Captions people actually read

Captions (the words on screen while you talk) let people follow your video in a quiet office, on a bus, or in bed next to someone sleeping. They also make your hook visible in the first second.

The five rules

1. Short chunks: 4–7 words at a time, at most two lines.
2. Big: readable on a small phone at arm's length.
3. Contrast: white text with a dark outline or a soft box behind it.
4. In the safe zone: in the centre band, not the bottom fifth where the app's own text sits. See the safe zone guide.
5. In time with your voice: word-by-word highlighting helps people keep their place.

Built-in vs burned-in

Instagram, TikTok and YouTube can generate captions automatically, and viewers can turn them on. "Burned-in" captions are part of the video itself, so everyone sees them and you control the style. For short-form, most creators burn them in.

Check your spelling

Auto-captioning gets names, slang and numbers wrong. Read them once before exporting — a typo in the hook costs more than a typo anywhere else.

Don't caption everything the same

Highlight the one word that matters in each line with your brand colour. It guides the eye to the point of the sentence.