How to make a product demo video before your product is finished

Before launch, a demo video is often the only way people can see your product. It doesn't need to be polished. It needs to show that the product is real, what it does and why someone would want it now. A screen recording with your voice over it does all three.

What the video has to do

• Prove the product exists, even if it's early.
• Show the main job from start to finish.
• Make the next step clear: back it, join or try it.

A simple structure

1. The problem, in one or two sentences: who has it and what it costs them. About 15 seconds.
2. The product doing its main job, start to finish, on a real screen. Most of the video.
3. What works today and what's coming next. Be specific.
4. What early backers get, and where to back it. The last 15 seconds.

What to record if it isn't finished

• A working prototype, with realistic data rather than placeholder text.
• A clickable Figma prototype. Say it's a design, not the working product.
• A terminal, an API call or an editor, for developer tools.
• Before and after: the way people do it now, then your way.

Say which parts work today and which are still mockups. People forgive unfinished. They don't forgive feeling misled.

Recording tips

• Write down the steps you'll click through, not every word. Reading a script sounds stiff.
• Turn off notifications, close other tabs and zoom in so text is readable on a phone.
• Record at 1080p or higher, with a decent microphone in a quiet room.
• Do it in one take and cut the mistakes, rather than chasing a perfect take.
• Add captions. Many people watch with the sound off.

Tools

Your computer's built-in screen recorder is enough. Loom is quick to share, OBS Studio is free and flexible, and some recorders zoom in on clicks for you. Pick whatever you'll actually use; what you show matters more than the tool.

Where to put it

Upload it to YouTube or Loom so it plays anywhere, then use it on your landing page, in posts and in emails to your waitlist. On Day Zero, every listing needs a short product video: a demo, a screen recording of work in progress or a launch video, with your face optional. It's the first thing backers watch on your campaign page. See what a listing needs.