In my last blog, I talked about our new Online QuickBooks Training site to help you better manage your business finances. I want to share a bit more about my philosophy around training.
For years, I’ve been doing training on QuickBooks and a variety of accounting tasks for my work at Fourlane and as a guest speaker at industry conferences. After working on more then 20 hours of training videos, nearly 200 videos total, I have a definite opinion on what needs to be included in a training video. Here’s my recipe for success:
- Provide real-world examples. I recently took a seminar where the instructor was so disorganized and I had no idea what he was talking about. He went through his training without sharing the reason anyone would need to do what he was teaching. That’s why I work hard to ensure my trainings revolve around real scenarios as to how a customer could use a feature or workflow.
- Move quickly. If the flow is too slow, attendees may be tempted to multi-task with email or Facebook. Because most of my training is done through video, viewers can pause and rewind if they need to.
- Drill down to details. I am very aware that my viewers are watching the videos because they need more information to do their jobs. For that reason, I go into the accounting behind the transaction and share the results. This could mean showing how to create an invoice and add the item, or explaining why the transaction resulted in debits and credits, for example.
- Don’t script it! Scripting means you’re tempted to read word-for-word (boring). I start with an outline (remember, the scenario) so I don’t forget anything and then just pretend I’m training a real person, one-on-one.
After finalizing all these videos, I think my process works! Check them out today! We have a 7-day free trial period.
