YouTubers aren’t always the lively extrovert bunch they are often thought as.
Not every YouTuber is eager to plant their face in front of a camera for the world to see. Fortunately, thanks to the enormous range of variety within the YouTube audience, there is still plenty of things you can do on YouTube without showing your face.
Why Avoid Showing Your Face on YouTube?
The most obvious reason you might want to avoid showing your face on YouTube is because you are very shy or self-conscious.
There are arguments to be made about how it could be good to push through those discomforts, but that’s not what this post is about; we’re just looking to give you ideas to work within your current situation.
Of course, there are other reasons why you might want to keep your face off camera, the main one being anonymity. While there are some quite serious reasons for wanting anonymity (such as those living in a country with questionable laws about free speech), the most common reason is one of reputation.
Perhaps you’re a forward thinking parent who’s making slightly risque content and doesn’t want it to come back in ten years time when your child is old enough to be embarrassed.
Perhaps you’re a happily employed individual who makes content with unpopular messages and doesn’t want to get “cancelled” from your place of work. Maybe you have you no specific reason for wanting to keep your identity hidden, but you’d rather it not be out there just in case.
Whatever the reason, keeping your face off-camera is an important part of maintaining that anonymity.
Our 12 YouTube Video Ideas Without Showing Your Face
Now, to the bit you here for; our video ideas without showing your face. Of course, this list is not a definitive collection of all potential faceless video ideas, just the top ones in our humble opinion. If there’s something you think should be on this list, drop it in a comment!
And, as always, the best solution for you is the one that you are most comfortable with, but it doesn’t have to be a single idea. Don’t be afraid to experiment, mix and match, and create something that truly works for you.
1. Commentary
Commentary videos can cover a wide range of things, from commenting on live events to giving a kind of directors commentary style of video for a film or TV show. Another popular version of this type of video is reacting to new trailers and announcements.
The key point here is that, while your voice is a pretty crucial part of the formula, your face never needs to be involved if you don’t want it to. Just be careful not to breach any copyrights if you are doing something like commentary on a film.
2. Gameplay Videos
The gaming industry has steam rolled over the competition to become the biggest entertainment industry in the world, so there’s naturally a lot of content being made around it. With gameplay videos, the game is the focus, so you don’t need to be onscreen.
While the typical image of a gaming video is the Twitch streamer setup, including a face-cam in the corner, there is no requirement to make your gameplay videos with your face on display. Indeed, many gaming YouTubers have made very successful channels without ever showing their face, and some without speaking, either.
3. Screen Recorded Tutorials
Screen recorded tutorials can be thought of as basically the same as gameplay videos but for software instead of video games. Of course, you should also be teaching the viewer how to do something with said software, which is a bit of a departure from gaming, where you can literally just be playing the game.
With screen recording, you will ideally be showing the viewer how to perform specific tasks, or perhaps doing a series where you make something from start to finish using the chosen software. If you have expertise in any software, this could be a good niche for you.
4. Whiteboard Videos
If you have expertise in something like physics or mathematics, you could make whiteboard videos where you explain concepts and techniques while using the whiteboard as a learning aid, much in the same way that a classroom teacher would. Also, don’t let the name fool you; it doesn’t have to be a whiteboard specifically. You could also use pen and paper, chalk boards, or even digital tablets.
5. Meditation and Mindfulness Videos
Some people love to tune out of the world and take a moment with their own thoughts. The practice of mindfulness and meditation has been embraced widely over the last few years as a why to help people sleep, study or relax.
Make videos that people can unwind to, feel comfortable with or can meditate to like on the Meditation Mindfulness channel.
6. Crafting/Cooking/Building Videos
These types of videos obviously require some skill on your part to carry out the thing you are demonstrating, but assuming you have that skill (or want to learn it) there is no reason to put your face in the frame.
If you are making a model house, you only need to show the house and the tools you are using. The same goes for cooking videos, and we can also throw things like repairing tech, and anything else small enough that you can carry out your task with your hands while otherwise staying out of shot.
7. Product Reviews and Unboxing Videos
Not a million miles away from the last idea, unboxing and review videos don’t need you to be on camera either, and for those parts that benefit from your physical interaction, you can just have your hands in the shot!
This style of video works best with smaller items that can be handled, though you can review things of any size if you don’t need to physically touch it.
8. Point of View Content
This one is a little more out there, but point of view content is something that definitely has its place in the YouTube pantheon of niches.
Point of view videos are videos where the YouTuber straps a camera to their head and does things while the camera records, giving the viewers a first-hand look at what its like.
This style of video is very popular for things like extreme sports (see what it’s like to base jump from a skyscraper), but is also finding a home among the ambient experience YouTubers, with videos like “Relaxing Walk Through a Japanese Village” becoming increasingly common.
9. Interviews
If you can find the interesting enough subjects to interview, this could be your niche. Not only do you not need to have your face on screen for an interview video, it is often preferred that way. After all, the subject of the video is your interviewee, and the focus wants to be on them.
It’s worth remembering that the subject of your videos doesn’t need to be a celebrity or someone noteworthy to be good content. Think of the topic; there would be plenty of viewers interested in seeing a video with a power plant foreman talking about how it all works.
10. Animated Content
Now, granted, animation isn’t something you can just pick up straight away (though you can hire people to animate for you), but if it’s something you can do, there is a wealth of video types to take a crack at. You could make an animated show, animate yourself, do sketches, and any number of other types of content.
11. Compilation Videos
From top ten videos to endless clips of hilarious animal videos, compilation videos allow you to string together video content while keeping your face safely away from the lens.
Just be sure to make sure you have all the permissions you need to use what ever clips are going to feature in your videos.
12. Become a VTuber!
VTubers are being increasingly popular these days, so there’s clearly a growing market for it. VTubers are YouTubers who represent themselves with a digital avatar. This could be a posable 3D model, a live face-tracked image, or even a hand-drawn animation.
Many VTubers choose to create characters and make their videos as though the character is the YouTuber, while others just make content as themselves while using the digital avatar as a mask between them and the audience.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully we’ve made it abundantly clear that it is not necessary to show your face in a YouTube video to have a successful channel, and there is no shortage of ideas for what to do without your face being in shot.
In truth, as long as your videos deliver what the viewers are coming there for, your content has a good chance of succeeding, regardless of the style or whether your face is onscreen. The trick is working out what you are trying to deliver, and then honing in on the best way to deliver it within your chosen style.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
Rev.com can help you translate your videos, transcribe your videos, add subtitles and even convert those subtitles into other languages – all from just $1.50 per minute.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. Learn new skills for FREE with Skillshare
I SUCK reading books to learn, but I LOVE online video courses.
Every month I learn something new. Editing, writing, video skills, how to cook, how to run a business – even how to meditate to calm a busy mind.
I find all of these for FREE with Skillshare – Sign up, pick all the courses you want and cancel anytime you need.
5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
They have a wide library of videos, graphics, images and even a video maker tool and it wont break the bank with plans starting from as little as £8.25 ($9) per month.
