I had noodles in my bowl and was watching a faceless channel that had grown to 300,000 views on YouTube last year, discussing the science of sleep. It did not have an actual host, did not use the camera, only some stock footage, a voiceover, and text animations.

I thought – I could definitely do this too.

I tried to build such a channel myself over the next three months, failed, found out what works and does not, and finally made one myself, pulling off the same success with it. No equipment needed, no studio, practically zero costs at all.

Below, you can learn from my mistakes and experiences.

Why Are Faceless Videos So Effective Nowadays?

There is something special about YouTube. Most often, people subscribe to topics rather than channels. For example, a channel that talks about world history or finances does not need its own face, only good content.

Today, AI enables the creation of just about any type of video content. No need to develop an entire script by hand; it can be developed automatically. You can write a video transcript in advance and then simply order the AI to produce a voiceover, visuals, and a thumbnail.

The advantage of building a YouTube channel based on faceless videos lies in the following aspects:

AI reduces the barrier to entry. You do not need a studio or special knowledge. You can create an interesting channel from scratch with a minimum investment. You can generate all content quickly. Once again, AI will significantly reduce the time needed. People watch YouTube not for hosts but for topics. Therefore, faceless videos can easily outcompete the videos that celebrities are presenting.

The first task here would be to select a proper niche:

Sometimes researching for the right niche might be difficult. This means selecting interesting topics on which one is keen and fascinated. One should therefore select particular topics from the selected niche.

Here are several popular categories that work well in the absence of a person presenting the video in front of the camera:

1-Finance: Advice on managing your finances and repaying your debts.

2-History: Lessons from history, mysteries, and happenings regarding the topic.

3-Niche tutorials: Excel, Notion, and other useful things.

Specificity is the key to the success of a good channel. When it comes to making a video, it’s always better to make one in great detail about one topic than superficially about everything.

Step 2 – Write the script (Smart Way):

At first, when I started my channel, I thought – why not ask AI to help write a complete script? It generated something that could hardly be described as “script”. It was robotic, unnatural, and overall looked too artificial.

Here is the proper approach to using AI to generate YouTube video scripts:

First, study the topic of interest yourself. Do some preliminary research on your own. Then provide the information collected to ChatGPT and ask for help. It should sound like this: “These are the notes that I have written down on the said topic; please write a script between 800-1000 words which will help me create a YouTube video that has to be catchy in the first 30 seconds; it will mean a lot to me if you can do this. Such an approach will allow you to receive the script, in which you will be able to see yourself, which has been processed by AI. Overall, it looks quite human.

Free writing services/tools include the following:

Claude.ai ChatGPT (it is free to use even with a paid account)

Make sure you edited the script that you have written from AI. Read it clearly and correct the wrong sentence.

Step 3:Create Voice Track:

After you are sure that the script looks great, it is time to prepare the voiceover.AI has recently made considerable progress here as well. Now, text-to-speech technologies are highly realistic and can produce very decent recordings.

Here are several services where you can generate your audio recording for free:

ElevenLabs – the best service that provides free access to several unique voices for limited monthly use; Murf.ai (limited free access); Uberduck.ai (free); Google Text-to-Speech.

How to make the audio sound natural and appealing? Below are several useful tips:

Keep sentences short and logical; Add pauses by placing commas at the necessary places; Choose a suitable voice according to your theme.

Step 4: Make the Video Content:

The majority of beginners make one big mistake: when it comes to creating visual content, they suddenly buy software or hire professionals. Instead, use free services.

Option A: Free Stock Footage + Editing:

This option requires the least effort. It consists of the following:

Using free stock footage (you can download some nice videos from Pexels); Editing the videos (CapCut – an absolutely fantastic free video editing tool; DaVinci Resolve is also a great choice); Adding a voiceover and making text overlays; Selecting a suitable background music track (YouTube Audio Library is free).

Option B: Using AI to Create Videos:

This method is new but promising. Using InVideo AI or Pictory, you can paste the prepared script, and the program will create a video by itself.

I have created an example using InVideo AI. Its output is quite promising: about 60% of the video is acceptable. The rest needs manual adjustments.

Free AI-based solutions:

InVideo AI Pictory Canva

Create a Tutorial (Screen recording):

If you need to take many pictures, you can create a screen recording of your work. Record and add a voice to it.

For example, OBS Studio and Loom are completely free of cost and can be utilized to make instructional video recordings.

Step 5: Make a Great Thumbnail:

The most crucial step that is either overlooked or ignored by beginners is the most important one. Another thing that we have mentioned above is that YouTube is an advertising platform. And its ad is the thumbnail. 

Below are some pieces of advice regarding thumbnail creation:

My sixth one took me 20 minutes, but the click rate was 7.4%.

Step 6: Upload, Optimize, and Wait:

The video needs to be optimised correctly before uploading it. The basic Seo are Title,discription,keywordsand chapter. Title should include keywords that are natural. description should be 100 to 200 words and also follow all basic Finally, upload the video and… wait. Do not expect any results immediately. The algorithm of YouTube needs time to assess your channel properly. The creators would not have achieved success had they given up after 10 videos.

Things that you should not do:

Changing niches too early. Give your niche enough time to grow (minimum 20 videos); Audio quality. Despite being AI-produced, your audio may still suffer from poor quality or distortion. Try to improve audio levels and add background music; Copying other channels. Yes, it is necessary to watch videos for inspiration and study your competition. However, do not copy the actual script, editing pace, etc.; Irregularity. The best strategy is to upload videos regularly, producing videos. I   spent 14 hours creating the first one. The second one took me four. Use the saved time to create more videos.

The following is a list of the free tools that are used (brief list):

TasksFree ToolScriptingChatGPT / Claude.The capabilities of AI video generation technologies.AI video generation technologies capabilities. Each of the tools in this list comes with a free version, and anyone can experience creating a channel with them right away.

What Is Hidden in Silence About Faceless Videos?

Most guides do not mention this aspect:

It is still work related to creativity and content generation, even though AI can assist you in the process. When creating content, you are still the main editor. If you just leave the whole process to AI, the channel will lack depth and vision.

The best faceless videos feel distinctive, which means that they have a style, a unique way of explaining, editing, etc. This vision belongs to you.AI is the tool. You are the creator. Create your first video this week. Just one video. Forget about waiting for the perfect idea, script, or voice. It only exists after your channel already exists.