Guide
A Reels template for a talking video is an edit style, shown here on one clip
Updated
Instagram's Reels templates are built for short clips cut to music, so they don't fit one person talking. For a talking video, the template you want is an edit style that sets the captions, the screens, the music and the ending around your words.
In short
- Reels templates for talking videos are really edit styles: a fixed look for the captions, your screenshots, the music and the ending, laid over your own words.
- Instagram's own templates only work for Reels with music and at least 3 clips, and they keep the original's timing, which suits montages.
- You use an Instagram template from the Templates button in the Reels camera, or with Use Template on a Reel you like.
- Cutroom's Magic Editor has four edit styles for one clip of you talking: Steps, Skit, Verdict and Poster.
- You pick one style per video and can switch to another later, and the earlier version stays.
Are there Reel templates for talking videos?
Not really in Instagram itself. Instagram's templates put your clips into someone else's Reel at the same music and timing. That works for a montage of short shots.
A video of you talking needs something else: a look that follows your sentences. That's an edit style, and some editors offer them for exactly this kind of video.
- An edit style decides how the captions look, where your screenshots or product appear, what music plays and how the video ends.
- Your words stay in your order and at your pace. The style fits itself around them instead of the other way round.
- Editors such as CapCut also have template libraries, for marketing, social media and personal stories.
Instagram's own templates, and why they suit montages
Instagram's templates copy the music and the timing of an existing Reel, and you replace its photos or clips with your own. They're only available for Reels with music and at least 3 clips.
- You can also use a Reel you see as a template by tapping Template by…, then Use Template. Not every Reel can be used this way.
- The Template Browser lets you find templates and save the ones you like.
- Each of your clips gets the length of the clip it replaces, because the template keeps the original's timing.
- That suits short shots set to music, like a trip or a before and after. It doesn't suit a person talking in full sentences, which would be cut wherever the original cut.
Using a Reels template on Instagram
As Instagram's Reels page describes it, read on 12 November 2026.
Tap Create, then Reel
Or swipe right anywhere in Feed
Tap Templates
Browse and pick one
Add your media
Tap your photos or videos in the order you want
Preview and share
Tap a clip and Replace media to swap it
How Cutroom's Magic Editor edits a video like this
Jacob is the AI editor inside Cutroom's Magic Editor: it edits your video for you, then changes it when you ask in a chat.
The 4 styles, as example edits
Steps
Three steps, four angles
Skit
Hook, hard stop, demo card
Verdict
The tester's verdict
Poster
Typography does the talking
Hover or tap an example to play it, without sound. These are example edits of each style; the presenters in them are generated with AI.
- Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
- Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
- Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
- Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
- Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
- Your edit: ask Jacob for changes in a chat, then export
Then you ask Jacob, for example
- “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”
- “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”
- “Change the music to something calmer”
Each change is a new version, and going back is free. First cut 250 credits, each change 40, questions free, export 30 credits per started minute.
One talking clip in four looks
Here is one 40-second clip of a bookkeeper talking about the app she pays for, drawn in Cutroom's Magic Editor. She adds two screenshots, picks the Steps style and presses one button.
Jacob, the AI editor, makes the whole edit. Then she asks for the same clip in another style, in plain words in the chat.
- You press "Make my video" once and Jacob makes the edit in the style you picked. It normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email when your first cut is ready.
- One video has one style at a time. Switching to another costs 120 credits and keeps the earlier version.
- Small changes inside a style, like calmer music or a different call to action, are asked for in the chat and don't need a new style.
A bookkeeper's favourite app, in the Steps style
One clip, one style per version. Switching style rebuilds the edit and keeps the earlier version.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 40-second phone video of a bookkeeper telling people about the one app she pays for every month
“Um, the one tool I pay for every month is my invoicing app. … (pause) It sends the reminders for me, so I, so I never chase a client again.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Steps style
“The one tool I pay for every month is my invoicing app. It sends the reminders for me, never chase a client again.”
- On “invoicing”: your screenshot invoices.png in a floating window
- On “reminders”: your second screenshot reminders.png in the window
- Under the whole video: your words as captions, one big word at a time under the window
- On “again”: the video ending on you, with your logo as a sticker
window: invoices.png
Then you ask Jacob
- “Switch this to the Poster style”v2the same clip rebuilt in Poster, with big stacked words, a black-and-white moment and a neon number, for 120 credits; the Steps version stays
Which look fits which type of Reel
Each style is made for a different kind of talking video. Here is the same bookkeeper's clip described in each one.
- Choose Steps for tips where an app or a tool is part of the advice.
- Choose Skit when you're walking people through your own product.
- Choose Verdict for reviews and comparisons, where your opinion matters most.
- Choose Poster when you have one strong point and nothing on a screen to show.
- The style owns the fonts, so you can't pick your own. Every style comes out as a vertical MP4, 1080 by 1920, 30 frames a second, with the sound levelled.
The four Magic Editor styles on one talking clip
| Style | Best for | What the bookkeeper's Reel looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Steps | Tips and how-to videos where you show the app you use | Her screenshots in floating windows, one big word at a time under them, ending on her with her logo |
| Skit | Walking people through your product with your face on screen | A hook and a sudden stop, a card with her screenshots sliding over her face, a phone playing her recording at the end |
| Verdict | Reviews, "I tried it" videos and comparisons | Her full screen giving her opinion, then small in a card while her screenshots play on a laptop, ending with a typed call to action |
| Poster | One strong point when you have no screenshots to show | Big stacked words, a black-and-white moment and a neon number, with her logo closing it |
Style: Steps
- Best for
- Tips and how-to videos where you show the app you use
- What the bookkeeper's Reel looks like
- Her screenshots in floating windows, one big word at a time under them, ending on her with her logo
Style: Skit
- Best for
- Walking people through your product with your face on screen
- What the bookkeeper's Reel looks like
- A hook and a sudden stop, a card with her screenshots sliding over her face, a phone playing her recording at the end
Style: Verdict
- Best for
- Reviews, "I tried it" videos and comparisons
- What the bookkeeper's Reel looks like
- Her full screen giving her opinion, then small in a card while her screenshots play on a laptop, ending with a typed call to action
Style: Poster
- Best for
- One strong point when you have no screenshots to show
- What the bookkeeper's Reel looks like
- Big stacked words, a black-and-white moment and a neon number, with her logo closing it
Questions people ask
- How do I use a template on Instagram Reels?
- Tap Create, then Reel, then Templates, and pick one. Add your photos or videos in the order you want them, tap Next, and preview and share. You can also tap Use Template on a Reel you see.
- Why can't I use a template on my Reel?
- Most likely because the Reel doesn't qualify. Instagram's templates only work for Reels with music and at least 3 clips, and not every Reel can be used as a template.
- Are there Reels templates for talking head videos?
- Not in Instagram, whose templates are built for clips cut to music. For a talking video you want an edit style, which sets the captions, screens, music and ending around your words.
- Which Reel style is best for a talking video?
- It depends on the video. Steps suits tips with a tool, Skit suits product walkthroughs, Verdict suits reviews, and Poster suits one strong point with no screenshots.
- Can I change the style after the video is made?
- Yes, in Cutroom's Magic Editor. You ask Jacob to switch, for example "Switch this to the Poster style". It costs 120 credits, and your earlier version stays.
Film one clip of you talking, pick a style, and let Jacob make the Reel. Your first video is free.