Guide
Twelve talking head video ideas, each with the edit style that suits it
Updated
The best talking head video ideas come from what your customers ask, what you've tried and what you got wrong. Here are twelve, each with a first line you can say and the edit style that fits it.
In short
- Good talking head video ideas are answers to customer questions, things you tried, mistakes you made and how you do one task.
- Each idea below comes with a first line you can say to camera, so you can start filming straight away.
- Tips and how-to's suit a style with steps and screenshots, while a strong opinion works best as big words with no screens.
- You can film several ideas in one sitting, as long as each idea is its own short clip.
- Cutroom's Magic Editor turns each clip into a finished vertical video in the style you pick.
What should you make talking head videos about?
Make them about things only you can say. A talking video works when people want to hear it from you, not from a stock clip with a voice-over.
Most good ideas fit one of five kinds. If you run out of ideas, go back to this list and pick a kind you haven't done this week.
- A question a customer asked you this month, answered in under a minute.
- Something you tried, like a tool, a routine or a new way of working, and what you think of it.
- A mistake you made, and what you do differently now.
- How you do one task, step by step.
- An opinion about your trade that other people in it would argue with.
Twelve talking head video ideas
Each idea has a first line you can say as it is, or change to fit your business. The style column says which Magic Editor style suits it, and the next section explains why.
- Film the first line first, then keep talking for 30 to 60 seconds about that one idea.
- One idea per video works better than three ideas squeezed into one.
Twelve talking head video ideas with a first line and a style
Example first lines. Swap in your own trade, product and numbers.
| Idea | First line you could say | Style |
|---|---|---|
| The mistake I made in year one | “In my first year I got one thing badly wrong.” | Poster |
| I tried it for a week | “I tried waking up at 5 a.m. for a week.” | Verdict |
| Three tips in a row | “Three things I tell every new client.” | Steps |
| How I do one task | “This is how I pack an order so nothing breaks.” | Steps |
| A walkthrough of your product | “Let me show you the three screens you'll use most.” | Skit |
| A myth in your trade | “You don't need to post every single day.” | Poster |
| A before and after | “This is what my client's page looked like before.” | Verdict |
| A customer's question | “A customer asked if this works on dry skin.” | Steps |
| My honest review of a tool | “I've used this booking app for a year.” | Verdict |
| One number that changed things | “One number changed how I price everything.” | Poster |
| Your first week as a customer | “This is what happens after you sign up.” | Skit |
| What I'd do if I started again | “If I started again tomorrow, I'd do three things.” | Steps |
Idea: The mistake I made in year one
- First line you could say
- “In my first year I got one thing badly wrong.”
- Style
- Poster
Idea: I tried it for a week
- First line you could say
- “I tried waking up at 5 a.m. for a week.”
- Style
- Verdict
Idea: Three tips in a row
- First line you could say
- “Three things I tell every new client.”
- Style
- Steps
Idea: How I do one task
- First line you could say
- “This is how I pack an order so nothing breaks.”
- Style
- Steps
Idea: A walkthrough of your product
- First line you could say
- “Let me show you the three screens you'll use most.”
- Style
- Skit
Idea: A myth in your trade
- First line you could say
- “You don't need to post every single day.”
- Style
- Poster
Idea: A before and after
- First line you could say
- “This is what my client's page looked like before.”
- Style
- Verdict
Idea: A customer's question
- First line you could say
- “A customer asked if this works on dry skin.”
- Style
- Steps
Idea: My honest review of a tool
- First line you could say
- “I've used this booking app for a year.”
- Style
- Verdict
Idea: One number that changed things
- First line you could say
- “One number changed how I price everything.”
- Style
- Poster
Idea: Your first week as a customer
- First line you could say
- “This is what happens after you sign up.”
- Style
- Skit
Idea: What I'd do if I started again
- First line you could say
- “If I started again tomorrow, I'd do three things.”
- Style
- Steps
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.
Which edit style suits each idea
The Magic Editor has four styles, and you pick one per video. The idea decides the style, mostly by whether you have screens to show.
- Steps is best for tips, how-to's and a tool inside the advice, so it suits tips, a task and a customer's question.
- Skit is best for a product walkthrough with a face on screen, so it suits showing your app or shop.
- Verdict is best for reviews, 'I tried it' and comparisons, so it suits "I tried it" and a before and after.
- Poster is best for one strong point, no screens, so it suits a mistake, a myth or one number.
- You can switch a finished video to another style later for 120 credits, and the old version stays.
“The mistake I made in year one” as a Poster video
A bakery owner's example clip. Poster needs no screenshots, so big words and one number carry the video.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 35-second phone video of a bakery owner talking in her shop kitchen
“So, um, in my first year I priced every cake at cost. I, I lost money on 200 orders … (pause) before I noticed.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Poster style
“In my first year I priced every cake at cost. lost money on 200 orders before I noticed.”
- On “cost”: the word set huge in big stacked letters
- On “200”: the number 200 in neon
- On “noticed”: a black-and-white moment on her last line
- Under the whole video: her logo closing the video
Then you ask Jacob
- “Make the key words stand out more”v2“cost”, “200” and “noticed” land bigger, with the rest of the captions quieter
- “Change the call to action to Order for Saturday”v3the same edit, ending on the line “Order for Saturday”
An “I tried it” video, before and after
An “I tried it” video lives on your face while you give your verdict, and on proof while you explain it. Verdict is built for exactly that.
In this example, a freelance designer tried a 5 a.m. routine and shows her habit tracker as the proof.
- Jacob makes the whole edit from one press of "Make my video": the cuts, the captions, her screenshot on the right words and the ending.
- After the first edit, she types what she wants changed in the chat, and every change comes back as a new version.
- A message that changes the video costs 40 credits, and a question that changes nothing is free.
“I tried the 5 a.m. routine for a week” as a Verdict video
A freelance designer's example clip with one screenshot of her habit tracker. Two chat requests made the next versions.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 40-second phone video of a freelance designer at her desk, with one screenshot of her habit tracker
“I tried waking up at 5 a.m. for a week. Um, honestly, … (pause) I got more done, but I, uh, I was asleep by nine.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Verdict style
“I tried waking up at 5 a.m. for a week. honestly, I got more done, but I was asleep by nine.”
- On “week”: her screenshot tracker.png on a drawn laptop, with her in a small card
- On “honestly”: her full screen again while she gives her verdict
- Under the whole video: a typed call to action and a follow card at the end
window: tracker.png
Then you ask Jacob
- “Can you find 3 b-roll clips that fit what I'm saying?”v2three stock clips, such as an alarm clock and a dark window, on the words they belong to
- “Change the music to something calmer”v3the same edit with a calmer track under her voice
Filming several ideas in one session
Filming five ideas in one sitting is faster than setting up five times. The trick is to keep each idea a separate, short clip.
- Write the first line of each idea on a card, then film them one after another without moving the phone.
- Stop and start a new recording for each idea, because each clip becomes its own video.
- Keep each clip under 3 minutes, the longest clip the Magic Editor takes.
- Gather the screenshots, product photos and logo for each idea before you film, so you upload them with the clip.
- Mistakes are fine. Jacob cuts the ums, false starts and repeats, so you don't need to restart a sentence.
- You can close the page while Jacob works. Your video keeps going.
Questions people ask
- How do I come up with talking head video ideas?
- Start from your customers' questions. Every question you answered by email or in person this month is a video, and so is every mistake you made and every tool you tried.
- What is a good first talking head video?
- A short answer to the question customers ask you most. You already know the answer by heart, so it's easy to say naturally on camera.
- How long should a talking head video be?
- For a vertical video, aim for 30 to 60 seconds with one idea. The Magic Editor takes clips of up to 3 minutes, and Jacob makes the edit shorter when you ask.
- Do talking head videos need screenshots or b-roll?
- Not always. A tip or a walkthrough is easier to follow with screenshots, but a strong opinion can work with only you and big words on screen.
- Can I film all my ideas in one long video?
- Film them in one sitting, but as separate clips. The Magic Editor makes one video from one clip, so stop and start the recording between ideas.
- Which edit style should I pick for my idea?
- Pick Steps for tips and how-to's, Skit for a product walkthrough, Verdict for reviews and "I tried it", and Poster for one strong point with no screens.
Pick one idea from the list, film it on your phone, and Jacob edits it in the style that suits it. Your first video is free.