How to Create Scenario-Based Training Videos

Most training fails at the exact moment it matters: when someone has to make a call under pressure. Scenario-based learning fixes that by turning “knowing” into “doing” with realistic practice, fast feedback, and a chance to try again before the stakes are real.

Use scenarios as part of your enablement system. Focus them on judgment-heavy moments, and pair them with reference content (policies, SOPs, product docs) for everything else. Start with a small set tied to clear business outcomes, publish them where work happens (LMS, intranet, CRM, knowledge base), and standardize the format so teams can reuse and update without starting from scratch.

And now that AI video is part of everyday L&D production, scenarios are finally practical to build, localize, and keep current at enterprise scale. We'll show you how.

Step 1: Choose a scenario (and scope it)

Effective scenario videos are built for the moment people need judgment, not information. Their job is to let employees rehearse realistic situations, make a choice, and learn what good looks like before it matters in real life.

That leads to a few design principles:

• Start with the decision
  ‍The viewer should know what they’re trying to handle (and what “good” looks like) before the scenario unfolds.
• Keep the pattern consistent
  ‍If every scenario follows a familiar flow, learners can focus on the situation instead of figuring out the format.
• Make it feel like real work
  ‍Use authentic language, constraints, and context so people recognize when to apply the behavior on the job.
• Build for replay
  ‍Short scenarios invite repeat practice, which is how judgment becomes automatic over time.
• Design for updates
  ‍Scenarios should be modular so you can swap a policy line, product detail, or escalation path without redoing everything.

💡Tip: Standardizing scene labels and decision patterns makes scenarios easier to govern, localize, and update across teams.

Step 2: Draft the scenario flow

The next step is to draft the scenario itself — the setup, the decision, and what happens next.

The goal is to create a short, realistic moment that lets employees rehearse judgment, not memorize information.

Your scenario should:

• Start in the middle of real work: Open with a believable situation and a clear stake (what could go wrong if this is handled poorly).
• Include one decision point: Ask “What would you do next?” and provide 2–3 options that sound plausible.
• Show consequences fast: Each option should lead to an outcome that feels true to life (positive, neutral, or costly).
• Add coaching after each choice: One sentence explaining why it worked (or didn’t) and what to do instead.
• Keep it tight: Aim for 60–120 seconds total, focused on a single judgment call.

Example: ‍

• Scenario: An angry customer threatens to cancel after a billing error.
• ‍Decision: Do you (A) acknowledge and confirm next step, (B) explain policy first, (C) promise an immediate refund?
• ‍Feedback: Reinforce the best move and explain the risk in the others (defensiveness, overpromising, escalation).

Step 3: Log in to Synthesia

Click here to log in or to sign up for a free account.

Step 4: Create a video

Once logged in, you’ll see Create in the top right of your homepage. Select Video to get started.

At this stage, you’re not trying to build the full branching experience yet. You’re creating the base video structure you’ll use for the scenario:

• One scene for the setup: the context, the stake, and who the learner is in the moment.
• One scene for the decision: the prompt (“What would you do next?”) and the options.
• One scene per outcome: what happens after each choice.
• One scene per coaching point: a short explanation of what good looks like and why.

This gives you a clean scaffold you can duplicate and reuse across scenarios as you scale.

Step 5: Choose a template

Synthesia offers a wide selection of scenario-based training templates to help you get started. You can browse all available templates in your Synthesia dashboard by going to Templates and selecting the Training tag, or click Edit on the scenario template below to try it out now.

Step 6: Build the scenes

Now it’s time to turn your scenario outline into scenes.

The goal is to keep each scene focused on one job: set context, ask for a decision, show an outcome, or provide coaching. That makes the scenario easy to follow, easy to update, and easy to reuse as a template.

Your scene build should:

• Scene 1: Set the context
  Establish who the learner is in the moment, what’s happening, and what’s at stake.
• Scene 2: Present the decision
  Ask “What would you do next?” and show 2–3 realistic options (including at least one tempting wrong choice).
• Scenes 3–5: Show the outcomes
  Create one short outcome scene per option that shows the consequence of that choice.
• Scenes 6–8: Add coaching
  After each outcome, add a brief coaching scene that explains why it worked (or didn’t) and what good looks like.

✔️ Tip: Keep scenes short (one idea per scene) and label them clearly (e.g., Setup, Decision, Outcome A, Coach A) so you can duplicate and edit faster as you scale.

Step 7: Edit your scenario video

Now it’s time to edit your scenario video. You can review your scenes, refine the script, and tighten the pacing so the scenario feels realistic and easy to follow.

As you edit, focus on:

• Make the setup instantly clear
  ‍In the first few seconds, the viewer should understand the situation, the stake, and their role in it.
• Keep the decision point simple
  ‍The prompt and options should be easy to scan, and each option should sound like something a real employee might choose.
• Trim for pace
  ‍Cut anything that explains too much before the learner makes a choice; the learning lands best in the feedback after.
• Align tone to real work
  ‍Use language employees actually use with customers, colleagues, or managers (and avoid overly formal “training” phrasing).
• Keep scenes modular
  ‍If a policy, product detail, or escalation path changes, you should be able to update one scene without rebuilding the full video.

Choose an AI avatar and voice

You can select from a wide range of AI avatars, AI voices, languages, and accents to match your audience and context.

Add B-roll

B-roll helps break up long talking-head sections and keeps training videos visually engaging. In Synthesia, you can place clips between sections or layer them behind your avatar or voiceover to reinforce key points.

B-roll works well for showing real-world examples, people performing tasks, or visuals that support the narration. You can generate clips with AI video models like Sora or Veo, upload your own footage, or use Synthesia’s built-in stock library.

Add interactivity

Add interactive elements such as quizzes, branching choices, and clickable buttons so learners can choose an option and see the outcome (non-linear paths).

Step 8: Generate your video

Click Generate in the top-right corner to create your video. You can then download your software training video as an MP4, get a shareable link, embed your video on a webpage, or download a SCORM version of your video and upload it to your LMS.

Step 9: Publish and share your video

The final step is to publish and share your video. Most teams distribute software training videos through an LMS, company intranet, or internal communications channels.

Synthesia lets you export your video as an MP4 file, or publish it within the platform, allowing you to embed the video wherever it’s needed.

Measure impact (and improve the scenario)

Scenario training earns trust when it changes performance. The simplest way to do this is to decide upfront what should move, then track it at three levels: engagement, capability, and business outcomes.

What to measure

• Engagement signals tell you whether people are actually using the scenario: completion rate, drop-off point, and replay rate.
• Capability signals tell you whether judgment is improving: choice distribution (how many pick the best option), improvement on a second attempt, and confidence ratings.
• Business signals tell you whether the scenario is changing work: fewer escalations, improved QA scores, reduced incidents, faster time to proficiency, improved CSAT.

How to operationalize measurement

• Pick one metric that matters to the business owner of the scenario (Support, Ops, People, Compliance).
• Set a baseline before rollout and check movement after 2–4 weeks.
• Use results to iterate fast: if most learners choose the wrong option, your coaching is valuable; if everyone chooses the right option instantly, increase realism or difficulty.

If you need a familiar evaluation frame: start with reaction and learning, then focus your effort on application and business impact where leaders care most.