How to create a teaser video

Draft status: this is initial content, not reviewed domain expertise yet.

The first principle

A teaser video is not a miniature pitch deck. It is a proof artifact for people who cannot be in the room or who will review submissions quickly after watching many other videos.

The video needs to establish context, show the product in motion, and leave the viewer with one reason to care.

A simple structure

1. Show the painful moment in the first five seconds.
2. Cut to the product solving that exact moment.
3. Use captions for every claim that matters.
4. Show real screens, not abstract animations.
5. End with the project name and one-line promise.

What to record

Record the narrowest successful path. A good 45 second video can beat a 2 minute tour if the viewer understands the change the product creates.

Capture:

• The user starting state.
• The before friction.
• The product intervention.
• The outcome.
• The team or project name.

Draft production notes

• Use screen capture with large cursor movements.
• Add captions because many judges watch without perfect audio.
• Keep cuts fast enough to remove waiting, not so fast that the flow becomes unclear.
• Avoid showing terminal output unless the terminal is the product.
• Export once early to catch audio, framing, and text-size problems.