Steps to Create a Tutorial Video & Examples

Human beings have always been visual creatures. Our brain processes visual impressions 60,000 times faster than text. And nope, that is not just a meme.  

A study by Dr. Richard Felder in the 1980s estimated that at least 65% of people are visual learners. And a recent finding shows that 83% of people prefer to watch a tutorial video when learning about a new thing, instead of reading about it.

Though it might seem like a huge percentage, when you give it a second thought it actually makes a lot of sense.  

What is the first thing you do when thinking about purchasing a new product, device, tool, or maybe wanting to learn a new skill? You probably grab your phone or laptop to watch a few videos about it and how it works. And creating these videos are what we are going to discuss in this article. So buckle up!

What is a tutorial video?

In a nutshell, a tutorial video is a type of educational video where you walk people through learning how to do a specific thing.

Tutorial videos can take many forms. For example, a tutorial video can be:

• Animation video.
• Screen recording.
• Live action.
• A combination.

Why Create a Tutorial Video?

One word: Educate. But depending on your need, tutorials can have different goals.

As a business

Creating how-to videos will help your prospect to know more about your business, and what you can do for them. And as time goes by, it will slowly build trust in your business and put your brand at the top of their mind when they are ready to take some action.  

And as good as it is in playing an essential part in building trustful relationships with potential customers, tutorial videos are proven to be very helpful for your business internally as well. For instance, UGC (User Generated Content) and customer testimonial video are really significant to build

Your sales and services teams are constantly in direct contact with the clients, so they might need some quick help in completing specific tasks sometimes, and there is nothing better than finding their own company making that only one click away for them to refer back to whenever needed.

As an individual

Basically, anyone is capable of creating tutorial videos.  

You could be a teacher who wants to provide a better learning experience for their students. Someone who wants to build online courses to help people to learn how to use new devices or features, or gain new skills.  

Or simply you are someone who is passionate about something and wants to share it with the world.

How to create a tutorial video?

To be able to create a compelling tutorial video, there are a few steps that you need to follow carefully.

1. Define your target audience

Remember, something that is made for everyone is something that is made for no one.  

The first thing you need to do before diving into creating your tutorial video is to answer the following questions:  

• Who are you making this video for?
• What challenge are you helping them overcome?
• How can your video help them fulfill that need?

Once you have answered these questions, you will have a clear direction for your video. And now you are ready to move to step two.  

2. Pick a specific topic

At this point, you should have a clear insight into what your audience needs. And you can use that to choose a topic for your video to help them fulfill that need.

Always keep it short. If the topic you are trying to cover is a bit long, break it down into smaller topics and explain them separately. It is better to have a series of short precise videos than a long vague one.  

3. Prepare a script

A great presenter always comes well-prepared. Yes, you can improvise a bit, but it is never a bad idea to prepare beforehand.

Start by building a clear structure to ensure that you will have a smooth flow throughout your video. A simple structure should look like this:

• Intro: here is where you grab your audience’s attention. So keep it short, direct, and interesting.
• Core: here is where you cover all aspects of your topic. This is the reason why your viewer is watching your video, so you need to get to this part as fast as possible.
• Outro: here you conclude your video by showing/telling your viewer what is the next step they need to do after watching your video, which is called a call to action.

4. Create your video

Now you can follow the script you previously made to create your video.

As we mentioned earlier, start the video by grabbing your audience’s attention, get to the topic as fast as possible, and finally conclude your video with a clear CTA.  

5. Add music

Every great movie ever made has a killing soundtrack. And so should your tutorial video.  

Music changes the way we experience things entirely. Imagine that you are watching a horror movie with Mozart music as a soundtrack, that won’t be so “horror” right?  

Music gives your visuals an extra push and helps you communicate your message better.  

Whatever topic you are covering in your tutorial video make sure that you choose suitable music that matches your topic perfectly.  

6. Edit your video

While recording or creating your video, it is most likely that you will make some unintentional mistakes, which is completely normal.

At this stage you should do the following:

• Make sure to remove any mistakes.
• If you are narrating, make sure that the narration is in sync with your video.
• Add animations and effects if needed.
• Add your final touches.  

You can also sign up for free, and use PlayPlay professional and very user-friendly tools to edit and spice up your videos.

Discover the ultimate solution for video creation with PlayPlay's tutorial video maker. Whether you aspire to be a professional content creator or want to enhance your social media presence, our tool empowers you to easily produce stunning videos that captivate your audience and leave a lasting impression.

If you follow these steps, you should have a very well-made tutorial video.

10 Examples of Tutorial Videos to inspire you

1. How To Create Your Own IG Stories GIFs

You can see how well structured and smoothly flowing the video is, and how it is mainly focused on delivering the information needed.

The upbeat music comes together with the soothing voice of the narrator to present a step-by-step instruction video for creating IG stories GIFs.

2. Be a More Confident Public Speaker

In this awesome animation video, the narrator is using the power of storytelling, and simple visuals to give a demonstration of how to up your public speaking game.  

3. How To Save Stuff in Dropbox

This example from Dropbox is what we mean by keeping it short and getting to the point. This type of video is really helpful for someone who needs to know how to save something in Dropbox urgently.

4. How To Build An Ikea MALM Bed Frame

The direction of this tutorial video allows you to follow her steps carefully as she puts the IKEA Malm bed frame together while upbeat music is playing in the background.

There’s no need for a voice-over in this type of video. And as we can see here, only the important points like the names of the parts are communicated through text.

5. How To Shoot Product Videos

We can see a lot of personality in this video, as adding a little sense of humor is not a bad idea depending on your audience and the topic of your video.

The creator also used a good variety of examples to make sure that he covers various types of products and different budgets.

6. How To Delete Your Facebook Account

Another example where we can see valuable content mixed with a good sense of humor. This tutorial video provides a detailed steps for deleting your Facebook account using different user interfaces, which makes it useful for both website and mobile users.

7. How To Set Up The Zoom Rooms Huddle Kit

Instead of reading some boring instructional manual to learn how to use their new product, Zoom created a simple and clear instructional video to give you a step-by-step guide to complete the installation process smoothly and start using the product.

8. Advanced Keyword Research

The video is off to a good start by giving you a quick summary of what you will be learning right at the beginning.

It also shows a more engaging approach by containing great visuals and motion design graphics to assist the narrator in delivering his message while keeping his audience engaged.  

9. 10 Rules To Help You Rule Type

This animation video is another example of a simple and on-point tutorial video. The viewer is introduced to the typographic rules through animations and different font sizes and styles interactively and in an organized manner.  

10. How To Charge An Electric Car  

In this tutorial video, we can see another great use of storytelling, as we follow along with the character (Shakespeare) while he is dealing with slow charging, experiencing different charging speeds, and finally considering installing a home charger.

Start creating your video tutorial

Well, that’s about it! Not too complicated is it?

Now you have a step by a step guide to creating a great tutorial video. Let us wrap it up for you:

1. Define your target audience.
2. Choose a specific topic.
3. Prepare a clear script.
4. Keep your intro short, get to the point ASAP, and end your video with a clear CTA.
5. Add suitable background music.
6. Remove any mistakes.
7. Add effects and final touches.  

Now that you have this ultimate guide, you can go ahead and start creating some helpful and most importantly awesome tutorial videos. Try PlayPlay, a one-stop shop for all your video creation needs, no technical skills needed.