✦ Summary
Start from the approved policy, keep every obligation word for word, give each one a scene with a right and a wrong example, and keep a record you can show an auditor.
How to make a compliance training video you can stand behind
To make a compliance training video, start from the approved policy, quote each obligation word for word, explain it in plain language around the quote, and give it one scene with a right and a wrong example. Then add a knowledge check, set a completion rule, and keep a record of exactly what shipped.
This is for the L&D or HR person who owns annual training and gets asked, once a year, "can you prove everyone saw the current version?" The steps below use a hybrid work policy as the example. They work the same for data protection, anti-bribery or a code of conduct.
Before you start: the approved version and a named approver
Two things decide whether the video holds up later, and neither is about video.
- The approved text. Use the current, signed-off policy, not the draft in someone's inbox. Write down its version number and effective date. You will need both at the end.
- A named approver. Agree up front who signs the video off: the policy owner, legal, or HR. Interlace has no built-in approval workflow yet (it is coming soon), so decide how the sign-off is recorded. An email that names the video, the policy version and the date is a clear record.
Step 1: Split obligations from explanation
Read the policy and pull out every sentence that tells someone what they must or must not do. Those are obligations. Everything else is explanation, background or procedure.
The obligations stay word for word. You explain around them, in plain words, and show what doing it right and wrong looks like. A table keeps you honest:
| Obligation (verbatim) | Plain explanation | Right | Wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Employees must work from the office at least two days per week." | Two office days a week is the minimum, and your team may set which days. | Priya books Tuesday and Thursday desks at the start of the week. | Sam comes in once a week and "makes it up" next month. |
| "Company data must not be stored on personal devices." | Work files stay on work laptops and approved cloud storage. | Opening a document in the browser on a personal phone, without downloading it. | Emailing a client list to a personal account to finish at home. |
| "Report a lost or stolen laptop to IT within 24 hours." | Tell IT the same day, even if you think it will turn up. | Calling the IT desk from the train station. | Waiting until Monday to see if the café finds it. |
One obligation per scene is the rule. Two in one scene and the second gets half the attention and half the narration.
Keep it short. Five to eight obligations is a good length for one video. A 40-page policy is several videos, grouped by topic.
Step 2: Upload the policy as the source of truth
Click Create, then switch the composer from Prompt to Document. With the File chip selected, upload the policy as a PDF or DOCX. If the policy lives on a public web page, the URL chip takes a link instead. An intranet page that needs a login cannot be fetched, so save it as a PDF.
Pick Source of truth under the upload box ("The script closely follows your document."). Then use the text box for direction, because this is where the obligation table pays off:
Audience: all employees. One obligation per scene. Quote each obligation word for word, then explain it in one or two plain sentences and show one right and one wrong example. Examples: [paste your right and wrong column].
Choose a style and voice, set a length that fits (narration runs at about 150 words a minute, so eight obligations with examples is roughly three minutes), leave Review script on, and press the arrow button.
For style, two presets were made for this. Consulting Line is thin single-weight line diagrams with one accent colour, built for policies and process training a brand team must approve. Graphic Novel has inked panels and realistic people, for sensitive scenarios like harassment or speaking up.
Step 3: Review the plan line by line
Interlace writes the script first and shows Shape the story before we build it. Nothing is drawn until you approve, so this is the cheapest place to catch an error.
With the policy open beside you, check each scene for:
- The quote. Is the obligation there word for word? If it was paraphrased, click into the card and paste the original.
- Numbers. "Two days", "24 hours". A summary that says "regularly" or "promptly" has lost the obligation.
- Must and should. A "must" turned into "should" changes what you are asking people to do.
- Negations. "Must not" read as "must" is the most damaging slip there is. Read every "not" and "never".
- Scope. "All employees" versus "managers". Check the audience line in What the AI understood on the right.
- Invented extras. An exception or example that is not in the policy or your table comes out.
Under each card, Polish, Shorten and Add detail rewrite that one scene. Shorten can drop a qualifier, so check the result: Changes shows exactly what the AI edited and Undo last AI edit reverses it.
When every scene passes, press Approve and continue.
Step 4: Knowledge check and completion rule
Click Export at the top right and pick SCORM 1.2 under Format. A Complete at row appears: Play starts, 80% watched or Fully watched. For mandatory compliance, pick Fully watched. "80% watched" is measured by how far the video has played, not by whether anyone paid attention, so it is a weaker record.
Our SCORM export records completion, not a score. If your policy owner wants proof of understanding as well as viewing:
- Export the MP4 video instead.
- Generate three to five questions from the policy with the free quiz generator. Start with the obligations that carry the most risk.
- Package the MP4 and the questions with the free SCORM packager. It takes up to ten multiple choice questions and reports passed or failed to the LMS, with an 80 percent pass mark.
Burn in captions under Captions, or download a .srt or .vtt file. Many learners watch compliance training with the sound off.
Step 5: Get it signed off and keep a record
Send the approver the video, not a description of it. The Share button at the top right of the editor opens Share video. Switch on Anyone with the link, add Password protect if the policy is internal, and press Copy link. With Allow feedback on, the approver can leave comments on the page.
Then keep a record. A spreadsheet row per video is enough:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Video title | Hybrid work policy 2026, v3.1 |
| Policy version and effective date | v3.1, 1 October 2026 |
| Approved by, date | Head of People, 24 September 2026 (email filed) |
| Completion rule | SCORM 1.2, Fully watched |
| File delivered | hybrid-work-policy-v3-1.zip |
| Review date | 1 September 2027 |
Inside Interlace, Version history (in the editor's More menu, top right) keeps earlier versions of the video, and a render on Interlace servers is saved with it. Keep the exported file you uploaded to the LMS as well. That file is what learners actually saw.
Plan the annual update now
Policies change, often a line or two at a time. When they do, you do not remake the video. Open it in the editor, open the settings of each scene whose obligation changed (press P), paste the new wording into its narration, press Save and then Re-record, redraw the picture if it shows the old wording, and export again with the new version number in the title. Upload it to the LMS as a new version rather than overwriting the old one, so past completions still point at what people saw.
Put the review date from your record in the calendar today.
Common mistakes
- Starting from the draft. If the policy changes during sign-off, the video is wrong on day one.
- Paraphrasing obligations. Plain language belongs around the quote, never instead of it.
- Too many obligations per video. Past eight or so, split by topic.
- "Play starts" as the completion rule. It records that someone pressed play.
For the use case as a whole, see our compliance training video generator page. If the policy is a Word file, how to convert a Word document to video covers cleaning it first, and how to make an SOP training video covers procedures with safety steps.
Make the next policy update a video
Pick the policy with the nearest review date and build its obligation table this week. Join Interlace and bring that policy with you.