"How to Open a Banana Like a Monkey": The Anatomy of a Good Training Video

Why this video works (in no particular order):

• It's short--less than a minute.

• It reminds us of how we usually peel a banana and the problems with it.

• There is a demonstration of the old, bad way to peel and then the new, wonderful way--both clearly depicted, accompanied by a verbal description using simple language.

• There are no long explanations on the theory or history of peeling bananas--just straight to the task at hand.

• It's teaching something useful--at least for banana eaters and lovers of efficiency.

• It connects to the "what's in it for me."

• There's something intriguing about learning how to eat a banana from the animal experts--monkeys. That's a good "hook" into the video.

• The camera is focused on the banana and the guy's hands--the important parts of the video. No full body shots to distract from the task.

The only thing that would have made this video better in my mind would have been to see a monkey peeling a banana. Also, I don't know if I would have called it "opening" a banana. Where I come from, we "peel" them. But that's just being picky.

Comments

[mark britz]

Hmmm. I wonder if his friend Brittany was a monkey? Well, aren't we all ...oh, wait didn't want to start that debate here!

[Paul C]

What a paradigm shift. That's also an effective component for a good training video. Doing it this way will open up new possibilities!

[Virginia Yonkers]

So I tried eating the banana the way it was presented in the video. Sure enough, it was much easier to open. However, now my fingers and finger nails are dyed yellow!

This teaches me three things: 1) simple will catch a viewers/students' attention, 2)it is important to pilot any training and get feedback, especially if it is a secondary vendor's product that perhaps has been modified; 3) sometimes experiencing the problems is a better learning tool than learning it in a video.

I now know why humans don't eat bananas like monkeys!

[Katy]

"I now know why humans don't eat bananas like monkeys!" well said,Paul ! :))

[Tom]

Thanks for sharing this video and your "meta" tutorial.

Actually, humans in other parts of the world, e.g. the Middle East, have been peeling bananas this way for a while. We westerners, for whom bananas are a relatively new phenomenon, are the ones who are baffled by them. Good point that we can still learn from others' indigenous knowledge.