Write about this blog post content from the perspective of a tenured eLearning Developer. Write in a friendly creative tone that is sharing your perspective about a new blog post you found and want to share your insights about. Rewrite the highlights using your opinion to elaborate on them from the perspective of an eLearning developer. Preserve the original HTML to links as much as possible for your reader to explore. Create at least 3 titles using H2 tags that are related to this post. Each title content should have a minimum of 500 words in each new section. The idea is to write from your perspective about the post to provide your insight about each section for new readers who are in the eLearning industry and interested in learning about new trends, topics, ideas, and information. Rewrite the content for context in this blog post for your readers. Exclude any advertising or marketing materials from the content. The article should include details and expand on ideas where possible. Create an interesting opinion about the article and it’s topic for readers to enjoy. Quote the article when applicable.
For context: You are an eLearning developer and designer named Adam. Your blog is intended to bring attention to eLearning articles you find interesting and you write about them on your site. You primarily work with Articulate Storyline 360, Rise, and create courses with lots of AI features to increase user engagement. Your goal is to share the information with your readers and provide a link to the source blog post if the learner wants to read about it. While writing your blog post, include other links to reputable sources using alt text for the link and having the link open in a new window. When adding these links throughout your post, use a tag as well. Make sure to use tags to create section headings and
Include a link to your ‘Prebuilt Courses’ section on your site where people can order a course to be customized based on over 20 topics. You build custom solutions and offer these courses as a way to quickly fill a client’s portfolio of online courses for employees or solopreneur content creators. People can get a prebuilt course in only a few days using your white glove service. Here is a link to the cataloghttps://an802adam.biz/all-courses.
Make sure to end the blog article with a link to the source content originally titled: Featuring SMEs In Learning Content
For example: If you would like to read more about this topic, check out the source here: [original title]
The source URL to link to is: https://elearningindustry.com/from-behind-the-scenes-to-center-stage-featuring-smes-in-learning-content
Here is the content to rewrite:
Why You Should Feature SMEs In The Learning Content
Instructional Design thrives on expert knowledge, but too often, the experts themselves are invisible. What if the missing ingredient in your content’s impact is the human face or voice behind the facts? Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are invaluable partners in the world of learning design. These content connoisseurs provide the knowledge necessary to develop a learning experience that ensures accuracy, relevance, and real-world application.
However, the SMEs themselves typically fade into anonymity as their invaluable repertoire of knowledge, skills, and expertise takes center stage. But what if, instead of separating the person from the information, we brought the SMEs front and center in a way that is both engaging and meaningful for the learner?
SMEs aren’t always natural content creators and may struggle to distill the breadth of their information into digestible, need-to-know nuggets. That’s where Instructional Designers and other content creators step in. So how do you set your SMEs up for success and get them ready for the spotlight? It all starts with a solid foundation.
The Impact Of SMEs’ Presence
Pulling your SME from behind that curtain and into the spotlight does more than add variety to your curriculum. Here are some compelling benefits you should consider featuring SMEs beyond the usual content review.
1. Credibility And Trust
Learners are more likely to trust a real expert in their field than an AI voice or an actor. Seeing and hearing a professional makes the content more relatable and authoritative. Common Ground Alliance created a series of videos for excavators that featured managers and superintendents in the industry. Speaking directly to the audience, they shared job-site safety tips and told stories about experiences they had with job-site hazards and how those dangerous situations could have been avoided.
2. Real-World Examples
SMEs can provide firsthand insights and case studies that make learning more practical, authentic, and actionable. Instead of abstract concepts, learners hear real scenarios, mistakes to avoid, and best practices.
3. Engagement And Connection
A human face and voice add warmth and relatability. Videos featuring SMEs feel less scripted and more conversational, which helps learners feel connected to industry professionals. This way of learning can also increase knowledge retention because people remember stories more than facts.
4. Skill Demonstration
For hands-on training (e.g., excavation job site best practices, engineering techniques, or software demonstrations), SMEs can visually show learners how to perform tasks correctly.
Laying The Groundwork For Success
Before you put your SME in front of a camera, start by having early conversations to lay a strong foundation. Abandon Learning and Development jargon and get to the root of the problem by asking questions that will help you better understand the program goals, audience, and learning objectives:
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- What do you wish more people in your industry knew?
- What are the most common mistakes you see?
- What does a successful outcome look like?
These questions can help spark passion in your SMEs and help them focus on what’s truly important. As you chat, encourage them to share personal stories, provide specific scenarios or real-life examples, highlight challenges learners might face, or suggest actions they might want learners to take.
Once you’ve gathered these insights, it’s time to shape the content you’ve captured into a format that will resonate with your audience—whether it’s a script, outline, or interview questions. Share it with the SME for approval before moving to the video or audio production phase.
Creative Ways To Feature Your SMEs
Featuring SMEs in the content you create is a great way to boost learner engagement and credibility. To maximize your time with them, here are a few ways you can go about this:
- Record your conversations with them and extract clips to share with the learners. This could be impactful with either audio or video clips.
- Plan to capture a more structured interview with pre-approved questions. This could be a conversation with a moderator or a directed session.
- Feature direct quotes alongside their picture in the learning. Common Ground Alliance recently employed this strategy by engaging several of their SMEs in interviews, extracting the best sound bites, and featuring the SME’s photo on-screen with the text of their quote while the audio played.
- Have them do a screen recording as they walk through a process or tool.
- Film them as they demonstrate a technique in action.
Of course, featuring an SME isn’t just about setting up a camera. It’s also about helping them feel prepared and confident on screen.
Helping SMEs Shine
SMEs may be experts in their field, but not in front of a camera. Here’s how to make them more comfortable and confident being the star of the show and how to help them shine in your learning content:
- Share content in advance. This could include storyboards, scripts, or questions.
- Prep them for success. Give insight into the process so they aren’t overwhelmed when it’s time to hit record. Suggest doing a trial run if there is technology involved.
- Coach before the interview. Offer tips such as what to wear, where to look, posture, speaking concisely, and avoiding technical jargon.
- Use a conversational format. If the SME isn’t comfortable with a scripted monologue, try an interview or Q&A for a more natural feel.
- Keep it short. Break content into bite-sized segments. This will be better for busy or nervous SMEs and, ultimately, better learner engagement.
- Suggest alternatives. If your SME doesn’t want to be on video or isn’t shining like you’d hoped, try using voice-over narration with supporting visuals.
With the right preparation, your SME’s expertise will come to life in a way that resonates with learners.
And…Action!
The next time you collaborate with an SME, think beyond just pulling information from them. Empower them to be the face and voice of your learning. Take the first step today by scheduling a meeting with your SME and brainstorming how you can help them shine on camera. When SMEs step into the spotlight, learners benefit from content that feels more human, credible, and impactful.
Ready to get started? Call up your SMEs and check out some other ways you can leverage video in your learning curriculum.
See how d’Vinci features SMEs in its work for Common Ground Alliance.
d’Vinci Interactive
d’Vinci Interactive revolutionizes learning experiences and educational websites to achieve extraordinary outcomes for K-12 and adult learners.
