After weeks of waiting to hear news about the pandemic and what it means for our future health and careers, we can all let out a small and VERY CAUTIOUS sigh of relief. The rate of infection from COVID-19 has slowly and steadily been decreasing around the world (thank goodness) allowing many companies to go back to the office.

Now in order to keep this trend going, restrictions on citizens and businesses are being lifted in a very slow and careful manner.

What does this mean for business owners and their employees?

How can companies, that were so quickly forced to create a remote work environment, slowly transition their employees “back to work”?

Managing the return of employees back to the office will pose one of the biggest business challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE

There’s a secret to making the “back to work” transition smooth and effective for business owners and their employees: clear, consistent communication –– THAT’S IT. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, workers are simply confused about what they can or can’t do and what they should or shouldn’t do. So if companies provide answers BEFORE the questions come in, then employers can easily avoid confusion, create a sense of calm, and pave the way for a smooth transition back to the office.

Clear, actionable instructions lead to clear, actionable results.

The best instructions are always accompanied by visual aids. That’s why we’re excited to introduce this COVID-19 Back to Work Video Guide! It’s short, it’s engaging, and most importantly, it’s a quick and memorable way for businesses to update employees on government guidelines, relay health & safety procedures, prepare staff for a uniquely different office setup, and create a sense of calm and clarity. Plus, it’s totally editable, because no two offices, or government laws, are alike. So, let’s get started on creating your clear, visual back to the office guide!

Key points to address in your Back-to-Work after COVID-19 Video Guide:

1. The health of your employees is your company’s top priority. 

The last few months may have taken a financial toll on many businesses, from SMBs to large corporations — but this is no reason to rush workers back to the office. It’s important that your employees understand that their safety is the #1 priority. When they do return to the office, let them know that the new setup will be safe, monitored, and in compliance with all the latest government guidelines. 

2. New safeguards and safety measures will be put in place. 

Safeguarding your employees means much more than glass partitions and sanitizer in the office. It involves health-checks before employees leave their homes, enter/exit guidelines for buildings, and training employees to respond to on-site emergencies.

EDIT THIS HEALTH & SAFETY TEMPLATE

Examples of safeguards your employees can expect:

• Daily checks before employees leave the house
• Signing a survey each day to confirm they are symptom-free
• Entry/exit checkpoints for facilities
• Temperature scanning
• Social distancing rules (currently 2m/6ft apart)
• Elevator etiquette
• Personal protective equipment (masks/gloves)
• Personal hygiene (hand washing)

EDIT THIS HR TEMPLATE

Once inside the office, employees should be aware that:

• Common areas (gym/recreation room) may be off-limits
• Hand washing and sanitizing is imperative
• All workstations (desks, conference tables) must be sanitized before and after use

3. There are some new lunchtime rules (Don’t worry, you can still use the office kitchen)

Change is difficult, and one of the hardest adjustments for employees will be change that revolves around beloved lunchtime and coffee traditions. That coveted time that was once associated with friendly banter and stepping out of the office with friends, may now be reduced to social distancing and food delivery.

This is a tough situation and acclimating to it is no easy feat, but if employees are psychologically prepared, this temporary situation will be easier to understand and accept. And hey, there may be a silver lining that comes along with the new pandemic rules.

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE NOW!

Examples of Lunchtime/Coffee break guidelines:

• Mini-marts are open 
• Food delivery to the office is encouraged
• Kitchen items and devices should be cleaned before and after each use

4. On-site health & safety rules

If employees feel ill, especially if they are experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19, it’s important to follow the clear safety protocols that your company has established and shared. You may want to include:

• Emergency medical procedures
• Contact information of each department’s supervisor 
• Contact information of human resources
• Availability of on-site medical staff

Returning back to the office with a whole new set of safety protocols can be intimidating, so why not use a friendly invite, full of colorful characters, to break the tension and provide updated information!

EDIT THIS TRAINING INVITATION VIDEO TEMPLATE

5. Taking personal responsibility 

To ensure the health and safety of everyone at the office, each and every staff member must commit to:

• Reading and understanding all communications 
• Self-certifying their health daily 
• Following the processes and guidelines for social distancing
• Cleaning and disinfecting their work areas
• Practicing proper hand washing and sanitizing
• Coughing and sneezing into tissues or elbows
• Asking questions if they are unclear about anything
• Staying home if they experience any symptoms

By following this Back-to-Work After COVID-19 Video Guide  — EDITING it as updates come in, and SHARING these updates with your company — the transition of employees back to the office should be healthy, safe, and smooth! May we all be strong and healthy, no matter where we work!

Stay Awesome!

The post Back to Work After COVID-19: Your Video Guide to Transition Back to the Office appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the awesome, hard-working moms out there!

In honor of this special day,​ it is customary to spoil mom and do something extra special to show her how much you truly care! But this can be a daunting challenge, as you’ve already given your mom chocolate, pink pajamas and Hallmark cards — over and over again. SNORE! These gifts are so boring, I actually fell asleep while listing them.

Edit This Template

Come on guys! Your mom (wife, auntie, grandma…) deserves something extra AWESOME, full of thought, that will make her say, “wow, now I feel really special.” So, without further ado, here are:

​57 totally do-able, Off-the-Wall Mother’s Day gift Ideas that will make your mom Super Duper Happy:

1. Let’s Start with CHEESE – Cheese is pretty much edible gold; melt hard cheese (or spread soft cheese) on a large piece of bread that has been cut into the shape of your mom’s profile, a heart, or the words ‘I love you.’ 

2. Guitar Lessons – What!? You heard me, learning new instruments over the age of 40 is totally encouraged and has been proven to boost brain activity! Maybe it’s finally time to give Guitar Hero a go?

3. “Mini Me” Mother’s Day Video – Turn yourself and your mom into animated characters!​ Simply upload a picture of your face, your mom or your entire family and personalize the characters in a Powtoon video message.

4. Tea Time with British Accents​ – Arrange an assortment of teas (herbal, black, green) shaped as the word “mum.” Then set aside an hour to sit with “mummy dearest” to drink tea and discuss the royal family with your best British accents. Don’t forget to raise a pinky for every sip. (If you happen to be British then use an accent from a different part of England and have a jolly laugh).

5. Mom Advertisement​ – Create a quick commercial, using a pre-designed video ad template, where your mom is the product for sale. Talk about​ the product’s awesome qualities. At the end of the commercial (where you list the price), add the killer line: “woops, you can’t buy mom because she is priceless.” Full Mom-O-Matic Ad HERE

Edit This Video Ad Template

6. Dry Ice – Need I say more. Welcome mom into a room of your choice with a cool fog effect. When she walks into the room cover the dry ice, because “her sunshine” wipes out the fog. The same goes for dry Ice bubbles, pop them when you see mom!

7. Ryan Gosling Photoshop Meme- Take This Meme of Ryan, or any handsome actor that makes your mom melt (don’t worry, dad), and Photoshop mom into the picture. Check out this free image editor​ to crop a head in under 2 minutes.

8. Crossword Puzzle– Come up with a question like ‘Who is the most thoughtful,  giving, best ever mom in the world?’ Write clues that contain the letters in your mom’s name, then fit these squares into a puzzle and voila – Mom has a fun activity!

9. Mentos and Diet Coke Concert – Should be performed outdoors only. Arrange Diet coke bottles on a table, play mom’s favorite song, and  drop Mentos to the beat! Let the explosive fun begin.

10. Microwavable Calming Pillow– All you need is a small cotton pillowcase, a filler, and mom’s favorite aromas  (I like flaxseed, dried rose petals and​ mint, but you can use beans, wheat, lavender, ginger etc…). Heat up the pillow for 1-3 minutes and your mom will be in a happy place.

11. Bobble Head Mom – Do It Yourself! All you need is a few household items , a picture of your mom’s face (with a fun expression) and this Bobble Head Tutorial.

12. Through the Years –  First create an animated slideshow of family photos that span over several years. Next choose a character to act as a host. Lastly, have this character pop in during each scene to state the year,  location, or even a funny inside joke.

13. Fruit Shake and Taylor Swift’s SHAKE IT OFF – Nothing says I love you more than Health. Blend Pineapple, ​ mango, blueberries and all of mom’s favorite fruits into a smoothie; After the fruit shake has been digested, blast ​ ‘Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift, and dance it up on Mother’s Day.

14. Serve a chocolate fudge, ice cream, caramel​ brownie bomb – Geez, it’s Mother’s Day, calories don’t count (but, if sugar or fat is a concern, here are some lighter, healthier versions of your favorite desserts)!

15. Photo Transfer Painting – This is so cool. you will need 24 hrs, a photo printed with standard printer ink, a canvas and some acrylic gel (total cost less than $5.00). Brush a layer of gel on your canvas, lay the printed photo of you and your mom face down, press firmly and go to sleep. When you wake up the next morning, use water to wipe away the paper and you are left with the transferred image! Voila, photo painting! Tutorial here.

16. Tropical vacation in a bathtub. Fill up the tub, throw in an inflatable tube, hang cardboard palm trees and a yellow sun. Hula Skirts and Sangria amplify the effect.

17. Stamp of Mom’s Face – You’ll need an eraser, a carving knife and some artistic skills. draw an outline of mom’s face or profile on the eraser and carve away.When your stamp-eraser is complete you can glue it to a small solid object like a spice jar or block of wood to make it easier to hold. If you fail in drawing, a smiley face or a nice message like’Mom Rocks’ works fine. As a last resort you can buy love! Stamp-yo-face creates custom-made face-stamps; it’s pricey but mom’s worth it.

18. Edible ink – Take your face stamp, dip it in edible ink (beet juice, food coloring, squid ink) and stamp it all over her favorite foods, who doesn’t want to eat personalized toast and banana slices?

19. Soap – Carve your mom’s favorite objects out of lavender, rose or fragrant bars of soap; If you are not the most skilled carver, don’t worry… she’ll appreciate the effort. Put the bars in a basket that says, ‘I love you Soap much!’

20. Look Down – Print out​ images of things your mom can’t stand, then tape them to the bottom of her shoes i.e, pollen, bosses name, fighting etc… Stomp on the ground with your mom and tell her that this year all the negativity is out and only happiness will reign!​ Woohoo!

21. Look Up – Get a Ladder and ​ ‘hang’ a poster across the ceiling in your mom’s bedroom (i.e.,funny message, a print of her favorite painting) so it’s the first visual she sees when she wakes up in the morning!

22. Pizza Toppings – Say ” I love you, mom” with pizza toppings. Spell out a word, message or symbol with olives, tomatoes or pepper; Add an anchovy exclamation mark at the end to show her you really care. 

23. Buy an Air Mac – or any Apple product for that matter. If you are going big, then go all the way (amiright)? When someone receives a super expensive gift from you, that love is 100% guaranteed (at least in that moment, you will have to earn it afterwards).

24. Decorated Picture Frame – forget the picture inside, decorate the frame with Mom’s favorite quotations, pictures, phrases. Shellac for a glazed effect.

25. Hand-Made Portrait of Your Mom –  Canvas, water colors and brushes will cost you less than $15 but an original piece of art is priceless. If you’ve never painted before or you don’t know how to paint, that’s even better — you earn extra brownie points for going outside your comfort zone to please the woman who birthed you.

26. Train Your Pet – (without actually training your pet). This gesture is really funny. Simply use a command that you’ve already trained your dog (or guinea pig, or fuzzy creature) to do and add a loving message before you say the command. ​ For Example, ​ if your dog rolls over at the command “roll over,” you can say: “Hey Muffy, if you​ feel​ lucky to be part of this family and have such an amazing and insanely awesome mom, a mom who knows how to cook the most delicious lasagna and has mastered the art of making people happy, then ROLL OVER.”

27. What if you don’t have a dog? Get her a dog!​ A recent ‘pet’ study from Psychology Today stated “Pet owners exhibited greater self-esteem, were more physically fit… were more socially outgoing, and had healthier relationships than non-owners.” Um, what are you waiting for?

28. Goldfish Quality Time – Fish make great pets too! Get two goldfish and a small aquarium. Replace the TV (temporarily) and write a note where the TV stood – “Relaxing Quality time with Mom” then stare at the fish together and enjoy the technology break.

29. Theme a Room– Recreate her favorite place i.e., the zoo, Mexico or Disney World, by implementing elements of that place into the room. For Example, if mom loved the vacation in Cancun you can buy Tequila, play “Mariachi” music and draw the Mexican Flag.

30. Chore Dice – Grab two cubes (you can make a cube here or buy two small Rubik’s Cubes and cover them with paper). The first cube is the chores cube; Write down a chore on each side i.e, Dishes, Laundry, Buy Nutella etc… On the second cube write names of family members- repeat names if necessary. Roll the dice and serve your Mom.

31. Countdown – Create an animated presentation listing the top ten (top 20, 30, 40) reasons why your mom rocks. You can use personal pictures as backgrounds. Here’s an example of a top 8 animated countdown.

32. Animated Family Music Video – Find an instrumental of your favorite song, gather your family and record them singing the words (this is very easy to do with Audacity, which is free). Upload the audio file to Powtoon (which is also free) and add animation- BAM! You have a personalized movie with your family’s voices for Mom. You’re welcome.

33. Live Karaoke, in Costume – Sing your mom’s favorite song, try to dress like the singer to add an extra giggle factor.

34. Acapella with Family – If you’re not much of a singer, then use your vocal chords to add a beat to the background while the rest of your family does the singing for you! Add some friends to the choir, the more the merrier!

35. Website for Mom – Many moms are scared of technology, so start her off by setting up her very own website/blog (Wix and WordPress are great tools), she can even get an explainer video or slideshow on the homepage using the Powtoon Plugin.

36. Mom Resume – But if your mom is a tech savvy​ business woman, then make an animated resume listing all your mom’s skills and awesome credentials, then tell her why everybody would be lucky to hire her as MOM!

Edit this Resume Template

37. A Maid and a Masseuse​ – Mom gets the day off with a side of Shiatsu.

38. White Glove Test – If you’re strapped for cash, clean the house yourself. This is no joke, I’m talking eat-off-the-floor clean,; Get to every nook and cranny. Hand mom a set of white gloves to examine your work. Judgement Day has arrived.

39. Personal Manicure/pedicure– Time to paint mama’s fingernails or toenails!

40. Finger Message– Family members paint letters on each of their fingernails with nail polish,​ spelling out a message, (that goes for you too, dad and hipster brother). Line your hands together and let mom read this weird and endearing human art piece!

41. Short, Surprise Video Message– How cool would it be for your mom to be tagged in her Instagram feed with a 15 second video message from you! If she doesn’t have an account now is a good time to create one! Or you can just send the surprise video Whatsapp, SMS etc…!

42. Parlez-vous francais? Enroll Mom in an online course to learn a different language (there are many courses that are cheap and low budget).

43. Recreate a Scene – Act out a scene from mom’s favorite book or movie, parodies are the best ( ​ ‘50 shades of Grey’ may be an exception).

44. Picnic Time– Picnics never get old. Set out a red and white checkered blanket, a whicker basket, some delicious snacks. Bring mom to the park (the grassy outdoorsy smell does good for the soul( but if you are self isolating, any room can work!

45. ‘I love You’ Fungus/Bacteria – Buy a Petri dish, agar, a Q-tip and find a piece of moldy fruit (Less than $10.00) Prepare the Petri Dish; Dip the Q- tip in moldy fruit ​ (or the floor or your mouth or anywhere full of bacteria) and write a loving message on the agar (“Love you MOM”). Place the Petri dish away from sunlight and wait a few days until mold/bacteria grows into the message.

46.Knitting Lesson – It’s the hottest, old-school thing to do. Be warned this activity is addictive and everything you own will eventually be covered in a layer of patterned yarn.

47. Origami Time – A few pieces of paper, a guide and some quality time could result in some pretty cool paper creations!

48. Hot Chocolate/Coffee Bar – Set up a mini Bar with different chocolate types (dark, white) and flavors (vanilla, chilli pepper, mint). Act as a the barman and brew up a hot beverage catered to your mom’s tastebuds. Throw in a few toppings like marshmallows or pistachios. Before she drinks, make a toast to your mom!

49. Lyric Video – Make a funny animated lyric video of mom’s favorite song so she can bop along to the words with props, backgrounds and colors that are personalized and tailor made for her! Upload to Youtube and add a description like “In honor of my mom…” Here’s an example of Uptown Funk Featuring Bruno Mars.

50.​ ‘Post it’ love – Place 100 post its all over your house – each with a reason why you love and appreciate your mama, if you can’t think of 100 reasons, that’s OK, think harder, you spoiled little child.

51. Mom Business Cards – For moms who want to move up in the tech world; Create a Skype, Viber or an account on another cool communication platform. Come up with a catchy title for the’Greatest Mom Ever’ and create handmade business cards with her new account details. Later that day have your family or friends contact her via the new account.

52. Coupon Book – Easy to prepare, a bit of time to execute. Create coupons for movie time, house chores, or anything else you think mom would like as a gift.​ Follow through with high energy and love!

53. Towel Set -Sew mom’s name on a towel set or beach towel.​ If you have patience, then add some fake diamonds, sparkly gel, or tie-dye effect. Be original; the tackier the better!​ If she doesn’t hang your towels in the guestroom or bring it to the beach, she’s embarrassed of you and doesn’t love you. Just kidding!

54. Grow a Salad – Go to your local gardening shop and buy a load of different seeds that make up the vegetables, fruits and spices that your mom uses for cooking, smoothies or salads. Simply take a few empty glass jars,​ fill ​ ‘em with soil, label the jar and voila, mama has a salad growing in her living room.

55. Follow in Mom’s Footsteps – Outline your left and right shoe and cut out about 20 ​ ‘footsteps.’ Tell your mom, “I know what you want to be when I grow up (or when you get older).” Place the footsteps on the floor and have them lead to a picture of your mom. Awww.

56. SMILE- Mom is happy when you’re happy. This one is easy. Cut out a paper arrow, smile and point it to your pearly whites- let her know, “Mom, this smile is because of you!”

57. A Big, Lovable, Huggable Hug. Yup, I just used an adjective to describe itself, that’s how awesome your hug should be.

And that is how you make your mom feel special for Mother’s Day! I hope you enjoyed these 57 Off-the-wall gift ideas for mom!
Do you have any other crazy or heart-warming Mother’s Day gift ideas? What is the coolest gift you’ve ever given your mom? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 57 Totally Do-able, Off-the-Wall Mother’s Day Gift Ideas to Make your Mom Super Happy appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

A customizable video guide designed for managers to share with their teams.

If you find yourself suddenly forced to work from home, scrambling to set up an effective home workspace for the first time, you’re not alone. With the recent spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), and the necessity for isolation and self-quarantine, millions of employees around the world have been thrown into a situation that neither they, nor their employers anticipated: full-time remote work, from home. 

Working from Home Is a Good Thing, Right?

Home is where the heart is, but it’s also where your spouse or roommates, kids, bed, giant TV, Playstation, laundry machine, and just about every other personal distraction is located.

So, what’s a remote worker — or remote manager— to do?

Introducing the 5 Tips for Remote Working video template: A guide that managers can share with remote employees and teams, explaining how to set up a workspace from home, stay productive and keep up employee morale — even when separated from your office and colleagues. 

Edit this Template Now

Before We Get to Workspace Tips, There’s Something You Need to Know

If you were not prepared for a remote work situation, then the truth is that your employers probably weren’t either.

The fact that you both have to work remotely creates a beautifully unique situation: it’s an equalizer, in that you, your HR reps, trainers, office admins, and even C-suite executives are learning and adapting together. They understand your frustrations in setting up a makeshift workspace because they’re doing it too. With a little patience and trial-and-error, we can all get this right!

The 5 Secrets to Working Successfully from Home

According to the recent U.S. Census Report, before recent events, 5.2% of U.S. workers are full-time remote workers — that’s roughly 8 million people. And Gallup reports that a whopping 43% of Americans work from home occasionally. Yet, ALL remote workers have one thing in common: higher rates of productivity than office employees. What’s their secret?

Tip #1: Create a Dedicated Work Area

Whether it’s a room, desk, or balcony, create a separate space that you can instantly associate with work, and disassociate from the rest of your home.

• Add “office elements” to your space (pen holder, calendar, small whiteboard)
• Sit near a window or get a plant and a good lamp. (You can even hang up a picture of nature, such as a forest or a palm tree laden beach.) We’re more productive in bright, green, nature-filled environments.

Tip #2: Over-Communicate

No matter how effective you are at communicating remotely, nothing replaces one-on-one communication. This is because classic intention cues such as facial expressions and vocal tones, are the markers that allow us to understand each other. Email, texts, and even video conferencing lack these intention cues — so we must over-communicate to make up for this gap. Or… sync, update, and report progress to colleagues with characters, who clearly display emotion and intent cues for you!

Use this A/B Test Results template to share the outcome of your next campaign!

Edit this Template Now

Set and review weekly goals with this Team Update template

Edit this Template Now

The best ways to over-communicate:

• Start off the day by writing out a to-do list of daily tasks
• Do the same with end-of-day summaries
• Ask for clarification. It’s not only OK to ask questions, it’s encouraged
• Create at least two channels for communication (email/slack/phone/video conferencing) and ensure that you have the technology to support it (Wifi/camera)

Tip #3: Prevent Distraction, Don’t Avoid it 

If you find it hard to focus on the job, then heave a sigh of relief: over 70% of employees admit to feeling distracted at work! Follow these simple preventative steps and you’re on your way to Focus-ville!

• Set guidelines for yourself and your cohabitants (family, roommates) clearly stating the times when interruptions are allowed and when they’re off limits 
• Wear headphones — whether you’re listening to music or not. Just the act of placing headphones on your head is a clear signal that you’re unavailable (trust me, I do it all the time).
• Don’t multitask, you’re more prone to make mistakes. In fact, your error rate goes up 50% and it takes you twice as long to complete tasks when you try to kill two (or three, or more) birds with one stone

Tip #4: Schedule Meaningful Breaks 

Planned breaks increase focus and productivity. When you designate specific periods of time for relaxation, you add the extra benefit of reducing anxiety.  

• Step out for lunch: change the scenery, even if you’re limited to the room next door. Eating at your desk is a big NO.
• Get physical: stand up, stretch, do a 5 minute yoga exercise, breathe in fresh air, or meditate 
• Avoid taking a break from technology with… technology (that includes any digital device — even your tiny smartwatch)! 

Tip #5: Dress for Success

According to the theory of enclothed cognition, a term coined by researchers at Northwestern University, the clothing we wear is directly correlated to our psychological state.

We perform way better when we dress better (according to the standard you define as “dressing better”). This means that you can intentionally choose to wear clothing that enhances your productivity and performance. So, get out of those SpongeBob pajamas and into business casual!

Your Effective Home Workspace Starts Today

We hope these five useful remote working tips will help you set up an effective workspace when working from home!

Don’t let the current unexpected work from home situation prevent you from being the shining employee and teammate that you are!

If you have any more work from home tips, let me know in the comments below!

The post How to Set Up an Effective Home Workspace: 5 Useful Tips for Remote Working appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

As governments around the world are limiting the movement of their citizens in order to protect them, the question we’re all asking is no longer “if” companies will require employees to work remotely, but rather “How long will WFH (working-from-home) last?” And employees are turning to their companies for answers.

That’s where HR, trainers, internal comms, executives, and even CEOs enter the scene; you may not have the answers yet, but you do have the privilege of answering. This is an immense opportunity to change the way you communicate with your entire company for the better BEST — with animated internal Comms messages customized for your WFH employees. The way you choose to support, motivate, inspire, and engage your employees right now will the set the tone for the future.

How Most Companies Are Responding to COVID-19

As expected, HR and Internal Comms departments in many companies have been quick to integrate new programs, top training software, and collaborative tools in order to make the transition from office to home smooth and productive. This is fantastic and they deserve a giant medal for their efforts. But what about the emotional component? How can upper management support and inform while generating SMILES at the same time? 

How YOUR COMPANY Can Respond to COVID-19 Differently

Visual Communication and Remote Work

That’s where the power of video comes into play. By replacing traditional internal comms with visual messaging, managers and team leaders are discovering a whole new way to empower their staff and boost their communication strategy –– all from home! Check out how the IoTC (Internet of Things Consortium) reached out to their company using the Coronavirus Health & Safety template!

Here’s Why Using Video Messages for Internal Comms Creates a Positive Company Culture

• Video helps employees absorb information quickly, which is critical when regulations and guidelines change on a weekly, or even daily, basis.
• Video is more expressive than email or messaging. By sharing a video packed with bright colors and characters, or nostalgic black and white footage, the sender’s intent is more clearly understood (and appreciated).
• Video is a welcome break from long threads of text, typical to most workplace communication platforms.
• Video messages are viewed more than any other form of workplace communication and receive more positive feedback! (Results were based on a survey sent from Powtoon to professionals across fields).

Good Communication Means Employees Stick Around

Companies and organizations that communicate effectively are 4.5x more likely to retain the best employees. In addition, it costs employers 33% of a worker’s annual salary to replace that employee! If these stats don’t inspire you to start opening the lines of video communication in your company, then check out these 7 beautiful, funny, caring, and unique internal comms messages that are shaping the way WFH employers and workers are tackling “remote”:

7 Animated Messages That Will Inspire Your WFH Employees

Each video message is under 10 seconds long, and was made in under 10 minutes – IN 3 SIMPLE STEPS:
1. Pick any template that matches the look or message you want (See all templates in the Powtoon Video Gallery HERE)
2. Choose 2 scenes
3. Customize — Add logo, swap company colors, edit your message (or anything else you’d like)
DONE!

1. Company Wide Security Update

Whether it’s coming from your IT dept or HR, the fastest way to get all employees to stop, take notice, and login is with an animated announcement! This 8 second video was made using 2 scenes from the IT Support template.

2. Remote Employee of the Week/Month

Motivate employees by appreciating them — a little recognition goes a long way and sends a positive message to the rest of the staff. This video message was created using the Company News template.

3. Remote Onboarding for New Employees

There’s no better feeling for a new employee than being welcomed to a company with wide open arms and a cheerful smile…even if these arms are now remote! Invite new hires to set up their computers with a fun onboarding message! The 2 scenes below were created using the New Customer Onboarding template.

4. Join Our Training Invite/Reminder

If you want to increase the attendance rate of your compliance training sessions, then a bright invitation is the way to go (and the best part is that your invite can double as a reminder)! This 6 second video was made using 2 scenes from the Sexual Harrasment Prevention Training template.

5. Last Call to Fill Out Forms!

We all push it off to the last minute… filling out those dreaded W-3s, income tax, insurance forms — and it’s up to HR to remind us that the deadline is approaching! Work smarter, not harder, and capture all eyes in one shot with a “last call” reminder! This video was created using 2 scenes from the Year in Review template.

6. Team Shout Out

How do you celebrate team accomplishments when you are all self isolating in your homes? This is how you do it! Simply Swap in your brand colors and personalize with a message just for your team or department. This video was created using scenes from the Video Resume template.

7. Remote Self Care Reminder – Email Header

Working from home has a way of blurring work and personal life to such a degree that employees often neglect their own well being! Avoid employee burnout by sending employees periodic Self Care Check-Ups! This video message can be turned into a GIF and used as an email header. All you need to do is fill in the details in the email below!

Bonus: “Just For Fun” Messages

We all come up with clever, funny ideas from time to time, and now we have a tool to express it. I invite you to enter the Powtoon Studio, where an abundance of characters, images, soundtracks video clips and new work-from-home props are waiting for you to combine them into your own mini video and share it with the world. (Below I transformed the 8 second video into a GIF, using a free online GIF maker.)

We hope these 7 Examples of Animated Internal Comms serve as the starting point for the endless number of video messages you’ll create to inspire your WFH employees and contribute to a positive company culture!

The post How to Inspire Your WFH Employees: 7 Examples of Animated Internal Comms Videos appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

Share this customizable video template with your company and stop COVID-19 in its tracks

Can you get infected with Coronavirus from a colleague sitting one cubicle over? What do you do if your manager starts coughing? Can you drink from an office mug that’s been washed? These are some of the most frequent questions being asked by employees in the office — and company admins (HR, Internal Comms, CEOs) are scrambling to come up with effective ways to answer these concerns. 

Companies are confused because this has never really happened before!

The Coronavirus has spread so quickly, and so far, in such a short period of time, many businesses, government institutes, and organizations have found themselves ill prepared on how to handle a modern-day, 21st century epidemic — or any epidemic,  especially on a corporate level. 

• Should HR come up with a new policy? 
• Write up a set of COVID-19 guidelines? 
• Train staff on health and safety procedures?
• Distribute updated information?
• Provide tips for when employees are stuck working remotely from home?

YES, to all of the above. And the best way for companies to communicate this information is with friendly videos, because talking about Coronavirus is not just a matter of safety, it’s about alleviating fear.

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE NOW

Why People Are Worried

The strain of coronavirus, identified as COVID-19, was first discovered in Wuhan, China on December 1, 2019 — and within just a few short weeks, it had spread across 31 Chinese cities and reached countries all over the world, from Russia, to the UK, to Canada. To make matters more fear-inducing, little was known about symptoms, transmission, and prevention of the virus, and much is yet to be learned about the virus’s long term effects.

How to Alleviate Fear

People are wary of the unknown (especially when it involves personal health), and this often leads to high levels of stress and panic that can wreak havoc in a workplace environment. Fortunately, there is a very quick and straightforward way for office admins to abate these fears – make the unknown, known. Share everything you know about Coronavirus, as a company. Be transparent, be reliable and be smart about it. Coronavirus is a heavy topic, but you’re about to make it approachable, relatable, light, and even friendly!

How do you make a pandemic disease… friendly? You do what experienced HR, L&D, and training professionals have been doing for the past few years (only now, it’s way easier)…

Take advantage of your duty to inform as your opportunity to shine.

ADD MY LOGO TO THIS TEMPLATE NOW

Instead of sending information-packed emails to your employees, communicate visually. In this case, bright, animated characters can act as your mascots to deliver a clear message: we’re learning more and more about this virus each day, we’re sharing what we know with you, and we will get through this together.

Introducing the Coronavirus Health & Safety Guide: the most effective way to keep you, your loved ones and your colleagues safe (and calm)!

Simply add your logo, swap colors to match your branding, and provide personal contact information, such as your HR or support email — and you’re ready to go with a short how-to guide for employees. 

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE NOW

Check out the example above from Sophia Foods, a specialty food company dedicated to bringing people together via wholesome, honest ingredients. They created their own branded Coronavirus health & safety guide and shared it with their employees.

This guide includes 7 actionable office tips for preventing the spread of COVID-19, but you can easily add new tips or guidelines as they come in, then send updated versions of the video to your company. Check out Powtoon’s Essential Guide for Remote Working for more resources, packed with helpful information for employers and workers.

Coronavirus may have caught you off guard, especially if you’re responsible for keeping an entire staff safe and protected, but if you choose to communicate in a way that is both friendly and informative (and totally shareable), then we’re all one step closer to preventing the spread of the virus – for good! We hope this Coronavirus Health and Safety Guide for the Office can help you accomplish this! 

Please note: Powtoon is a visual communication platform, not a health organization. Information about the COVID-19 outbreak is changing by the minute. Please be sure to verify, by direct and live contact with your local health authorities, any specific health-related inquiries.

The post Coronavirus Health and Safety Guide for the Office: A Short How-To Guide for Employees appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

How do you manage remote workers effectively? It’s a question more professionals are asking every day, as the Coronavirus outbreak has suddenly forced millions of employees all over the world to start working remotely. 

It’s a challenge for workers themselves to stay productive and connected. But for managers, it’s way more challenging! Managers, HR representatives, trainers, and L&D professionals are now tasked with the responsibility of ensuring business continuity, top down. 

Let’s take a look at essential questions every manager should be asking, as well as some powerful video templates no manager can be caught without in the age of remote work.

Ensure Employee Health & Safety

But first, ensure Employee Health & Safety with the most effective tool for remote learning VIDEO. Here’s an example of using a video guide to promote COVID-19 awareness and prevention.

Click Here to Edit This Template

4 Critical Questions For Every Remote Manager

Once your team is well briefed on your company’s procedures, and their own health and safety is protected, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

1. How do you quickly and effectively create material for remote working?
2. Which digital platforms will you use to stay connected and keep an open line of  communication with colleagues?
3. How do you keep staff productive, motivated and responsive?
4. And, with no end in sight to the COVID-19 outbreak, how do you come up with creative new ideas, assignments and projects for your team?

These questions are essential, as more companies have been forced to incorporate remote working policies, such as Google, Amazon and even NASA. They’ve stepped up to the plate by adapting new guidelines, providing updated Coronavirus information, and most importantly, laying down clear step-by-step instructions on how to move forward. 

And you better believe they have a strategy for managers to stay connected to their teams…

Managing Remote Workers With the Power of Video

The truth is, the next best thing to being there is being seen. Video allows managers to connect screen-to-screen (if not face-to-face) with their team members. And using video to accomplish simple tasks you used to do in person can actually help replace the organic structure an office usually gives us. 

But wait! I hear you say. How am I going to come up with creative ideas? How do I even know where to start? Will this change devastate my team’s productivity or my company’s bottom line? 

Fear not! 

If you work smart and use the right tools, both employees and employers can benefit from a remote working arrangement. Here are our top five essential video templates for keeping remote workers productive and engaged. 

How to Manage Remote Workers: The 5 Most Essential Video Templates

Set New Goals for the Week, Month, or Year!

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE

Kickoff New Projects with an Action Plan

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE

Easily Share Your Research with Colleagues

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE

Train Employees from Anywhere with an Engaging Video

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE

Follow Up On eMeetings with a Short Summary

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE

We’re With You!

No matter whether your company is directly affected by the remote working tidal wave, or if you’re just getting prepared to keep seamless communications with your team, these video templates help you keep connected and engaged.

Don’t forget to see our guide to remote working, with more templates, tips, and support! Let me know which of these templates have helped YOU manager workers remotely in the comments below.

Please note: Powtoon is a visual communication platform, not a health organization. Information about the COVID-19 outbreak is changing by the minute. Please be sure to verify, by direct and live contact with your local health authorities, any specific health-related inquiries.

The post How to Manage Remote Workers — Keep Them Productive & Engaged with Video appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

Send a sweet, funny eCard that is easy to personalize with pictures, jokes, memories and fun animations!

Pop open that bottle of Champagne and throw on that red sweater you love, because Valentine’s Day is here and the world is about to find out just how thoughtful YOU are!  This year, we’re going to help you surprise your sweetheart, work buddies, friends, and even your clients, with the most original gift yet: Valentoons —Valentine’s Day Video Templates that are ready for you to customize and send! (And share on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!)

Edit This Template

People want experiences…yet they get things

A survey of more than 4,000 U.S. consumers reports that the average person will shell out $71 on a Valentine’s Day present (the top gifts being chocolate, flowers, jewellery, and fancy dinners), yet the most desired Valentine gift was listed as “Experiences”; something thoughtful, different and original.

The secret to thoughtful gifts is to MAKE IT PERSONAL

No one would turn down a relaxing spa day or the chance to take a cool course (furniture design, anyone?) but there is no way that it will elicit the same reaction as a hand-made Valentoon video! Emotional gifts that pull at the heart strings are an epic win for both the giver and receiver!

See More Valentine’s Day Templates

The new V-Day trend – Valentines for everyone!?

Gone are the days when your Valentine was limited to romantic lovers and secret crushes —  the holiday of love has morphed into a global celebration of appreciation, recognition and pure happiness that extends from home to work! It’s the one time of year that you can take a step back and say “Geez, I’m lucky I have you in my life!” 

We asked 4 people — with no design background, to customize a video template

Remember that Einstein template above? It’s called Geek Love and it’s a popular Valentine’s day e-card among science lovers and nerds, (i.e., those who admire the pursuit of higher intellect). It consists of only three slides: An intro slide, a pun slide, and a closing slide. You can quickly customize the template with your personal details, such as your name and your recipient’s name, then send it as is.

Or you can make a few small changes to turn this video card into an original creation… by swapping images, characters, backgrounds props, scenes and video clips with our 1-click SWAP feature. And that’s exactly what our four awesome volunteers did. Without further ado, here are the four Valentoons in all their glory:

Colleague Appreciation – Valentine eCard

Romantic Love – Valentine eCard

Thank You to Customers Valentine eCard

Shout out to Friends – Valentine eCard

A few small changes result in big wins!

Did you see what they did there? A few small changes resulted in a super original, super thoughtful Valentine’s Day eCard, personalized to those you love and appreciate —arguably the most epic Valentine’s Gift Idea of 2020! And the best part is that it’s so quick to make and so easy to send you can make multiple versions for different people — even if it’s LAST MINUTE! So get started spreading good vibes with video eCards, and don’t forget to share on social media with #Valentoon for a chance to be featured on our social channels!

The post The Most Epic Valentine’s Day Gift Idea for 2020 – A Quick, Personalized Video Card that You Make Yourself! appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

We asked trainers all over the world about the best training software and LMS systems they use, and here are the results:

Forget about office yoga and happy hour, it’s TRAINING that the employees of tech companies and startups demand. It’s TRAINING that tops the list of most requested office perks. It may be hard to believe, but at any given moment, either you or a professional colleague are being trained, or someone in your company is providing training for others (which includes internal or external training for both the private sector and government-run organizations). And, when a trend grows at such an exponential rate — the training software to support it will follow.

What’s causing a surge in training and the use of training software?

Before we dive into the most popular platforms for digitizing L&D and training, let’s understand WHY training is making waves. First of all, it’s actually become cool to learn.  It’s 2019 after all, and cutting edge technology has embedded itself into every part of our lives (smart homes, AI, machine learning…), so tech employees are eager to be in the know  — and companies are more than happy to accommodate. Secondly, we live in a world where we can easily offend — and be offended — so rules and guidelines must be transparent. Lastly, training is increasingly becoming a legal requirement (e.g., GDPR compliance), and no intelligent company wants to challenge the law. But do the numbers match the demand?

Statistics Behind the Training Trend

According to the most recent Industry Report, the tech world’s most trusted source of data on budgets, staffing, and programs, the total cost of training (for US-based companies) was $87.6 Billion! Which means… diddly squat — until we break down how and where these numbers are being spent:

Training Expenses Stats:

• The average training expenditures for large companies increased from $17M in 2017 to $19.7M in 2018. 
• Training Expenditures for midsize companies rose from $600,000 to $2.1M in 2018.

Training Budget Stats:

• In 2018, 36% of companies increased their training budgets, while 49% reported that their training budgets remained the same (hey, no budget cuts!) 

Training Hours Stats:

• On average, employees receive 46.7 hours of training a year (excluding vacation, that’s 1 hour/week, per employee).
• On average, a company spent $986 on training/per learner/per year.

The Most Popular Training Topics

Internal Training: Training within a company, includes onboarding new staff, product training, soft skills training,  LMS training, workflow training, L&D for a product, financial training, etc…

Training as Dictated by Law: Government-mandated trainings includes sexual harassment prevention training, diversity training, safety training, hazard communication training, emergency preparedness training,  etc…

Compliance Training: Training for compliance includes OSHA training, HIPAA training, GDPR training, software integrations,  etc…

And FINALLY….

Almost all training requires the creation and sharing of knowledge — which comes in many forms — PDFs, videos, MP3s, MP4s, text documents, training modules, surveys, interactive forms, live video sessions, posts, etc…So, after hundreds of interviews & survey responses from trainers all over the world (Powtoon users, and non-Powtoon users alike), we are proud to present a roundup of:  

The 17 Most Popular Training Software For All Your Various Training Needs

1. Articulate 360

Tagline – “Get everything you need to create e-learning”

Software Categories: Content authoring tool, course creation tool, and collaboration tool

Plans: Paid

Description: Articulate 360 includes both Storyline 360 and Rise 360, plus a slew of other authoring apps. Use Storyline 360 to develop custom, interactive courses that work on every device — without any manual tweaking. It’s powerful enough for experts, but easy for beginners to create virtually any interaction imaginable.

2. iSpring

Tagline – “eLearning Software that really works”

Software Categories: LMS, content authoring tools, and presentation tool

Plans: Paid and Free Trial

Description: Create interactive courses and assessments in record time. No training required to start. iSpring Learn is an LMS that delivers your training faster. It allows you to automate training projects, from onboarding to sales enablement, engage employees, provide consistent learning, and boost your team performance.

3. Powtoon

Tagline: “Create Awesome Videos and Presentations in minutes.”

Software Categories: Rapid content authoring tools, video editing software, video creation tool, publishing tool, collaboration tool, and presentation tool

Plans: Free and Premium

Description: Powtoon is a trainer’s go-to platform for creating awesome, professional-looking videos and presentations — in minutes. Simply choose from 100’s of “drag and drop” templates that are already designed, scripted and ready for customization. With 1-click technology, you can add your logo, message, swap characters or objects, upload video, and so much more! In addition, you can convert your PPT to video and vice versa, then collaborate with colleagues. To finish it off, add a voiceover or soundtrack from a huge music library and watch your audience get excited!

4. MS Office (Honestly, mostly PPT)

Tagline: “Welcome to Office. Your place to create, communicate, collaborate, and get great work done.”

Software Categories: Presentation tool, collaboration tool, content authoring tool 

Plans: Paid

Description: MS Office suite includes Outlook, Word, Excel, OneNote, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Yammer, One Drive and of course, PowerPoint.  Trainers favor PPT, where they can “Tell a story with confidence using slide-by-slide notes only viewable by you, easily translate slides into a preferred language, and use built-in accessibility checkers.” As part of the suite, trainers can view work across any device, including mobile apps for Windows PCs, macOS, iOS, and Android as well as save work to the cloud.

5. Camtasia

Tagline: “The Best All-In-One Screen Recorder and Video Editor”

Software Categories: Screenshot and recording tool, and video editing tool

Plans: Paid and Free Trial

Description: Camtasia 2019 makes it simple to record and create professional-looking videos on Windows and Mac. It’s a best friend for your content authoring tool.

6. Adobe Captivate

Tagline: “Fast Forward e-learning” 

Software Categories: Video editing tool, video creation tool, and interactive tool

Plans: Paid

Description: Jumpstart compliance and soft skill course creation with ready-to-go slides…or use Quick Start Projects to create beautiful, mobile-ready projects in minutes. Add cool interactions and knowledge check questions as overlays on top of your video.

7.Vengage

Tagline: “Make Infographics That People Love”

Software Categories: Content authoring tool and design tool

Plans: Paid and Free Trial

Description:  Tell your stories and present your data with infographics. Turn complex data into easy to understand infographics. Make a big impact with stunning charts and visualizations.

 8. Elucidat

Tagline: “Produce eLearning that makes a real difference”

Software Categories: Content authoring tool, eLearning tool, collaboration tool, publishing tool, analytics tool, and interactive tool

Plans: Paid and Free Trial

Description: Create engaging, personalized digital learning that your audience can access on any device. Elucidat’s cloud-based eLearning authoring tool lets you produce HTML5, SCORM-compliant content that works with every modern LMS. That way, your whole team, from content producers to subject-matter experts, can contribute to, review, and author eLearning at any time with this tool. Then, use Elucidat’s analytics dashboards to help optimize your experience and report on the success of your content.

9. Adobe Express

Tagline: “Quickly and easily make standout content”

Software categories: Content authoring tools, collaboration tool, video creation tool, presentation tool, and design tool

Plans: Free and Premium

Description: Create impactful social graphics, web pages, and short videos in minutes. Whether you want to build your business, grow your side hustle, or rock your presentation, Adobe Express can help unleash your potential — beautifully. 

10. TalentLMS

Tagline: “Be a learning hero with the #1 LMS on the market”

Software categories: Content authoring tool and LMS 

Plans: Paid and Free Trial

Description: TalentLMS is a “super-easy, cloud LMS software” used to train your employees, partners, and customers with the necessary inbuilt tools that help everyone involved. All users can access the portal with ease and convenience.

11. SAP Litmos

Tagline: “Training in the Now – number one training platform for customer-focused enterprises“

Software categories: Content authoring tool, collaboration tool, presentation tool, interactive tool, and publishing tool

Plans: Paid

Description: SAP Litmos enables you to comprehensively and consistently train service and support agents to skillfully represent your brand. You can automate course assignments and quizzes to ensure learners are receiving and retaining information, and offer it from within an integrated environment, such as a CRM, where they spend the majority of their time.

12. Canva

Tagline: “Canva, your secret weapon for stunning design”

Software categories: Content authoring tool and design tool 

Plans: Free and Premium

Description: Whether it’s an invitation, email update, workshop summary, or any other message that must grab attention — and look professional — Canva is the go-to place for ready-made designs that can be customized to your brand.

13. Kahoot!

Tagline: “Make learning awesome, gamify your training sessions with Kahoot!!”

Software categories: Content authoring tool and interactive tool

Plans: Paid and Free Trial

Description: Kahoot! makes it easy to create, share and play fun learning games or trivia quizzes in minutes. Spice up your sessions by making them engaging, fun, interactive, and memorable through games. You can play Kahoot! to break the ice, reinforce a topic, assess progress or reward trainees.

14. G Suite

Tagline: “Make it Anywhere. Make it together. Make it with G Suite.”

Software categories: Content authoring tool, collaboration tool, presentation tool

Plans: Free 

G Suite is an integrated suite of secure, cloud-native collaboration, and productivity apps powered by Google AI, that allows you to easily work on documents, spreadsheets, and slides across your devices, with or without internet access. Multiple people can work at the same time, and every change is saved automatically. G Suite excels in privacy and security options like 2-step verification, single-sign-on, and mobile management.

15. Prezi

Tagline: “Present everywhere, online and off”

Software categories: Content authoring tool, collaboration tool, and presentation tool

Plans: Free and Premium

Description: Prezi is a platform that allows you to deliver stunning interactive visual experiences — that let you adapt on the fly — and zoom in on the topics that matter most to your audience. As a cloud-based software, Prezi lets you create, collaborate, and share around the world, or take your work offline with a desktop app.

16. VideoScribe

Tagline: “Make your own whiteboard video fast”

Software categories: Content authoring tools, video creation tool, presentation tool, and design tool

Plans: Free and Premium

Description: VideoScribe is easy, quick, and inexpensive. You can create hand-drawn style videos in no time for business or training to engage viewers and retain a productive and motivated workforce.

17. SkyPrep 

Tagline: “One-stop Solution for Any Industry”

Software categories: Content authoring tool, video creation tool, and presentation tool

Plans: Paid and Free Trial

Description:  Your online onboarding and upskilling platform shouldn’t be complicated, and with SkyPrep’s corporate eLearning solutions, companies can easily arrange general training and certification programs, compliance training, onboarding initiatives, client training, and more.

18. BONUS – Lessonly

Tagline: “Do Better Work”

Software categories: Content authoring tool, video creation tool, presentation tool, course creation tool, and interactive tool

Plans: Paid and Free Trial

Description: If you can write an email you can use Lessonly to create beautiful, interactive lessons in minutes, with just a few clicks. Aside from presentation creation, teammates can easily find what they need with dynamic search and intelligent recommendations —  so they can do their best work.

There you have it! The “17 Most Popular Training Software” used by trainers, instructional designers, and L&D leaders to create, share, and engage their audience with the best training materials.

Do you use any of these tools? We’d love to hear from you! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

The post 17 Most Popular Training Softwares (Free & Paid) Used by Trainers to Make an Impact appeared first on Powtoon Blog.

A Roundup of Powtoon’s Best EDU Video Stuff of 2019… So Far!

Let’s get straight to it. Teachers have a job that’s just plain difficult. Between the state requirements that change from year to year,  the ‘standardized testing’ that’s breathing down their necks and the constant struggle to get students to pay attention — teaching can get downright frustrating. But even when teachers do succeed to push through all this mud… and pour their heart and soul into their work… they often don’t get appreciated for it! 

Dear teachers, we hear you, loud and clear. And we truly honor, respect, and LOVE you.

That’s right, our CEO loves you, our designers love you and the programmers coding away at Powtoon LOVE YOU, because teachers are HEROES. It is YOU that shape all the young, vulnerable minds into the creative, productive (and even happy) people of the future.

That’s why we did a little research into what TEACHERS WANT MOST. According to recent surveys, from school teachers spanning all ages, all levels of experience, and who teach all grades (Pre-K up through university), we found that funding, classroom management, and the changing role of technology in the classroom are your biggest hurdles.

So that’s what we tackled. 

We are so proud and excited to present this list (packed with images and examples) of the best EDU video features, characters, templates, and lesson ideas that will not only make you look like the rockstar teacher of the year, but will also keep your students edu-tained and excited about learning (without breaking the bank).

So sit back, enjoy this super valuable list of the 20 best EDU video features, and bite into that delicious red apple on your desk — you deserve it.

(And when you’re ready to get your feet wet with awesomeness, check out our super-subsidized, low-cost EDU PLANS.)

1. Moving, Flying, Bubbling Science & Communication Icons 

More choices mean more creativity, and we are so excited to present a new set of icons that reflect the latest in design trends: extraordinarily bright colors, gradients, and bizarrely beautiful elements!

Where to find them? All Looks ➤ Specials ➤ Social 

2. New Templates to Build Student Confidence

Is there anything more valuable than time? The answer is, NO WAY!

Save time, energy, and the annoyance of having to build a lesson plan from scratch by using templates!

Templates work great as student assignments because they give students a starting point to work from! Here are some newbies:

Student resume template 

As an educator, it’s important to acknowledge your students’ accomplishments. But true self esteem is attained when students can recognize their own positive attributes.

This student resume template compels students to identify those attributes and show them off!

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE NOW!

Group Project Hackathon Template

Originally designed for tech company Hackathons, this template has become a favorite in the classroom. Have each student introduce themself and explain their role in the project.

EDIT THIS TEMPLATE NOW!

3. Plantillas En Espanol — Templates in Spanish

South America, Spain, and Spanish speakers all over the world… tener celebración! Introducing Templates in Spanish:

Meet Jane — Conoce a Juana

One of our most popular templates, this story follows Jane, as she struggles with a problem (a project, assignment) and discovers a solution. Students can easily swap characters, backgrounds, colors, etc., to make it their own.

5 Tips — 5 Tips

Powtoon’s most famous “Listicle!” Use this template to share bite-sized pieces of information: List 5 science facts, summarize 5 takeaways, offer 5 solutions to a challenge… It’s all easy to absorb when it comes in a short list of 5! 

Whiteboard Explainer — Video Explicativo Pizarra Blanca

The signature hand-drawn style is perfect to introduce a topic or simplify a process via clear, step-by-step instructions.

Where to find them? Templates ➤ Work ➤ All ➤ Plantillas en Espanol 

SEE ALL POWTOON TEMPLATES

5. New Fonts in Multiple Languages

We are a bit typography obsessed at Powtoon because we know that one of the most common and QUICKEST ways to make your video or presentation unique, is by swapping fonts. Say hello to Quicksand, Kirang, and Handlee — 3 of over a dozen new international new fonts, released by our Font-Trend Experts!

6. New Smooth Flow for Classroom Accounts

The “My Classroom” page has been completely redesigned and given a fresh new look, so setting up your classroom account is as easy as 1, 2, Powtoon!

7. Glorious Modes of Transportation

It’s time to go places! Jump on board with these sleek new skateboards, scooters, light rails, helicopters, and more uber-modern transport vehicles!

Where to find them? Modern Edge Look ➤ Props tab ➤ Everyday

8. Enter and Exit Sounds

Sound effects are a secret of the industry, used for years by movie producers to add humor, emphasize a point or focus audience attention at specific points in their movie. But now your students can use them too! Add pop, drag, whoosh, and chirp sounds to the ‘Enter’ or ‘Exit’ movement of any object, character, or text, and watch as your students turn into the youngest set of producers around!

9. Powtoon Connect App — When Phones Help EDU

Don’t fight the phone, use it to your advantage! Selfies and face-to-camera videos are all the rage! And now, students can upload pictures they snapped and videos they recorded, straight from their phone via the Powtoon Connect App (available in the App Store and Google Play) and right into the Powtoon Studio! If students choose to narrate their Powtoon, they can even record voiceover from their phone! All images, videos and voiceover will be waiting… in their media folder, in the Powtoon Studio. 

10. 1-Click SWAP

In just ONE CLICK, SWAP your Scene. In ONE LITTLE CLICK, SWAP your character. It just takes ONE TINY CLICK to SWAP your background. And in JUST ONE CLICK, SWAP any prop or object.

That’s right people, if you want to switch anything for anything QUICKLY,  while keeping the same size and timing of the element, no longer do you have to delete and go search for a new one… now you can do it all in one click with 1-Click Swap.

11. Turn Your PPT Into Video in One Click 

To ensure your process from PowerPoint to video (or presentation) is super EASY & seamless, we upgraded our PowerPoint-to-Powtoon feature to support all your favorite PPT elements:

• text
• bullets
• backgrounds added to individual slides
• shapes
• images
• line charts
• bar charts
• pie charts
• transitions
• and more!

So now… turning your PowerPoint into a Powtoon is only 1-click away!

Ready to see how fast it works?

SIGN UP FOR POWTOON & IMPORT YOUR PPTs NOW!

12. Shapes & Overlays — Welcome to the World of Merged Media 

You may not have heard the term “merged media,” but you’ve definitely seen it! Merged media is simply the interface where video and design overlap and it’s found everywhere!

Watching subtitles on a foreign film, or animated characters in pictures are both examples of merged media. Use these gorgeously unique shapes and video overlays to keep up with the latest trends in presentation and video! 

Where to find them? All Looks ➤ Specials ➤ Social

13. More Diversity to Represent Every Teacher & Student

If we were all the same, the world would be snoozeville. But we’re splendidly different! Reflect this diversity in your next Powtoon with the newest characters on the block — introducing this incredible new set of diverse Omnis!

Where can I find them?

Modern Edge Look ➤ Characters Tab ➤ Omnis

14. Video Clips to Make Your Presentations Rock!

As part of our ongoing mission to provide you with the awesomest, most robust video platform, we are introducing an array of HD quality, knock your socks off, premium videos and images… over 1 million— and growing!

So whether you’re searching for a scenic beach with whispering waves, a group of students in a chemistry lab, or a suspicious chameleon, you can now find a video or picture to suit all your needs.

15. For All the Tech and Engineer Lovers: New Mechanical Devices, Gadgets, Tools & Machines

Cool new inventions and products deserve representation! Tech students and teachers everywhere are going crazy for these super modern tools and devices! Use these animated drones when discussing flight and security, add windmills to an environmental presentation and throw in measuring tape when measuring experimental results

Need more ideas? Check out 11 quick and amazing ways to use Powtoon in your classroom!

Where to find them? Modern Edge ➤ Props Tab ➤ Everyday/Tech &Web

16. New Poses to Shock the Masses 

Good video makers know that the best way to get all eyes on you is to limit text and make use of visual elements. Get ready to become an EYE MAGNET — because your Omnis can now text, applaud and cry! 

17. “Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can’t.” ― Johnny Depp

Classical music can transport listeners back in time, while electric and hip-hop get the party started. Marching band brings us into the world of sports, while space themed music adds wonder…

The right music will help your students make a show-stopping presentation (plus it’s really fun to click through all the options!) 

18. Hands — In More Shades and Sizes

The famous human hand, used as an enter/exit effect on objects or text, has just gotten a bunch of new additions. Now you can choose hands in different skin tones!

19. Health and Emergency Scenes

How do you make a technical process look inviting? Or present information regarding serious health matters? You remove your audience from the intense or stressful situation and communicate your message in a safer, less threatening way — via friendly colors and animations.

That’s why we created eight new science scenes — tech, engineering and medical — to help students send a clear message “I may be presenting something scary but It’ll be OK, in fact…it’ll be AWESOME!”

20. Fancy Characters, Objects and Elements

Whether you’re setting the scene up for an Oscar-worthy announcement, graduation ceremony or Valentine’s Day project, we have all the black-tie props to dress up your Powtoon in style. 

Where to find them? All Looks ➤ Specials ➤ Holidays

More EDU Video Awesomeness to Come…

We may have reached the end of the post, but this epic list is not finished yet. Look out for more articles, emails, messages, and posts, with updates about the newest video features, EDU characters, EDU templates, videos, Edtech tools and so much more! 

Are you as excited to create these hi-five worthy Powtoons as we are to watch them — and share them?

That’s right, if you create a Powtoon that is so outstanding you must share, or if you come across any student-created presentations or videos that are just too-cool-for-school, please send them our way!

Stay awesome!

The post 20 Best EDU Video Features, Templates, & Characters for Every Classroom Lesson appeared first on Powtoon Blog.