Plan your caption before you record

I used to record first and figure out the caption afterward, staring at the footage trying to summarize what I just said out loud. Now I write a rough caption before I even start recording, based on the point I want to make. It usually needs a small edit once the recording exists, but the hard thinking is already done by then.

This matters because writing a caption from a blank page after the fact is slower and often produces something flatter than writing it while the idea is still clear in your head, before the pressure of being on camera muddies it. Planning ahead makes the whole process faster from start to finish.

Try this today: before your next recording, spend a couple of minutes writing the caption you think you will want underneath it. Record with that caption in mind, then adjust it slightly once you have the final footage. You will likely spend less time on captions overall, not more.