Formats · Length 30-90s · 9:16 or 16:9 · intermediate

Product demo video: how to shoot, edit, and prompt it

A product demo shows a product doing one real task from start to finish, with the screen large in frame and a voiceover saying what is happening.

By Sulan Zhang, co-founder of Vyra · Updated 2026-09-24

Platforms: TikTok, Reels, Shorts, YouTube, LinkedIn, X
Length: 30-90s
Aspect: 9:16 or 16:9
Difficulty: intermediate
Gear: phone or screen recorder, the product, a script

Real examples from @sulansart

At a glance


Best for	Launches, feature announcements, landing page video, sales follow-ups
Hook style	The end result first, then "here's how"
Pacing	2-5 seconds per action, no waiting
Caption style	Phrase captions plus a label per action
Music	Neutral, low, no vocals
Shot list	Clean screen recording at 60fps, or the product on a plain surface. Cursor or hands visible. The final result.
Common mistakes	Every menu. Features instead of the task. Tiny UI in a vertical frame.

Structure

0-3s: the finished result
3-8s: what we're going to do
8-60s: the task, action by action, labeled
60-75s: the result again, with how long it took
75-85s: where to try it

How to shoot it

Script the task first. Five to eight steps.
Record the screen at the highest resolution, 60fps.
Move the cursor slowly. You'll speed it up later.
Hide notifications, clean the desktop, use real-looking data.
Record the voiceover after, matched to the recording.

How to edit it

Cut all loading, scrolling, and hesitation.
Zoom into where the action happens, 150-200%.
Short label for each action ("Add captions").
Speed up typing 2-3x.
Back to full frame for the result.
Keep the cursor visible with a small click highlight.

Prompt it in Vyra

Turn this 8-minute screen recording into a 60-second demo of exporting a video. Cut every pause and loading screen, zoom into where I click on each step, and add a small label at the top for each step. Use my voiceover track and keep the music low.

Put the final exported video on screen for the first 3 seconds as the hook, then start the demo.

Make a vertical version for Reels by reframing the screen recording around the cursor on each step.

Variations

Feature spotlight, one feature, 20 seconds.
Founder demo, face intro, screen demo, face outro.
Silent demo, labels only, for LinkedIn and X.

FAQ

Vertical or horizontal? Horizontal for landing pages and YouTube, vertical for social. Record horizontal at high res so a vertical crop around the cursor works.

How many steps? Five to eight. More than that, split it into two demos.

Can Vyra reframe a horizontal recording to vertical? Yes. Ask it to follow the cursor or a named region and it crops and tracks.