D&D recorded an explainer voiceover as part of an instructional video on how to use Webex software for a joint European-Chinese virtual event.
Challenge
The Dragon 5 Symposium – an annual conference coordinated between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Ministry of Science & Technology – was held virtually this year. Taking place on Webex, the event needed to accommodate speakers and attendees from across Europe and China. To help ensure the smooth running of the conference, Design & Data was tasked with recording an explainer video with voiceover narration to introduce the different features of Webex and show the participants how to use the platform during the event. This posed several challenges, most notably in making one English language recording applicable to an international audience where many of the participants were non-native English speakers or did not have English as a first language.
Idea, solution
To create the video, we produced a screen grab recording of the Webex session and paired it with voiceover narration that explained what the audience was seeing and what tools they would need to interact with. Since the intended audience included a wide range of national and linguistic backgrounds, it was important that the voiceover recording was very clear, both in terms of what and how it was said. We ensured that the speaking voice was clear and well-enunciated, and we used simple language – choosing smaller, easy-to-understand words instead of more complex ones. This helped us more easily convey directions on how to navigate the platform, from joining breakout sessions to using the chat function, adjusting the screen layout, and changing video and audio settings.
Result
Originally intended to be less than three minutes, the final video lasted for 4 minutes and 6 seconds. The longer cut followed a mutual decision with the client to improve the clarity and accessibility of the video by slowing down the initial voiceover narration and providing more breaks between narration segments. On the first day of the event, this video was shown to all speakers and attendees. It also ran on a loop in the main Webex room throughout each day of the five-day event as a helpful reference for any participant that needed assistance with the Webex platform.
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