How to record an investor update video
By Zakaria Reziki · · 7 min read
The fastest way to record an investor update video is to script only the parts you can't afford to get wrong, the numbers and the ask, and speak everything else from three or four keywords. Put both under your camera so you're never visibly reading, keep the whole thing under 90 seconds unless you're walking through a dashboard, and record it in one pass instead of a script you read start to finish.
What to script, and what to say from memory
Most guidance on investor updates focuses on the written version: lead with metrics, cover hiring and product, end with a clear ask. On video, that structure holds, but a new problem shows up: you have to actually say the numbers correctly, on the first take, without sounding like you're reading a spreadsheet.
The fix is to treat the update as two different kinds of content. Numbers, dates and the specific ask are facts; get them exactly right by scripting them. Context and color, why revenue moved, what the hire changes, are things you already understand, so they come out more naturally from a short prompt than from a written paragraph.
| Section | Script it exactly | Speak from keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Headline metric | The number and the % change | Why it moved |
| Hiring | Names and titles, if announcing | What the role changes for the team |
| Product | — | What shipped, what's next |
| Wins and misses | Any number attached to either | The story behind it |
| The ask | The exact ask, word for word | — |
How long it should run
Recording and screen-share tools built for this format converge on 30–90 seconds for a short, replaces-the-written-note update, since attention drops off fast in the first minute on async video. A fuller monthly update with a metrics walkthrough can run closer to 3 minutes; past that, split it into a short video plus a written doc investors can skim. At a conversational 150 words per minute, 60 seconds is about 150 words, so a scripted 90-second update is roughly 225 words, tight enough that you can check it with the speaking time calculator before you hit record.
Where the numbers go while you're on camera
If you're speaking to camera rather than only screen-recording a dashboard, the same geometry that applies to any video call applies here: viewers perceive eye contact when you look about 2° below the lens, and the middle of a MacBook screen is roughly 10° below it. A doc with your numbers open in a second window, off to the side or lower on the screen, reads as looking away right when you say the figure that matters most.
Put the numbers in the strip directly under the camera instead. That's the placement problem where to look on a video call covers in more detail; for an investor update, the practical version is: script the number, keep it one line, put that line right under the lens.
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A repeatable recording workflow
- Write the five sections. One line of exact script for each number and the ask, three to five keywords for everything else.
- Paste it into Cuey. Press ⇧⌘V, then choose Follow mode for the scripted lines or Notes mode for the sections you're speaking from keywords, and switch between them as you go through the update.
- Record section by section. Slate each one so you can find it later, and leave a two-second pause before restarting a section you fumble.
- Reuse the template. Keep the same five-section script from month to month and just swap the numbers; investors also read updates faster when the structure repeats.
If you're recording a dashboard instead of your face
A metrics walkthrough often works better as a screen recording with voiceover than a talking-head video. Press Shift-Command-5 to open the macOS screen recording toolbar, record the dashboard, and narrate live or add the voiceover afterward. Even then, script the numbers you're pointing at; a wrong figure in a recorded voiceover is just as visible as one you fumble on camera, and it's on a permanent recording your investors can rewatch.
Using Cuey for a monthly update
Cuey is built for exactly this split: script the parts that must be exact, speak the rest from prompts, and never look away from the camera to do either. Save the five-section template as a script in Cuey and reuse it every month, updating only the numbers and the story behind them. If you also record pitch or demo videos, the same script pattern, exact lines plus keyword prompts, from how to record a pitch video applies here too.
Mistakes that make an update harder to trust
A few habits undercut an otherwise well-prepared update, and all of them are easy to catch before you hit record:
- Burying the headline number. If revenue, runway or a key metric moved significantly, say it in the first sentence of that section, not after two sentences of context. Investors skim; the number is what they're scanning for.
- Rounding inconsistently. If your written updates say "18.4%", don't say "about 20%" on video. Match the figure exactly, which is exactly why that line belongs in the script rather than in your head.
- No ask, or a vague one. "Let us know if you can help" isn't an ask. "An intro to a VP of Sales at a mid-market SaaS company" is. Script the ask word for word so it doesn't get soft in the moment.
- Reading the whole thing off a full page. Even with good intentions, a full page of prose pulls your eyes into a sustained downward gaze rather than short glances, which is the difference this article's placement advice is built around.
None of these require more preparation time. They require deciding, before you record, exactly which handful of words have to be exact, and treating everything else as something you already know how to say.
Summary
- Script numbers and the ask exactly. Speak context from keywords.
- 30–90 seconds for a short update, up to 3 minutes for a full metrics walkthrough.
- Keep both the script and the keywords in the strip under the camera, not in a side document.
- Record in five short sections so one fumble doesn't cost you the whole take.