vimeo Create

Any of these tools will help get your video ready to train new employees in no time.

4. Host and distribute your training video to stakeholders

Once your video is filmed and edited to your liking, you’ll need a place to host it and share it with others in your organization.

If you need more privacy (say the training has sensitive company content) or easier ways to organize, find, and share your videos, Vimeo’s Video Library can help you out.

You can make sure your videos are only accessible by specific people or teams and use SSO.

For a free option, you may consider creating or publishing to a YouTube channel dedicated to employee training. Your training videos can be uploaded as YouTube videos, which are pretty easy to share. If you need them to be private, you can always keep the videos unlisted — just be aware that anyone with a link can watch them.

5. Follow up to ensure understanding

The final step in producing training videos is making sure the content does its job. When using videos to train new employees, it might not always be easy to gauge how well they’ve understood the content (unless you’ve included interactive quizzes).

However, one great feature of hosting videos on the Vimeo Video Library is that users who have access can comment on the videos they’re watching to ask questions at specific time codes.

Along similar lines, you can always ask your new employees to comment at the end of the videos or fill out a quick form to say they’ve watched and understood the content of the video. If you end up with lots of questions or feedback, it’s a good indication that you might need to go back over the content of the video and improve it.

Training video templates to try

If you’re still struggling with ideas on how to build an effective training video, you can always try out one of Vimeo’s corporate training video templates. These templates can help you hit the ground running and get a video set up in minutes. Here are a few you can take advantage of:

1. First Day:

The First Day template is a great option to help you give an overview of what an employee can expect on their first day and virtually tour the office.

2. First Six Months

Many new employees worry about expectations in their first few months. Help put their minds at ease with a friendly guide.

3. Workplace Safety

To cover the essentials, you can use the Workplace Safety Training template. You can use this to cover health and safety, food hygiene, fire safety, or any industry-specific safety standards.

Find more templates: Corporate training video templates

Creative training video examples

Before you go ahead and start creating awesome videos, let’s take a look at some examples of creative training videos to help fire up some inspiration.

CDS Agency Training Video

CDS Agency provides a neat and professional onboarding training video with a strong narrator explaining the expectations of its concierges.

Worksafe NZ

This training video covers health and safety in the construction industry. But despite the serious topic, they’ve managed to include humor and engaging graphics to hold your attention.

Greystone & Co

These types of videos help new employees get to know key people in the organization. They can help offer them motivation as well as inspiration from leadership. What’s more, they’re relatively easy to produce.

Training videos FAQ

Use video for your employee training

Video takes your organization’s training program out of the boring slideshow rut and into the modern business world. 

You don’t need a massive budget to create a range of engaging and effective training videos for your new employees. You can even start with an everyday smartphone or recording your screen and webcam using Vimeo Record.

If you’re short on time or you’d rather use a tried-and-tested format, check out the variety of corporate training templates available in Vimeo Create.

Learn how to boost team performance with video

Originally published on October 15, 2021 and updated June 6, 2023.

Employees want to work from anywhere. In fact, 39% of staff members would immediately quit their job if their WFH/WFA options were revoked. According to a Gallup report, only 20% of remote-eligible staff members are currently working in-office and fully on-site. 

With more people working remotely than ever before, businesses need to adapt their internal communications strategy and how they communicate with their teams, regardless of their location. We’re seeing that when companies leverage internal communications tools like video, communication as a whole becomes more effective.

In fact, video-savvy teams were twice as likely to say their organization’s collaborative environment and staff training is “excellent” and 75% more likely to say that they experience “excellent” employee engagement at work.

If you want to energize your workforce, boost team performance, and drive efficiency at your business, consider these five important reasons you should use internal communications videos at your organization.

1. Effectively train and onboard teams

A distributed workforce comes with challenges. A recent report compiled by Vimeo and GlobalWebIndex found that 35% of HR professionals face significant hurdles with training employees virtually.

Insufficient training, onboarding, or sales enablement for current or new employees can have a serious impact on employee productivity, satisfaction, and retention. When team members don’t have a positive experience as a new hire, they’re twice as likely to look for a new job. 

To make sure your team doesn’t miss out on crucial education, mentoring, learning company values, and other insights about company culture, consider virtual training and onboarding videos to amp up your new-hire training.

Building an on demand training hub using high quality video tools can help boost employee training and comprehension. For example, Global coatings company Axalta provides customers with sustainable and innovative solutions — and this passion shines through in their products, practices, and training. For the past few years, Axalta relied on virtual training videos to reach their technical workforce of 13,000 professionals and provide effective internal communications. 

“Technicians don’t always want to travel to our training centers, it’s not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ for our diverse group of learners.”

Steve Hamaday, Virtual Training Manager at Axalta

Important technical training techniques – like the finesse of wielding a spray gun – are best communicated through high-quality visuals. “We found that missing those fractions of a frame was a huge deal for our painters, as they could be missing important learning points.” Steve Hamaday said. Investing in a high quality video hosting platform allowed Axalta’s team to provide the experience and training their teams needed to be successful.

When organizations turn training content into interactive video, they can improve team engagement. And repurposing events as on-demand enablement content allows employees to continue learning, refining skills, and work more productively.

2. Engage a global workforce

An engaged workforce can have a powerful impact on your business. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report states that businesses with engaged workers have 23% higher profits compared to other businesses. To facilitate more connective moments with your teams, you can use video to produce a town hall to highlight your executive team, host an internal virtual live streaming event with speakers and activities, or share important information asynchronously with recorded video.

Scaling corporate communications can feel like a challenge for even the biggest brands. Thankfully, a hunger for innovation coupled with the right tool for corporate communication videos can turn a workforce with thousands of employees into a strong, centralized community.

For example, Rite Aid rewrote its corporate playbook by pivoting from in-person meetings to virtual town halls. The result? The ability to reach more associates and a desire to run more live events. 

“Our first town hall on Vimeo was a pivotal moment that allowed us to reach more associates than we ever could through live, in-person events.”

Peter Strella, Director of Communications & Creative Media Services at Rite Aid

You can create stunning corporate videos, internal communication tools, and other video communications resources with easy-to-use production, editing, and live streaming tools. 

3. Close the communication gap

The data shows a sharp disconnect between senior leadership and employees in how they perceive the effectiveness — and frequency — of their communications. Specifically, 54% of execs say that they stream major company updates at least weekly, while only 20% of employees agree.

To bridge the gap, executives should consider increasing communications across all channels. Just keep in mind that your communications method — creating or doubling down on an internal comms or video marketing strategy — is only as effective as the content of the communication itself. Leadership teams should lean into authenticity and transparency to help get their message across.

“What we hear from employees is that what they want is more frequent communications, but my sense is that what they really want is more transparency.”

Anjali Sud, CEO at Vimeo

Authenticity combined with video creation can have a real impact on the future. Employees at video-forward companies were over 70% more likely to say their company was ready to face the future of work.

Executives have the opportunity to use video to close the communication gap not only through explainer videos but also through:

• Personable screen recordings and message videos that include company updates
• Q&As for global town halls
• Quick, asynchronous communications
• A video library of searchable content

For more executive comms strategies and tips, check out our Workplace Communications Workshop with leaders at Outreach, Meetup, Care.com, and Vimeo.

4. Drive efficiency with internal comms video

Work and collaboration have fundamentally changed over the years. And with that, teams are on the hunt for tools to increase efficiency, streamline communications, and adapt to any workplace environment.

From our experience, we’ve discovered two impactful ways to use video as an employee communication tool and help drive workplace efficiency: live streaming and screen recording.

Live streaming

Both Rite Aid and Paychex found success creating and live streaming company events (like town halls). 

Rite Aid used Vimeo to successfully facilitate its first virtual town hall. Its event was attended virtually by nearly 3,000 corporate and field leadership staff members.

Paychex traded in its travel expenses for live streamed events and reached 10 times more employees than it ever did in person.

Screen recording

The second efficiency driver is screen recording. When you add tools like Vimeo Record into team workflows, it can minimize the number of meetings and provide training opportunities, all while keeping projects moving.

“My team is using Vimeo Record to share product demos internally and to give our customers a preview of what’s launching soon. We love it! It adds a personal touch that you just can’t replicate with email or a chatroom message.”

Trevor Wolfe, Director of Product at Mailchimp

5. Scale knowledge-sharing opportunities

Knowledge sharing is important for nurturing employee growth and happiness. Whether for training, mentoring, or onboarding, employee knowledge that comes from within facilitates employees’ workplace success.

Hosting video recordings in a video library can make information more accessible and provide both new hires and legacy employees with the needed tools to succeed at work.

Our comprehensive guide, The Essential Corporate Comms Toolkit, can help you make sense of how companies of all sizes leverage live video to create engaging meetings for every employee, no matter where they are.

Organizations that are able to centralize their company knowledge effectively maintain consistency between current, new, and future employees. When you add video to your knowledge-sharing culture, those comms become even more efficient.

Wrap-up: Redefine how you work with video

The distributed mindset calls for a change in how you work, communicate, and collaborate with teams. All-in-one video communication solutions and corporate communication tools can help provide secure and flexible communications (and quality video) to keep business moving.

As the definition of where we work changes, don’t get caught up in outdated forms of communication. Reimagine how to make teams successful and bring the tools and transparency that help them achieve their best work. 

Discover more employee communications solutions

Originally published on June 12, 2019 and updated on June 1, 2023.

As today’s workforce continues to evolve — and turnover rates remain steadily high — organizational leadership teams worry about holding top talent. 

In fact, 93% of companies worry about employee retention. A key avenue to promote retention is to provide career growth with development opportunities, training, and sharing domain-specific knowledge.

According to LinkedIn’s 2023 Workplace Learning Report, the primary method leadership teams use to improve employee retention is through learning opportunities. One way to enable more learning opportunities is with knowledge base software. With the right tools and resources at their disposal, teams can get the information they need fast, learn important skills, and grow alongside your business. Similarly, your customers and users can leverage a knowledge base to deepen their understanding of your product using helpful resources.

If you’re looking to add knowledge base software to your tech stack, there are a few things you need to know. Discover knowledge base-ics (dad jokes, anyone?), use cases, benefits, and examples of knowledge base software in this guide.

For internal stakeholders

Managers and leadership teams can improve internal operations — in the following areas — using knowledge base tools.

• Explaining HR processes and legal policies
• Sharing IT and tech information
• Storing brand or sales presentations
• Training and onboarding staff 

Knowledge bases are especially important for employee upskilling, reskilling, and professional development.

For external stakeholders

Your company can use knowledge bases to provide external stakeholders like users and customers with self-service support and 24/7 customer service. This could include:

• Troubleshooting how-tos and guides
• Product and service tutorials
• Contact information
• FAQs

When it comes to self-service options, there’s a gap in what customers want and what businesses think they provide. A recent customer experience report from NICE shows that although 40% of companies believe they have ample customer self-service options, 81% of consumers expect more. According to Zendesk’s 2023 CX Trends report, 37% of customer service agents say customers become noticeably frustrated, stressed, or angry when they can’t complete a simple task without agent assistance. A knowledge base that encourages your customers to self-serve will help increase customer satisfaction and likely reduce service costs, helping to strengthen your bottom line.

What are the uses of a knowledge base?

Typically, a knowledge base will serve one of two core purposes: employee education or customer education.

Employee education

Expanding teams anywhere in the business can be a daunting task for any HR or legal representatives. A knowledge base can store essential training information (for new and existing staff) so that all of the basics are covered.

Customer education

These days, when a customer has a question, the first place they’ll go for an answer is the internet. A knowledge base can be a valuable tool for customers seeking self-service assistance.

Benefits of knowledge base software

There are a lot of great benefits to using knowledge base solutions depending on industry or use case. Streamlining communications, lowering overhead costs, and engaging your audience are a few reasons why businesses invest in knowledge management software. Below, we’ve broken out some key benefits for both.

Internal benefits of knowledge base software

• Lower training costs. When you create a solid knowledge base that’s regularly updated and maintained, you’ll reduce overhead costs associated with basic employee training. Your knowledge base can answer common questions from new hires, helping you reduce how much time (and money) you spend on in-person training.
• Higher customer success rates. When customers get quick answers, it can increase your resolution and success rates considerably. It will also help free up space for more complex customer support tickets and serve as your customers’ “single source of truth.”

External benefits of knowledge base software 

• 24/7 customer service. A common pain point customers go through is not being able to contact support teams outside of office hours. Knowledge base software helps solve that problem since it lets your support services “stay open” 24/7.
• Better customer experience. Has your team ever thought a customer query was simple but had to spend several minutes (or even hours?) helping solve it by phone or email? When the customer can self-serve using knowledge base software, they can get their queries answered immediately.
• Easy to host. Building and maintaining a knowledge base on your website is relatively simple with the right tools.

Three knowledge base examples

There are many great examples of public knowledge bases from both an organizational and a customer perspective. While these examples may differ in design specifics, they all share a few common features:

• Internal search engine and search bar
• Topical (or customizable) organization
• Contact information

Here are our favorite knowledge base examples you can use to find inspiration for building a knowledge base for your organization’s content management needs.

1. Toggl Track

If you’re into productivity tools, chances are you might have come across Toggl Plan, a time-tracking tool to help you figure out where your time really goes. Currently, its knowledge base is organized simply by topic, which then includes subtopics related to using its product.

Interestingly, it has a different knowledge base for each of its products, which can be a pro or a con depending on the user’s perspective. If someone wants to get a bird’s-eye view of the available solutions, they may prefer a consolidated knowledge base.

2. ManyChat

If you’ve ever encountered a chatbot powered by Facebook Messenger or Instagram (collectively known as Meta Platforms), there’s a strong chance that the website or social media page used ManyChat to build it. Building a chatbot can seem pretty daunting. ManyChat knows this, so it has a large knowledge base to help boost the user experience.

It covers topics from the basics of using its product to more advanced topics like using widgets, plugins, and API dev tools. So if you’re building a chatbot-based knowledge base for your organization, ManyChat has a ton of resources to help.

3. Vimeo

Of course, Vimeo also has some extensive knowledge base content where customers can get information on just about everything Vimeo. Users can find anything, from uploading creative videos, learning how to live stream, to different ways of watching Vimeo video content.

For internal teams, Vimeo uses a video library to store video content. Creating a hub of internal content, events, resources, and updates allows teams to organize, share, and find video content easily and intuitively.

Three questions to ask before you create a knowledge base

Since knowledge bases can differ according to the needs of your business (and its internal and external audiences), we’ll cover three main considerations to take into account when creating one.

1. Should I use video in my knowledge base?

Many people consider themselves visual learners and prefer to see exactly what you’re talking about rather than reading about it. It’s a good idea to incorporate video (and video transcriptions and captions) into your knowledge base wherever possible. 

You may want to consider using video in your knowledge base if your content:

• is easier to “show” than “tell”
• has high traffic or requires frequent access
• benefits from an emotional connection or “human touch”
• does not change often
• includes many smaller pieces of content (e.g., documenting a process over time)

Video content can be used in a number of ways, including:

• Introducing or launching a new product or service
• Explaining a process (e.g., “how-to” videos)
• Demonstrating a use case or a product or service

You can turn existing content into videos and embed them on the same page (and host them in a video library) to help give customers a choice of how they want to learn.

In this case, it’s usually worth having a dedicated knowledge management team or person who works to create and maintain these videos.

2. Should I build an internal or external knowledge base?

Deciding whether to create an internal or external knowledge base depends on your audience and use case. Below, we’ve outlined some of the key benefits of both types.

We’ve discussed the overall uses for internal knowledge bases, but it’s worth getting a bit more specific. If you’re trying to figure out if you should build an internal knowledge base, first determine if you need to accomplish one of the following.

Staff onboarding:

• An internal knowledge base is a great place to talk about employee benefits, products or services, and company guidelines.
• An internal directory can let new employees feel more confident about asking the right people for help if the knowledge base doesn’t cover their questions.
• The base can also store blank versions of legal and HR documentation for onboarding purposes and review, saving time on both sides.

Staff training:

• Creating standardized workflows can help with initial staff training and serve as a reference point when they forget the information (happens to all of us).
• Knowledge teams can create videos on how to properly use any of the company systems and cover common troubleshooting issues.
• When you release a new product, service, or feature, you can use the internal base to keep demonstrations and key bullet points for staff members to reference.

3. What is the best knowledge base software?

The short answer is that it depends on your answers to the above questions, and different knowledge base software options offer various features to serve those needs. In general, ask yourself the following questions to find out the best fit for you:

1. How much does the software cost, and does it fit within our budget?
2. Can it assign different levels of access for specific users?
3. Is it easy to navigate?
4. Does the software include any metrics or reporting features?
5. Do we need to worry about integration?
6. Do we need community forum functionality included?

Getting answers to these questions will help you narrow down the list of options.

Knowledge base FAQs

Creating a knowledge base is probably easier than you think

Now you have a broad understanding of what a knowledge base software is and the benefits of a knowledge management solution. Depending on your use case, you may consider an internal knowledge base, external knowledge base, or both. Implementing a knowledge management solution is a great way to provide the knowledge autonomy your employees and customers want. 

Put your internal and external stakeholder resources to good use by building your own knowledge hub with the help of a developer or with a secure, enterprise video solution.

Tour Vimeo’s Video Library solution today

Originally published August 15, 2022. Updated May 24, 2023.

All hands meetings are a key element of an internal communications strategy. When done right, they align teams and provide a healthy forum for feedback and conversation. They can also help employees understand how their role and work fits into the bigger picture.  

But there’s a catch. When orchestrated poorly, these meetings can be unengaging at best or uninformative at worst. 

So for business leaders looking to bring all hands on deck, how do you strike the right balance for your meeting?

In this guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to know about all hands meetings. We’ll also lay out a few tips on how Vimeo runs our all hands meetings to help you confidently produce yours in a remote or hybrid working world. 

What is an all hands meeting?

An all hands meeting — sometimes referred to as a town hall — brings an entire organization together virtually or in-person to discuss company-wide updates. 

Usually an executive leader (think your chief operating officer or chief executive officer) leads with an agenda full of company updates, new projects, team shoutouts, and designated time for Q&A.

Why are all hands meetings important?

Think about it. Without a recurring all hands meeting or town hall, it’s likely that employees will gather information ad hoc across the org. Information might disseminate piecemeal or even get misinterpreted. 

Additionally, employees need a venue to ask questions and get a sense of how the company is operating in other areas where they’re not involved.

Thankfully, all hands meetings have the power to bring teams together. By sharing information in a designated meeting, executives can foster transparency and get real-time feedback to help their employees stay connected wherever they are. 

What’s the difference between an in-person and virtual all hands meeting?

The biggest difference between an in-person all hands and a virtual one is that virtual all hands meetings are broadcast or live streamed to employees.

Virtual all hands meetings pack a punch, too. They provide organizations with much needed flexibility to include remote teams regardless of where they’re located. 

With businesses operating in a remote or and hybrid work environment, it’s more important than ever to stay connected. Video brings a sense of routine, support, and community for dispersed teams.

Why virtual all hands are essential to internal comms

Virtual all hands help keep teams aligned and engaged. Like their in-office counterparts, virtual all hands meetings (or virtual town halls) are venues for business updates, employee spotlights, and an opportunity for leaders to field questions (and drop a shout out or two!).

But remember: a successful all hands meeting, whether in-person or virtual, depends on a thoughtful implementation. A recent study we conducted with Global Web Index found that 54% of executives believe their organizations are streaming weekly updates, while only 20% of their workforce agree. Evidently, this represents a disconnect!

To help you cross the internal communications chasm, we’ve gathered 8 tips from Vimeo’s COO, Courtney Sanchez, on how to plan the best all hands meeting.

How to run a great all hands meeting in 8 steps

1. Plan your meeting in advance

To keep your virtual all hands meeting on track, take a step back and think like a producer. This means planning, planning, and just a little more planning. A lot of behind-the-scenes action happens to make each virtual meeting a smash.

Start by drafting a proposed agenda and circulating it to relevant stakeholders in advance. Confirming the agenda, meeting flow, and presenters can come down to the wire, so make sure your stakeholders understand your timeline.

Next, if you have a production or AV team supporting the broadcast, launch a test stream the morning of to make sure you’re ready to go!

As an example, Vimeo uses an easy, two-step planning sequence. First, we circulate a draft of the agenda to the leadership team a week in advance and solicit feedback. Next, our production team does a test run of the live stream to iron out any technical kinks ahead of time. Then, it’s showtime!

2. Host your all hands meeting on specific topics

The best all hands meeting facilitates transparent dialogue and creates an inclusive environment where employees can participate. To create an inclusive and engaging environment, Vimeo has found a lot of success in hosting our all hands meetings on very specific topics.

To do this, you’ll want to identify topics that are most engaging to employees and omit anything that’s less important.

For example, if you’re getting an overflow of questions at the end of your meeting, you may want dedicated live Q&A sessions. If several employees are reaching out with questions about a specific topic — a follow-up meeting focused on that topic would likely resonate with them.

We also host additional town halls on specific topics where there is a need. These tend to be less structured, with open mics for employees to express support or concern.

Courtney Sanchez, COO at Vimeo

3. Increase your all hands meeting frequency

Given the reality of remote work, it’s likely your organization can benefit from increased meeting frequency to keep communication flowing.

In the last year, Vimeo has recognized the need for a more frequent cadence to address the entire team. Thus, the newly branded All Vimeo Live Town Halls go live every other week. The intent is to have less formal meetings that allow leadership to provide updates on the current environment, the business, and address employee concerns.

It also makes sense that the execution of a virtual all hand has changed. We’ve shifted to primarily remote production even if the prep work for both virtual and in-person all hands meeting has remained unchanged. You’ll also need to consider the implications of not being able to see the reactions from all your employees in a remote setting.

With remote work and the reality of social distancing, we recognized the need for a more frequent cadence to address the entire team.

Courtney Sanchez, COO at Vimeo

Learn how executives lean into new communications strategies with the Workplace Communications Workshop.

4. Plan meeting activities

A big challenge during remote work is maintaining a sense of belonging. As you plan your meeting, consider how to weave in social activities. Think of easy ideas like virtual happy hours, trivia games, lunch & learns, and Slack challenges.

For example, Vimeo hosts video get-togethers where Vimeans introduce their pets, and “guess the virtual background” competitions. It’s all part of Vimeo Virtual, a global events program to provide our teams with opportunities to connect with, learn from, and support one another.

In addition to meetups like show and tells, we host sessions on diversity, equity and inclusion. Consider ways you can branch out of the standard meeting agenda and find topics and themes to excite your team.

5. Use surveys to get feedback

We’ve learned that collecting feedback after a virtual all hands is critical. You’ll likely notice in your next company sync that it’s difficult to gauge reactions during a live broadcast.

To create valuable feedback loops, send surveys, identify candid individuals within the org, and ask new employees for insights into what they liked and examples of what they liked from previous organizations. Add the feedback as you test new modules and approaches in future meetings.

6. Keep employees engaged by showing your face

Engaging remote employees is challenging. Digital fatigue is real. That’s why it’s so important for leaders to be candid and show their face to employees. Encourage leaders to address topics or issues directly in the meeting materials rather than waiting to see if it will show up in the Q&A.

Remember: it’s okay for leaders to be vulnerable, as it demonstrates empathy and a willingness to be real. Candor keeps employees engaged and motivated, particularly in times of uncertainty.

From a virtual all hands standpoint, we’ve found that it’s important to show our faces, versus just audio and a slide deck. It builds a sense of human connection in a digital world.

Courtney Sanchez, COO at Vimeo

7. Incorporate company values in your internal communications strategy

To make a stand-out meeting, incorporate your company values with honesty and integrity.

Vimeo’s values influence our internal communications strategy immensely. Empathy, impact, and candor are critical pillars of our internal communications strategy. We open every all hands with a “What’s Working/What’s Not (Yet)” framework to be transparent on where we are making an impact as a team and where we need to improve.

We end each all hands with an anonymous, open Q&A to encourage every voice that wants to be heard. Often, this results in our leadership team tackling challenging topics openly and honestly. We’re committed to this approach as we believe it’s the best way to work through challenges as a team.

An open Q&A often leads to our leadership team tackling challenging topics openly and honestly. It’s something we have committed to doing, as we believe it is the best way to work through those challenges as a team.

Courtney Sanchez, COO at Vimeo

8. Measure your success

After every all hands we immediately post a poll for the team to provide feedback. Success is most often measured by two questions:

• Do you have a better understanding of Vimeo’s strategy, performance, and goals?
• Was our all-hands a worthwhile time investment?

We also request feedback on the all hands materials, as we always strive to hone in on topics and themes important to the team, topics we didn’t address and should have, or any additional feedback.

Wrap up: all hands on deck!

We’re all adapting to a new remote working environment. Embrace the learnings and continue refining your internal comms process with these helpful tips:

• Plan your all hands meetings in advance.
• Host meetings on specific topics.
• Increase your all hands meeting frequency.
• Spice it up with virtual activities and challenges.
• Capture important feedback with surveys.
• Show your face.
• Bring your values into the comms strategy.
• Keep measuring success.

Planning your own virtual or in-person all hands meeting? Vimeo’s live production team can help with guidance and consulting to make it a success.

Work smarter with video →

Originally published on April 14, 2020 and updated on August 8, 2022.

Wondering how to look good on Zoom or your next big virtual event? You may think it takes a lot of work to look good on video, but the truth is it doesn’t. A few tweaks to your background and a wardrobe check can instantly help you refine your on-screen appearance.

Ready to learn? We’ve got 10 easy tips for you to try out today – no big budget required.

Looking your best on a Zoom call or your next panel discussion leaves you feeling confident, which is essential for your productivity and for putting your best self forward. 

As you get ready to go live, make sure you not only examine your wardrobe, but also your background, camera position, lighting, and audio.

10 tips on how to look good on Zoom or a virtual event

1. Choose neutral colors

Solid, neutral colors like lavender, lemon yellow, and beige are the best colors to wear on camera.

The key, however, is to pick a color that compliments your skin tone. This helps you stand out as it makes sure your face is clearly visible according to Brian McEuen, the founder of On Brand who has worked as the Director of Merchandising at Banana Republic, too.

McEuen advises, “For people with lighter skin, wear a darker colored top like navy, dark gray, or olive green. Lighting can be tricky on computer cameras, so you want to make sure your face stands out on the call. If you have darker skin, the inverse suggestion works.”

Another pro tip is to pick a color that contrasts with your background. Why? Because this saves you from showing as a floating head on camera. So remember to use deeply saturated, contrasting colors.

2. Dress to feel confident

In addition to choosing colors that compliment your skin tone, plan to wear what makes you feel confident.

At Vimeo, we love blazers, blouses, collared shirts without ties, pullovers, and the like.

McEuen adds to this: “You know the nature of your call best, but to stay professional, I would advise wearing a shirt with a collar. Not only will your audience take you more seriously, but also dressing like you would for going into the office can increase your own productivity.”

3. Avoid loud prints and patterns

Reginald Ferguson of New York Fashion Geek warns against wearing patterns on Zoom calls. “Certain patterns like houndstooth create a ‘buzz’ on screen.”

Ferguson attributes this ‘buzz’ to the Moiré effect. This effect occurs when an object like an article of clothing consists of fine, repetitive details that go undetected on camera. For viewers, it can create the illusion of wavy and disorienting patterns.

Ferguson also recommends you pair contrasting colors. “For example, a light blue shirt with a gray sweater vest is a strong statement. It’s welcoming to the eye.”

4. Opt for natural lighting

Position yourself in front of the window so it’s not behind you or on your side as that can leave shadows on your face on camera.

Working from another time zone? Grab a lamp and position it in front of you — behind the camera so it throws light on your face.

It’s best if you can get another lamp too — it doesn’t have to be as bright as the one you are using. The plan: create a 2-point lighting set up by positioning the light sources beside the camera or webcam — whatever you’re using — facing each other from opposite angles.

When you’re ready to level up, create a 3-point lighting set up. 

5. Frame the scene

While how you look on screen is important, it’s not the only thing your colleagues will see. You should also consider how your video is framed, including your distance from the camera, your background, and any objects in the scene. 

Begin by distancing yourself from the webcam because it tends to have a wide angle, which can create a fish-eye effect. The result? Your face appears stretched on the outside and bloated in the middle.

• Keep the camera at arm’s length and position yourself against a flat surface
• Keep the camera at arm’s length but add some interest with a colorful throw and plants

Heads-up: If you are relying on the mic in your laptop, you shouldn’t add a lot of distance between you and your workspace because that’ll compromise the audio quality.

Strive for a neutral background with simple décor, like plants or a colorful throw, to add visual interest. Just be mindful to keep things tidy and professional, to prevent your background from becoming too distracting.

6. Position your camera

To look your best, position your camera at eye level. If your camera is positioned too low, the angle of your face will be unflattering. Position the camera too high and your viewers won’t be able to see your expressions.

To optimize your camera angle, invest in an adjustable laptop or monitor stand. If not, a stack of books can help you prop up your screen so that the camera is eye level.

And while we’re at it, here’s some more advice: look directly into the webcam — not at the person you’re on call with to mimic eye contact. Of course, you’ll need to look at the person to gauge their reaction. But alternate that by looking at the camera.

Pro tip: Hide your own video during the call. This saves you from getting distracted and fixing your hair every now and then.

7. Keep noise-making devices at a reasonable distance from the microphone

Your microphone is likely to pick up the ambient noise (like fans, air conditioning, or cats meowing) in your space. Be conscious of distracting noise in your space.

If you can, position ambient noise devices away from the computer microphone or turn them off. As a best practice, always put your microphone or audio on mute when you’re not speaking.

8. Improve your workspace’s acoustic absorption

Instead of taking calls from empty rooms, take your calls from rooms with window drapes, rugs, carpets, and furniture. The reason? Sounds echo in empty or sparsely furnished rooms. Having furniture in a room means there are surfaces that absorb some of the sound, and help reduce background noise.

Want to create a quiet space with no echo? Hang a rug or blanket behind you so it absorbs the sound while also controlling outdoor noises.

Another way to cut back background noise: place rolled up towels under your room’s door(s) that may have space under it. This will dull the voices coming through.

9. Mind the audio

Another way to look good on Zoom calls is to optimize your audio quality.

To this end, it’s best to use a headset with a microphone as that puts the mic close to you. So it mostly only picks up your voice — not the noisy background.

If you’re using your laptop’s inbuilt microphone, don’t sit too far from your laptop. Also, remember: when you aren’t talking, put yourself on mute. Choosing the mute-by-spacebar option is super convenient for this.

10. Test your video before the call

And, finally, it’s important you preview your video before joining a virtual meeting. This’ll help you check your lighting, the background, and the frame.

The goal? Make sure your frame is well-lit, the background is clutter-free, and nothing about your clothing or frame is interrupting viewers’ attention.

To test your video before joining a Zoom call, click on your profile picture and tap Settings. Then select Video. This will show you a preview from the selected camera. If there’s another camera available, select it to review your video from it.

Wrap up: how to look good on Zoom

Here’s a recap of the key things to remember:

What to wear on camera:

• Solid, neutral colors that complement your skin tone and contrast with the background.
• Collared shirts or whatever makes you comfortable. Avoid patterns as they can look distracting.

Camera, background, and lighting settings:

• Add distance between yourself and the camera so your face doesn’t look bloated.
• Position against a flat background for a professional conference. Add a plant or some colorful art in the frame to make it interesting, but not cluttered.
• Use natural lighting or lamps positioned in front of you.

Zoom call audio settings:

• Make sure the microphone is close to you so it picks your voice best. Mute calls when not speaking.
• Take calls from a quiet room or use blankets, towels, and other sound absorbing accessories to reduce echo and outdoor noise.

Want to dive deeper into building your skills as a presenter or virtual event speaker? Check out our easy webinar speaker guideline for a quick list on what to do.

Download the webinar speaker guidebook

Swag bag? Check. New product demo? Check. New go to market plan? Check. SKO is the event designed to celebrate a sales team’s success, provide training for newly launched features, and align on goals for the coming year. It’s an opportunity to give teams the tools they need to reach quotas and crush targets.

In the past year, the biggest challenge for many enablement teams was shifting the SKO experience online using video and live streaming. Keeping a sales team engaged during back to back presentations is hard enough. Throw in a distributed team tuning in from home and it’s a whole other ball game.

So how do you run a successful (virtual) SKO? In this article, we’ll walk through 8 steps you can take to maximize the impact of your next kickoff long after the event ends.

What is an SKO event?

SKO stands for sales kickoff. It’s an all-day, sales enablement event designed to bring the sales org together. Sessions cover best practices, product updates, customer stories in addition to team bonding activities to jump start a new sales year.

What’s the value of an SKO?

There are two main benefits to a sales kickoff. First, it aligns the team on important company goals and targets. Second, it’s the perfect venue to provide tools, demos, and talks that motivate and excite sales to go out and sell.

While beautifully crafted presentations, team building exercises, and comprehensive training are all a must, the most important part of an SKO is providing actionable ways for teams to reach their goals. The last thing you want to hear is that your sales team feels SKOs are a waste of time that are better used for customer calls and selling.

Training events like SKO can positively impact business KPIs. Research from The Bridget Group indicates more than half (55%) of sales people lack foundational sales skills. Training is imperative on many levels. While high performing sales reps bring in big deals, reporting shows a 5% performance gain from mid pack sellers can yield almost 70% more revenue compared to a 5% performance gain in the top 20% of sellers (The Bridge Group, 2018). It’s more important than ever to keep the entire team engaged and productive.

That’s where video comes in. Creating a dedicated video library with resources and follow-up materials in addition to regular workshops will help the team retain and leverage all the great things they’ve learned.

How to run an SKO

1. Define your SKO goals

Before diving headfirst into the planning stage, align teams on the purpose and goals of the event. For example, if there’s a business goal of reaching millions of closed won deals over the next few quarters—leverage your SKO as a way to empower your team. Provide context, resources, training, and a timeline to help your sales organization understand what success looks like so they can grow the business.

2. Align sales and marketing teams

Sales and marketing alignment are critical for revenue generating businesses. But sometimes, it can be hard for sales, marketing, and other teams to work in tandem. A common friction point between sales and marketing is lead generation and qualification.

So how do you bridge the gap between these two orgs? First, invite your marketing team to the SKO. This will help the sales team understand how marketing plans to reach new customers. It will also provide marketing with an easy forum to field feedback and questions.

Need a way to get teams talking? Try different icebreakers and virtual networking activities to break up more information-heavy sessions.  And be sure to build in communication tools when going live. If you plan to have a virtual component to your SKO, leverage live chat and Q&A tools to foster communication. Rite Aid was able to build highly engaging town halls to reach their associates across the globe.

“Our first town hall on Vimeo was a pivotal moment that allowed us to reach more associates than we ever could through live, in-person events. People were excited to engage in a modern, easy, fun way.

Peter Strella, Director, Communications & Creative Media Services at Rite Aid

3. Curate the SKO agenda

Keep your agenda short and relevant. As a starting point, focus on how you want the sales teams to feel. Shawn Fowler, SalesLoft’s Director of Sales Enablement, suggests planning your agenda by answering three questions:

• How do I want the team to feel when it’s over?
• What do I want the team to do when it’s over?
• What do I want the team to know it’s over?

Additionally, schedule sessions in a way that builds on team excitement and momentum. For example, start off with a high level keynote from an executive. Highlight employee success stories to set a positive tone throughout the day. Then, close out the night with employee awards and recognition.

Make sure information is succinct and digestible. Split content into different sessions depending on the topic like what’s working, what’s not (yet) working, customer communications, and productivity strategies. Combine that with role playing, group exercises, and a few guest speakers to build engaging and diverse experiences.

Finally, get the team excited by sending out the agenda a day or two before.  If you really want to get creative, create a basic event landing page with the full agenda, schedule, music, and a video recording from leadership.

4. Check your tech requirements

Before going live, make sure you have the right equipment to produce a seamless experience. Here’s a quick list of things you’ll need to live stream an SKO:

• Audio mixer, switcher, and encoder. The audio mixer, switcher, and encoder all help you capture the audio and video sources to broadcast out to your audience. Just remember to test your setup.
• Camera and tripods. A camera is essential to record all the video content from your SKO. Mount your camera on a tripod for a steady capture. If you plan to use multiple cameras, pre-set them on tripods positioned for your desired shots.
• Lighting. Lighting is key for illuminating your speakers. Natural sunlight is an easy and free way to get beautiful light on any speaker. The challenge is keeping sunlight controlled. A light bounce or reflector can help fill in shadows to create more even lighting. You can also consider ring lights to support different lighting environments.
• The right streaming platform. When evaluating streaming platforms, consider your content and team interactivity. Launching a poll? Moderating a live Q&A or chat? You’ll want to invest in a platform that supports your SKO plan.
• Privacy and security. Security is paramount when it comes to internal communications. Be sure to use a solutions with robust security features like SSO and permissions based access to content.
• Closed captions. Accessibility is key when trying to reach a wide audience. Be prepared by providing closed captions for all your video content. Bonus points if your team can search the content post-event!
• Production team. Managing a virtual SKO can be intimidating, especially during your first go. Consider investing in a professional team to help you impress your employees and give you peace of mind.

New to live streaming? We have a beginners guide on how to live stream and a handy list of equipment to review before taking your SKO online. 

5. Test your virtual SKO experience

Aim to run through the entire cycle of your SKO beforehand. Play all your content including video, graphics, and polls. Have your presenters participate so they’re familiar with both the flow and logistics of the event. 

6. Welcome feedback

Give your teams the opportunity to provide feedback post-event with a survey, NPS, or a follow-up meeting. Including rating options for training sessions and team bonding activities can help you optimize the agenda and content for the next event. This lets your team know that you care about their experience and are constantly looking to improve. The feedback also provides a benchmark to understand how successful your SKO enablement plan looks over time.

7. Create a video library of SKO content

When training your global team, reinforcement is essential. Studies show that without reinforcement, 87% of training can be lost within 90 days.  Providing follow-up materials and creating resources like a dedicated video library will help the team retain and reuse information for later. You can even implement regular workshops to refresh and refine learnings post-SKO.

“Being able to present and store videos and live streams on a branded, Netflix-like homepage allows us to deliver important messages in a way that captivates our team and makes it easy to find relevant content fast.”

Rainar Aasrand AV Engineer, Wise (formerly Transferwise)

8. Don’t be afraid to get creative

At the end of the day, you want your SKO to be inspirational and actionable. Don’t be afraid to get creative! Give your SKO a theme. Send champagne or swag ahead of the date. If you plan to host an awards ceremony, send physical awards and a personal note to top performers. The goal is to make it as engaging, fun, and inclusive as possible!

Once we had a tool like Vimeo, the focus on content became much, much easier. What it really did for our team was boost our creativity. Because we could share content in HD, we were sharing marketing ads, commercials, and Q&As to build engagement and have a dialogue.

Joel Basa, Creative Services Manager, Paychex

Wrap up: Go big for SKO

A high performing sales team is critical for a successful business. Live streaming your SKO can help you reach your team across the globe. And while there’s no magic bullet for retaining training and programming, a video library can ensure resources are accessible wherever and whenever your team needs them most.

Power you sales team with video

Have you ever wondered how to structure and create internal communications or virtual events that grab peoples’ attention?

You know the type. Informal and engaging talks, unlike the ones that sound like a stern lecture from a parent. 

In this article, you’ll learn about how fireside chats, a unique presentation format, allow you to make your conferences, meets-and-greets, and other events more enjoyable for all participants.

Together, we’ll explore the history of fireside chats, the benefits you can derive from it, and tips that can help you successfully organize a fireside chat of your own.

The history of fireside chats

Between 1933 and 1944, America was in a relative state of turmoil and unease. There was the Great Depression, and in the later years, the Second World War. 

During that period, President Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR) delivered 30 radio addresses known as the fireside chats. These addresses were aimed at alleviating the anxiety of Americans because of the Depression and the World War.

Although he was speaking over the radio, millions around the United States felt as if President Roosevelt was sitting with them in front of their living room’s fireplace. FDR became more than just a picture they saw on the TV. He became real to them. FDR’s fireside chats were so popular that the White House received 10X more inbound mails every week.

Fireside chats in the 21st century

A lot has changed since the 1930s. We now have video, email, the internet, and so many other means of communication. 

But despite these changes, a fireside chat’s purpose remains the same — to make everyone feel relaxed and leave the audience with more information than they had before.

If you are interested in holding a fireside chat to address your company, you need to ensure that your audience can trust and see you as a real person, just as millions did with FDR. 

Benefits of fireside chats

The original FDR fireside chats were an incredible success.  They calmed the nerves of many Americans and lifted an entire nation’s spirits. 

Granted, you might not have the same resources or access that FDR had, but fireside chats today still offer a ton of benefits. Here are just a few:

1. Share useful information with an audience.

Fireside chats often come in question and answer formats, making the audience think about the questions being asked. By answering these questions during the conversation, the guest will impart useful information to your audience.

2. Reduces pressure on guests

Since these chats are conversations, invited speakers will be at ease. Many people are uncomfortable being the center of attention, making fireside chats excellent because the focus is on more than one person.

3. Creates closer connections between your guest and audience

The informal setting establishes an affinity between the speaker and the audience. And with the speaker feeling more comfortable, they would be more inclined to delve into topics and share their knowledge with the audience.

Fireside chat formats

You can only enjoy the benefits of a fireside chat if you use the right format. With that in mind, here are some of the most common fireside chat formats to model yours after.

Live fireside chats

Like a TED talk, these live fireside chats happen right in front of an auditorium or conference room full of people.

The difference, of course, is that there are usually two or more persons seated in front of the audience.

Virtual fireside chats

Any event planner or producer knows that staying flexible is critical – especially when bringing together an in-person, virtual, or hybrid audience. Lockdowns and health protocols may have made it difficult to predict where people can gather in-person, but that doesn’t mean a fireside chat can’t go live.

Instead of using a physical location, you can explore the virtual fireside chat format. Your audience has the benefit of tuning in from anywhere around the world to listen to you and your guests. Your guests will also have the benefit of broadcasting wherever they are making it easier to source speakers who may not be able to attend otherwise.

You can still hold a live fireside chat for your company even if conducted virtually – just be sure to equip yourself with a top-notch professional live streaming platform or check out an all-in-one virtual events solution to bring your broadcasts live.

Pre-recorded fireside chats

Aren’t fireside chats supposed to be live? It’s not set in stone. And there are merits to using the pre-recorded fireside format. 

One merit is that you can easily edit and fine-tune the conversation to remove parts you deem unnecessary with pre-recorded chats. 

Also, you can engage fully with your audience in that comment section as the presentation is going on.

Tips on how to organize a fireside chat

Here are some tips that can assist you in making a success of your fireside chats.

1. Choose the right “players”

Not all speakers and moderators are equal. Some are excellent at fielding media inquiries, while others are more comfortable talking to large groups. To get the right guest, look for someone exciting, with the ability to hold the audience’s attention with their words and disposition.

Since you want the guests to open up, you must have a capable moderator or interviewer who can ask the right questions and keep the chat on a captivating path.

2. Prepare in advance

Your goal is to leave your audience with fewer questions than they came with while you want an informal setting. Thus, the moderator should be well prepared. Prepare the right questions in advance (more on the best fireside chat questions later). Also, send these questions to the guest/guests ahead of time so that they can prepare as well.

Preparation also involves knowing the critical points of the chat and creating the right structure in advance. Logically organize questions and topics. A conversation without direction will leave the audience wondering why they are wasting time attending the chat when they could be doing something else.

It might be helpful to peruse past fireside chats, panel discussions, or town halls your company has conducted to get a feel for the process. A video library to store internal videos can be helpful in centralizing past video content your company has produced.

Create and track milestones to make your discussions easy to follow.

3. Make it interactive

To get the best from a fireside chat, you should make the chat as interactive as you can. For example, when building a webinar presentation, it’s important to create an interactive discussion that involves bringing the audience into the conversation. Let your audience ask questions, host polls, and allow them some leeway in directing the conversation.

If you like, you could set aside time for a question-and-answer session. To ensure a high-quality level, you can decide who will send questions in advance and go over these questions.

As this is a fireside chat, allowing audience participation will not be as disruptive as in a formal setting. However, try to avoid questions that might make the guest uncomfortable.

Questions to ask in a fireside chat

The best questions in the fireside chat format are asked for the audience’s benefit.  If you keep the audience in mind, you are well on your way to asking excellent questions.

Here are some personal fireside chat questions to ask your guests to get the ball rolling:

• How do you relax?
• What is your biggest challenge?
• Do you have a morning ritual or routine?
• What legacy would you like to leave behind?
• Who has had the most influence on your life and why?

Personal questions like these can create a human-to-human connection between your guests and the audience.

Another great category of questions is work-related questions. Some of these include:

• What are the major challenges in the industry?
• What do you foresee as the future of the industry?
• What advice do you have for newbies in the industry?
• What change would you like to happen in your industry?

Why hold a fireside chat for your company?

Fireside chats create new levels of connection within teams and companies. Event audiences across the globe also benefit from hearing speakers share their stories and break new ground in topics of interest. While the technology or produce these events virtually might seem challenging, the work is well worth it. Fireside chats can improve your company’s transparency, collaboration, and connection.

Live streaming and virtual event tools like Vimeo are excellent ways to hold your next discussion. Vimeo offers all-in-one virtual event solutions to empower anyone to produce a stunning fireside chat.

Go live with your next fireside chat

Originally published on April 14, 2021 and updated on November 11, 2021.

What prompted Splash to use live video for its internal communications strategy?

What platforms have you used to live stream your internal comms?

Is that what sparked your interest in Vimeo Enterprise?

We started using Vimeo because it's what we found to be the highest quality, clearest picture stream. As we used Vimeo more for internal comms, we started looking into how we could be more secure with it, too.

What has your team’s feedback been with using a Showcase page with SSO?

That’s great to hear. What does your internal communications strategy look like now that you’ve been at it for a few months?

Our internal events are things that we don't want just our New York employees to see. We want our entire company to be a part of it.

How has partnering with Vimeo changed the way your team communicates across time zones and countries?

See how Splash grew with Vimeo →