The basis for the A&E television show The First 48 is an excellent metaphor for creating videos for training.
The short description for the popular television show is as follows: “For homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking the moment they are called. Their chance of solving a case is cut in half if they don’t get a lead in THE FIRST 48™. Each passing hour gives suspects more time to flee, witnesses more time to forget what they saw, and crucial evidence more time to be lost forever.”
Let’s revise the shows brief description for a training development scenario: “For training managers, the clock starts ticking the moment their course is started. Their chance of success in their new e-learning course is cut in half if they don’t create interest in first 48 seconds. Each passing second gives employees more time to flee, more time to forget what they saw, and crucial training more time to be forgotten forever.”
In 2010 we created a social media training course for employees. This video based e-learning course starts out fast and furious, but creates interest for employees to finish the course. You can view a short sample in the video clip below:
Click image to view video!
The course pace slows down after 1:45 seconds, but the critical moment occurs when employees realize that this training is different. We received more compliments about this course than any course we have created in the past five years. Many of the employees who took the course referred us to their friends and family’s employers to have something similar created for those companies.When you are planning your next training project think about the first 48 seconds. Traditional course development for certain subjects is not as effect as other types of training. Remember we live in an impatient economy with employees who have been conditioned by media – e.g. movies, television, and video games.