What Is Asynchronous Video Anyway?

Are you a remote worker fed up with sitting on Zoom calls 24 hours a day? Well, maybe not 24 hours but it sure feels like it. 

And that’s a little unfair on Zoom. There are a ton of video conferencing apps we use to have one-to-ones, sales calls, and support calls.

Whatever meeting we have, it seems to involve synchronous video meetings. 

As you’re reading this, you’ve probably identified there might be another way to interact with colleagues, clients, and even students—asynchronous video.

In this post, the aim is to introduce you to not only what asynchronous video is, but how you can use it, and what software you need to get started 👇

What is asynchronous video?

To make asynchronous video easy to explain, let’s break the phrase into two words. We’ve borrowed the definitions from the dictionary to avoid bias or jargon.

• Asynchronous: not existing or occurring at the same time.

• Video: the recording, reproducing, or broadcasting of moving visual images.

When combined, we have video but not in real-time. The concept of having video meetings but not in real-time may be alien to you. Fear not, let’s explain how that works.

Like when you join a Zoom meeting and turn on your camera and connect some audio, asynchronous video follows the same process. 

The only difference?

There’s nobody on the other end!

Unlike synchronous meetings where you need two people, you can record whatever you need to say and “meeting participants” can watch it back later.

Outside of one-person meetings, you can use asynchronous video for many things. From video course creation to sales demos, there are lots of examples in the wild.

Let’s take a look at how people are using asynchronous video.

Examples of asynchronous video

We use asynchronous video for lots of things. Examples include:

1. Asynchronous meetings

2. Product demos

3. Presentations

4. Content creation

5. Video interviews

1 - Asynchronous meetings

Types of asynchronous meetings include project updates, company all-hands, and one-to-one catch-ups. Almost any meeting you have in real-time can become an asynchronous meeting if the people involved commit to it.

There will always be a case for real-time meetings. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here. But we are trying to help it spin more efficiently. 

Rather than “meeting could have been an email”, asynchronous meetings enable “real-time meeting is a video to watch back”.

In the case of company all-hands, mobile workers no longer need to tune into the real-time board slides where it’s one-way communication. The CEO could be creating an asynchronous video then sending it out for staff to watch in their own time. 

The same applies to project updates and any meeting that doesn’t need real-time input.

Even those that traditionally need real-time input (decision making, brainstorming, etc.) can be more efficient when you use asynchronous communications.

A Slack thread, combined with a Tella video, for example, could prove a better way of generating ideas than forcing everyone to be creative in the moment.

2 - Product demos

How much time do you spend presenting your product to prospective customers? If the answer is anything other than “the perfect amount” then asynchronous video can help here.

While personalisation is the name of the game in sales, we often just want to see the product in action. Instead of a canned demo, you can create a stock video showing the basics then tailor elements to a specific customer.

Once you’ve learned how someone will use your product, you can record your screen and create the custom elements to package with your standard demo.

Check out Tella Co-Founder, Grant Shaddick, demoing the Tella product below: