The Silent Story: Why Captions Are A Requirement For Your Next Video

Did you know that roughly 80% of mobile videos are watched on total mute?

According to research featured in Forbes, it's no longer just a trend - it's the standard. Whether your audience is in a quiet office, commuting on a train, or "second-screening" during a meeting, they are likely watching your content in complete silence.

If your video relies solely on audio to tell its story, you aren’t just losing a few viewers - you are effectively closing the door on the vast majority of your potential reach.

At Elliott Raben Productions Inc., we call the solution "The Silent Story." It’s the art of designing video so that the message is crystal clear even if the speakers are at 0%. A.K.A. storytelling.

How to master "Silent Success":

Design for the "Visual Read": Don't treat captions as an afterthought. Use Kinetic Typography (text that moves with the rhythm of the speech) to convey the "emotion" of the voice visually.

The "Safe Zone" Rule: Always keep your text in the centre "Golden Square." If your captions are too low, they’ll be buried under the LinkedIn or Instagram UI buttons.

Personalize Your Captions: Use your brand colours to customize your captions. That way, your audience will always remember your videos when they pop up on their feeds.

The Litmus Test:

Next time you finish a video edit, try this: Watch it on mute. If you can’t follow the narrative, feel the energy, or understand the Call to Action without turning the volume up, it’s time to head back to the editing suite.