What Is Silent Video?

If you follow any business on Facebook, you have probably seen silent videos and may have become accustomed to that format when it comes to marketing a product or service.

You may also know that this type of video marketing is effective as video production companies around the world are using silent video successfully to market everything from cars to clothing. But just what is silent video and does it have a role in your professional training videos? Let's take a closer look.

What is a Silent Video?
The term silent video may be misunderstood by those outside the advertising circle and that is for good reason. Firstly, the term silent doesn't mean that the video is devoid of any audio track. There is background music which may be used to energise the viewer or evoke another emotion that could help create a sale. Let's relate this concept to a corporate training video. Many training video production companies create silent videos which may, at first, seem like a mistake until the audio track begins and the viewer begins to focus more on the content that the sound. Could this confuse the trainee or put them off in some way? Do they really want to sit through a corporate training video and have to read subtitles rather than have an announcer or host speak directly to them?

Studies have shown that leaving out the voice track, when done right, can actually have a positive effect on learning and enable the trainee to retain more of the information.

How Can This Be Done Properly?
How can a video production company create a training video using the silent video concept and still engage the viewer? Every video marketing agency has a series of best practices that they follow to ensure they create effective and relevant content. Included in these best practices are techniques that use striking visuals and exceptional text descriptions to sell a product. This concept can also be used to sell and idea or information such as in a corporate training video. If the right words in the proper context are used, the trainee would engage better and get more out of the video. Video marketing agencies will use silent videos as a tool that management can use to prepare new hires and give them the knowledge they will need to perform their jobs properly.

Why Limit Audio?
If audio limitations do not bind corporate video production companies, then why limit the audio in the first place? Shouldn't they want to tell a story? The answer is in the narrative itself. If you have ever sat through a boring lecture, you already know that listening to someone else talk takes some mental effort. Still, with live training, there is something that keeps you from nodding off or ignoring the message being given. With video, that aspect isn't there and trainees could miss out on the intended message. It is for this reason that quality content is needed when creating the audio narrative. Quality content leads to curiosity and curiosity is motivation with great potential to enhance learning.

The question, then, remains. Does silent video have a role in corporate training? With the right video marketing agency, we say yes. Contact a professional corporate training video agency such as Southwest Film today and be sure to ask questions and find out what we have to offer.

www.southwestfilm.co.uk

Article credit: South West Film.

(JP/MH)