What Is an Explainer Video? A Plain-English Guide
What is an explainer video? It’s a short video that explains one thing clearly: how a product works, why a policy changed, how to complete a task or what a piece of research found. This guide covers what makes a video an explainer, the common types, where they’re used and how to make one without a studio.
Read the video transcript
Ever been asked what an explainer video actually is? It's a short video that explains one thing clearly. Here's the plain-English version.
Every explainer answers one question and moves from problem to answer. Narration explains while visuals show. The goal is understanding, not advertising.
Animation and live action take serious effort. Narrated slides do the same job, and many organisations already explain their biggest ideas in decks.
A reliable shape is situation, problem, answer, proof, next step. Keep words and pictures matched, so when you say order page, viewers see it.
Every extra minute should earn its place. Add captions and readable text, so people watching with the sound off can still follow along.
Your speaker notes become the narration. On Pro, A.I. directs the video, so a plain deck lands like a produced explainer. Try Basic first at powerpoint2vid.com.
What is an explainer video, exactly?
An explainer video has three features.
- One subject. It answers a single question or explains a single idea.
- A clear structure. It moves from the problem or question to the answer, usually in a few minutes.
- Words and pictures together. Narration explains while visuals show.
It isn’t an advertisement, though it can support marketing. It isn’t a recorded meeting, though it can replace one. The goal is understanding.
Common types of explainer video
Explainers come in a few familiar forms. They can all do the same job; the difference is how they’re made.
| Type | What it looks like | Typical effort |
|---|---|---|
| Animated illustration | Custom characters and scenes | High: scripting, illustration, animation |
| Live action | People on camera | High: filming, lighting, sound |
| Screen recording | A software walkthrough | Low to medium |
| Talking head | A person speaking to camera | Medium |
| Narrated slides | A deck with voice and motion | Low: you start from slides you have |
Narrated slides are often overlooked. Yet many organisations already explain their most important ideas in slide decks. Turning those decks into video is the shortest route to an explainer.
Where explainer videos are used
Marketing and sales
A product explainer on a website answers “what does this do?” before someone has to ask. A narrated pitch deck lets a prospect understand the offer when the salesperson isn’t there.
Education
Lecturers use short explainers for flipped-classroom content, revision and topics students regularly find hard.
Training and onboarding
HR and learning teams use them so every new hire hears the same accurate explanation of policies and processes.
Internal communication
A short video update can replace a long email nobody reads in full.
Research and public information
Researchers and nonprofits use explainers to share findings and causes with audiences outside their field.
What makes an explainer work
It answers one question
“How do I submit an expense claim?” is a good explainer topic. “Everything about finance” isn’t.
It follows a simple story
A reliable shape is situation, problem, answer, proof, next step.
Here’s that shape as a short script for a returns process:
- Situation: “You’ve bought something from us and it isn’t right.”
- Problem: “You want your money back without a long wait.”
- Answer: “Start a return from your order page. It takes about two minutes.”
- Proof: “Most refunds are processed within five business days of the item arriving.” (Use your own real figure here.)
- Next step: “Go to your orders now and choose Return.”
The words and pictures match
When the narration says “start from your order page”, the screen should show the order page. Research on multimedia learning, such as Richard Mayer’s work, suggests people learn better from words and pictures together than from words alone, especially when the two line up.
It’s short enough to finish
There’s no perfect length, but every extra minute should earn its place. If it’s getting long, it may be two explainers. A quick test: if you can’t sum up the video in one sentence, it’s probably trying to cover too much. Split it, give each part its own title, and link them together.
It’s accessible
Captions help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, people watching in a second language and anyone watching with the sound off. Good contrast and readable text matter too.
Why teams make them
- Explain once, reuse many times. The same video answers the same question for every new customer, student or hire.
- Async by default. People watch when it suits them.
- Consistency. Everyone gets the same message.
- Reach. Video works on websites, learning management systems, YouTube, LinkedIn and email.
How to make an explainer video from slides
If you already have a deck on the topic, you have most of an explainer.
- Trim the deck to the slides that answer one question.
- Give each slide one idea and a headline that states it.
- Write the narration in the speaker notes, in short spoken sentences.
- Convert it with a tool that narrates the notes and animates the slides.
- Preview, adjust and download.
For the step-by-step process, see How to Convert PowerPoint to Video: The Complete Guide. If captions are on your list, Captions on Presentation Videos: Why and How covers your options.
Key takeaways
- An explainer video explains one thing clearly, with words and pictures together.
- Animation and live action are common, but narrated slides do the same job with far less effort.
- A simple story structure and matching visuals do most of the work.
- Captions and readable slides make it work for more people.
Turn your deck into an explainer
If the explanation already lives in a slide deck, you don’t need to start from scratch. Open the PowerPoint to video converter, add your .pptx and your speaker notes become the narration. a.i. takes the director’s chair, tightening the story and turning each slide into an animated scene, so a plain explanation lands like a produced explainer. If the deck covers anything sensitive, check your organisation’s policy on using online tools before you upload it.