Can you make UGC without showing your face?

Which UGC formats work without showing a face?

Hands-only demos, voiceover over product shots, screen recordings and point-of-view shots all work without a face, because each one gives the camera something else to watch.

Each of these is a format in its own right, not a lesser version of a talking video. Pick the one that shows the product best, then check the brief allows it. If you are unsure what counts as a format and what is only a topic, read what a UGC video format is before you choose.

How do you know if a brand will take faceless UGC?

Read the brief, then ask, because only the brand can tell you whether this job needs a face on camera.

Look in the brief for words like talking head, reaction, speaking to camera or on-camera talent. Any of those means a face is part of the job, and a faceless pitch would miss it. If the brief says nothing either way, ask before you quote or script:

“Hi [NAME], before I script this, can I check one thing? I film hands-only and voiceover videos rather than talking to camera. For [PRODUCT] I'd show it in use with my voice over the top. Does that work for this brief?”

Asking first saves you writing a script the brand can't use, and it tells the brand exactly what it is getting. Once the format is agreed, the steps in how to turn a brand brief into a script apply just as they would to any other video.

How do you script a video when nobody sees your face?

Plan the picture first and the words second, because without a face the viewer reads every feeling from your hands and your voice.

• Give every spoken line its own shot. A face can hold a line on its own, but a still product can't, so plan a new angle or action each time you speak.
• Open on movement. A hand tearing a seal or a thumb mid-scroll gives the viewer something to watch before you have said a word.
• Let your voice do the work your face would. Record the voiceover separately and slower than feels natural, because a voice with no face has to carry the warmth.
• React with your hands. A pause before you open something, a tap on the lid or a slow turn of the bottle all read as a feeling.
• Write it as a two-column script, so you and the brand can see the shot that goes with every line.

1. hooksay: “I was binning a plastic spray bottle every single time the cleaner ran out.”do: Close shot of your hand dropping an empty plastic bottle into a recycling bin.
2. setupsay: “So the plastic one is gone, and this lives under my sink now.”do: Your hands set a glass spray bottle on the counter beside a small refill sachet.
3. beat 1say: “The refill is a little sachet. In it goes, then water up to the line.”do: Overhead shot of your hands tipping the sachet in and filling the bottle at the tap.
4. turnsay: “The bit I like is the weight. It doesn't skate off the counter when I put it down.”do: Close-up of one spray on the counter, then the bottle set down and staying put.
5. closesay: “It's linked, if your cupboard has as many empty bottles as mine did.”do: Your hands slide the bottle back under the sink and close the cupboard door.

What do you need to film faceless UGC well?

You need steady framing, good light on your hands and clear sound, because those replace the face as the thing people watch.

Keep the kit simple. The basics in what equipment you need to start making UGC still apply, and for hands-only work the piece that matters most is something that holds your phone still above a table, so both hands are free. Film near a window with the light falling across your hands, not behind them.

Then treat your hands like a presenter. Tidy your nails, push your sleeves back and clear the surface, because in a faceless video those details are the frame. Do a test take and watch it back with the sound off, so you can see whether the picture tells the story on its own.

Can faceless videos go in a UGC portfolio?

They can, as long as you label each sample with its format, so a brand can see at a glance what you offer.

Make a few faceless samples that each show a different format: one hands-only demo, one voiceover and one screen recording. That shows range without a face in any of them. How to make UGC samples before any brand hires you walks through picking products for them, and what a UGC portfolio should include covers how to lay them out.

If you would show your face for some jobs, say so on the portfolio too. It lets a brand with a talking brief still consider you, and it means you decide the trade-off job by job instead of ruling yourself out.