Tips for Silent Videos (Or When People Turn Off Your Sound)

On Thursday, I’m presenting a webinar on how to create a great thank you video for your supporters.

We’ll talk about the best scripts and soundtracks for these kinds of videos, but what about when you post them on social media and your supporters see it with the sound off?

Here are a few tips for creating videos with sound that still work without sound. 

Use music as the only sound, with key messaging on the screen. 

Here’s an example of a video that has music, but even with the sound off, we get the message because the words appear on the screen.

Include highlights as text overlays or open captions.

You can add bits of text to what we see on screen as an overlay, or you can include captions that repeat in print what is being said.

FYI: Subtitles (i.e., translations) or closed captions are usually automated features that can be turned on or off. Open captions are included in the video itself, and therefore can’t be turned off.

This video has open captions embedded into it. If you watch it on YouTube and click the CC button, you’ll see the closed captions as well.

Make the visual content super engaging.

Boring photos and talking heads won’t compel someone to watch your video without sound. Instead, keep the action moving and do your best to tell the story visually.  The Buzzfeed Tasty recipes are the champs at this, combining the visuals with onscreen text overlays.

Want more tips? See:

Silent Video: How to Optimize Facebook Video to Play Without Sound

3 Ways to Easily Caption Social Media Video

What tips do you have for silent videos? You can share in the comments.