14 B-Roll Ideas for Talking Head Videos (With Examples)
B-roll is whatever the viewer sees while your voice keeps playing. In a talking head video, it is the difference between a minute of one face and a video people finish. The hard part is not finding footage; it is deciding what each sentence should show. Below are 14 b-roll ideas organised by the kind of line they fit, plus the timing rules that keep them from getting in the way.
Several of the ideas below in one 43-second video: a number overlay, a growth chart, a two-line comparison and an equation. Made by iArt from the plain recording; the presenter is an AI avatar.
First, match the b-roll to the line
Every sentence in a talking head video does one of a few jobs: it states a number, compares things, lists steps, explains how something works, tells a story or makes a point of view. Each job has b-roll that fits it, and some lines need none at all. Read your script or transcript once and label each line before you look for any footage.
B-roll ideas for numbers and data
1. A number that counts up
When you say a figure, show it, and let it count up to its value as you say it. It is the simplest b-roll there is and the one viewers remember: "$10,000" on screen sticks better than "ten thousand dollars" in the air. Keep it toward the edge of the frame so your face stays visible.
2. A chart of the exact figures
Growth over time, a share of a total, a before and after: draw the chart you are describing, with your numbers, not a generic graph. A line that climbs as you talk turns "it grows faster every year" into something the viewer can see.
3. Two values side by side
Any comparison ("simple interest gets you this, compounding gets you that") works as two bars filling to their values, or two lines pulling apart over time. Comparisons are where a full-screen graphic earns its place: the viewer needs to see both numbers at once.
Ideas 2 and 3: a full-screen chart of the speaker's own numbers while her voice carries on.
B-roll ideas for steps and processes
4. A list that builds item by item
"Three things matter: X, Y and Z." Add each item to the screen as you say it, not all at once, so the list keeps pace with you.
5. A simple diagram
How something works (money moving between accounts, a signal going from A to B, a spacecraft swinging past a planet) is easier to follow as a few labelled shapes and an arrow than as any amount of explanation.
6. An equation or rule built piece by piece
Rules of thumb ("divide 72 by the rate to get the years to double") read best when each term appears as you name it, ending on the answer.
7. A timeline
Dates, durations and sequences of events fit a horizontal line with marks that light up as you mention them. Durations work well as bars on the same scale, so "three days" and "seven months" look as different as they are.
Ideas 5 and 7: a schematic flight path with the trip's duration, from a talking head video about travel times to the planets.
B-roll ideas for words and ideas
8. One keyword on screen
When you introduce a term or land on the point of a sentence, put that one word or short phrase on screen. Not the whole sentence: that is a caption, and it competes with you instead of supporting you.
9. A quote card
If you quote someone, show the quote and its source as type. It signals that these are someone else's words and gives the line weight.
10. Names and titles
The first time a person, company or product comes up, a small name tag (a lower third) tells viewers who or what it is without interrupting you.
B-roll ideas you shoot yourself
11. Screen recordings
If you mention software, a website or a result, show it. A short screen recording is more convincing than any graphic.
12. Hands and objects
Close-ups of what you are talking about (the product, the tool, the ingredient, your notes) take a phone and a few minutes, and they are footage nobody else has.
13. Your environment
For stories, a few seconds of where it happened (the street, the office, the view) set the scene better than stock footage of a similar place.
14. Photos and documents
Old photos, receipts, letters, screenshots of messages: personal stories land harder with the real artefact on screen.
Example: a b-roll plan for a 43-second explainer
Here is how the ideas above were applied, line by line, to the compound interest video at the top of this page. The plan was made by iArt's agent from the transcript; each change happens at the end of a sentence.
| Time | What she says | Treatment | What is on screen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–3 s | "Here's why starting early matters more than starting big." | Speaker | Just her: the viewer meets the person first. |
| 3–8 s | "Say you put ten thousand dollars somewhere it grows seven percent a year…" | Overlay | A side panel: $10,000 counts up, "+7% a year" lands, a padlock closes on "never touch it" (idea 1). |
| 8–18 s | "After ten years… twenty… thirty years, about seventy-six thousand." | Cover | A growth curve drawn as she speaks, with markers at $19,700, $38,700 and $76,000 (idea 2). |
| 18–22 s | "Now compare that to simple interest…" | Overlay | A "Simple interest" panel with the original $10,000 (idea 8). |
| 22–28.5 s | "After thirty years, that's thirty-one thousand. Same rate, same money." | Cover | The straight simple-interest line against the compounding curve, ending at $31,000 (idea 3). |
| 28.5–31.7 s | "There's a shortcut for this called the Rule of 72." | Overlay | "A shortcut: Rule of 72" (idea 8). |
| 31.7–39 s | "Divide 72 by your growth rate… about ten years." | Cover | 72 ÷ growth rate = years to double, built term by term, ending at about 10 years (idea 6). |
| 39–43 s | "It cares how long you leave it alone." | Speaker | Just her for the closing line. |
Added up, the 43 seconds split into about 7 seconds of the speaker alone, 12 seconds of overlays with her still in frame, and 24 seconds of full-screen graphics. That is a lot of cover for a personal video, and about right for a numbers-heavy explainer: every full-screen stretch is a number or a comparison, and she is back on screen between each one.
How to plan b-roll for your own video
- Get a transcript. Most editors and many free tools generate one from the audio. Work from the text, not the timeline.
- Split it at sentence ends and give each line a job: number, comparison, steps, how it works, story, opinion.
- Pick a treatment per line: speaker alone for openings, stories, opinions and the call to action; an overlay for one concrete thing; a full-screen graphic for numbers, comparisons and processes.
- Check the rhythm: no more than about eight seconds of only the speaker, no full-screen stretch longer than about eight, and the speaker back between full-screen scenes.
- Make or source each piece, then time every graphic to the word it illustrates.
When not to add b-roll
B-roll is not meant to fill every second. Leave the screen to the speaker for:
- The opening line, so viewers meet the person first.
- Opinions, stories and emotional beats, where the face is the point.
- The call to action and the closing line.
Avoid stock clips that only match a keyword ("money" → coins, "growth" → a seedling). They show the topic, not your point, and viewers have seen them in a hundred other videos.
Timing rules that keep b-roll from distracting
- Change at the end of a sentence or clause, never in the middle of a word.
- Time overlays to the word they illustrate: the number appears as you say it.
- Don't stay on the speaker alone for much more than about eight seconds, and don't cover them for more than about eight: return to the face between full-screen scenes so the video does not become a slideshow with a voice-over.
- One idea on screen at a time. Clear the last graphic before the next line moves on.
- Keep overlays off the face: the edges and the top or bottom third of the frame.
Making b-roll without editing it by hand
Ideas 1 to 10 are motion graphics, traditionally built one by one in After Effects or a video editor's title tools. An AI b-roll generator can do that planning and drawing for you: in iArt, you upload your talking head video, and the agent transcribes it, labels each line (speaker, overlay or full-screen cover) using the rules above, and draws the graphics from your own words and numbers. Your recording is never cut. You can then ask for changes in plain words, such as "no graphic over the intro" or "make the chart bigger".
FAQ
What is b-roll in a talking head video?
B-roll is any footage or graphic shown while the speaker's audio keeps playing. The speaker on camera is the A-roll; everything cut in over or on top of them is b-roll.
How much b-roll should a talking head video have?
Enough that the screen changes every several seconds, but not so much that the speaker disappears. A useful rule is to show the speaker alone for no more than about eight seconds at a time and to come back to them between full-screen scenes.
Where can I get b-roll for free?
The best free b-roll is footage you shoot yourself: screen recordings, close-ups of objects and your surroundings. Free stock libraries cover generic scenes. For numbers, comparisons and steps, motion graphics show your point more precisely than any stock clip.
Should b-roll have captions?
Full captions and b-roll are separate choices. Many short-form videos use both; for b-roll graphics themselves, show a few key words or numbers, not the whole sentence being spoken.