HeyGen for knowledge entrepreneurs: The ultimate AI video expertise playbook

Welcome to your AI video jumpstart guide for knowledge entrepreneurs

Do you have valuable knowledge, expertise, or experiences to share with the world? With HeyGen, you can instantly communicate your ideas, frameworks, and lessons with scalable, studio-quality video content in minutes, not weeks.

This guide will help you move from concept to creation,boosting your presence, speed, and credibility. You will learn how to build your first video communication asset, discover key best practices, and explore strategies to scale your video impact.

Top use cases: How knowledge entrepreneurs are using HeyGen

HeyGen is more than a video tool; it’s a storytelling and communication engine for modern knowledge entrepreneurs, educators, and instructors.

The state of knowledge creation

Video is no longer optional. It’s the foundation of how knowledge is communicated, discovered, and monetized.

The Challenge

• Traditional video production is still out of reach for most solo educators and creators.
• Filming a professional online course can cost $5,000 to $25,000 and require 4–8 weeks of production time.
• Most educators cite time and cost as their top barriers to creating consistent video content.
• Experts must do more with less, competing in the creator economy with limited resources and rising expectations for quality and frequency.

What AI Video Unlocks

Speed

• Miro cut video production time from weeks to days, enabling their education team to produce more engaging learning content for over 90 million users without traditional filming setups.

Cost Savings

• I Love Happy Cats founder Anneleen Van de Water creates and translates videos 5× faster with HeyGen, freeing up budget and time to expand her training business globally.

Scalability

• Vision Creative Labs scaled from producing a few videos a year to 50–60 per day, transforming how their clients in finance and education communicate at scale.

Localization

• Workday’s globalization team uses HeyGen to say “yes” to more projects, creating multilingual, on-brand videos across markets while maintaining quality and consistency.

Personalization

• 50k+ personalized videos with 3X the engagement produced by Videoimagem for an AB InBev campaign

Making your first AI video

Introduction

New to video or trying out HeyGen for the first time? This section will walk you through each step to help you make high-quality videos quickly.

Like learning in action?

Pick a video type above to open a ready-made template in HeyGen and follow along as you go.

Not ready to dive in yet?

No sweat. Skim the steps now and come back to the full how-to when you’re ready.

Before you hit “Create,” clarify your learning or communication goal. Ask yourself:

• Goal: What do you want this video to achieve?Examples: Teach a core concept, announce a new course, onboard students, promote a webinar
• Audience: Who are you speaking to? Examples: New learners, existing clients, your online community
• Distribution: Where will your video live? Examples: Your course platform, YouTube, email, website
• Hook: What question, pain point, or insight will grab attention in the first few seconds?

Step 1: Set up your HeyGen workspace for scale

As a knowledge entrepreneur, your brand is your classroom and a form of communication. Keep every video instantly recognizable by setting up your Brand Kit with your fonts, logos, and colors.

Paste your website URL to auto-import your brand style, or upload assets manually. In a hurry? You can always come back later.

Pro tip

Once your Brand Kit is set up, you can instantly match HeyGen templates to your brand. Swap in your brand colors so every lesson or promo video feels cohesive.

Step 2: Choose the right AI avatar

Your spokesperson sets the tone. Choose a ready-made public avatar, create a custom avatar that fits your brand, or, for the ultimate personal touch, create your digital twin in minutes with HeyGen’s lifelike avatar feature!

HeyGen offers multiple options for creating custom avatars. Click the links below to dive into the details further.

Pro tip

Use HeyGen’s generating looks feature to switch your avatar’s pose, surroundings, or attire with nothing but a text prompt.

Best practices: Make the perfect digital twin

Ready to create a professional, lifelike avatar with endless customization options? Explore the resources below for tips, best practices, and a quick overview of what you’ll need to get started.

When creating a digital twin, remember that quality in equals quality out. The better your photos, videos, and written prompts, the more realistic and polished your avatar will be.

Whatever’s in your lifelike avatar training video, from gestures to facial expressions or vocal inflection, will be reflected in the final result.

Give the AI a direct and detailed prompt to describe the video you’re making. Add important context, such as:

• What kind of video you’re creating (influencer ad, product tutorial, brand video)
• Who it’s for (target audience)
• The goal of the video (drive clicks, explain a concept, educate)
• Tone or voice you’d like it to use (friendly, professional, conversational)

Pro tip

Use HeyGen’s Generate Looks feature to switch your avatar’s pose, surroundings or attire with nothing but a text prompt.

Best Practices: reating high quality custom AI voices

HeyGen has a massive library of stock AI-generated voices in over 175 languages, dialects, and emotional tones, but sometimes the perfect video calls for something custom. Below are three ways to create Custom Voices.

For the best voice quality, start with strong source audio. Here’s how to get a great recording:

• Use a high-quality mic or smartphone, held 6–8" from your mouth

• Record in a quiet, noise-free space

• Speak clearly with natural pauses and slight emotional expression

• Upload multiple samples with different emotional tones for more versatility (for HeyGen Custom Voice Clones only)

Best practices: Prompt like a pro

Prompting is the practice of carefully crafting and iterating text instructions (called prompts) used to guide AI tools to create content from scratch such as images, motion, or audio.

Prompting is a powerful skill for any AI creator. When paired with HeyGen, prompting unlocks countless ways to create high-impact videos where your imagination is your only limitation! Get ready to experiment and iterate.

Prompting Best Practices

Be specific

The more clearly you describe what you want (tone, look, gesture, emotion) the better the AI can match your vision.

Start with structure

Use a consistent structure: what, who, where, how. This applies to visuals, voice tone, and motion direction.

Include context & intent

Let the AI know the purpose: Is it for a product demo? A social ad? A tutorial? Context helps tailor the result.

Use descriptive language

Use adjectives that convey emotion, style, or clarity (e.g., “confident,” “minimalist,” “high energy,” “calm pace”).

Iterate & refine

Don’t settle for your first try. Small prompt tweaks can lead to dramatically better results in all media types!

Prompting best practices can vary slightly depending on what you’re creating

Explore the resources below to dive deeper into each type and get the most out of your prompts!

• Prompting best practices, common issues and solutions
• Prompting best practices for Generating Looks
• Prompting best practices for adding Motion

Step 3: Create your video in three ways

As a Knowledge Entrepreneur, you have different workflows, levels of technical comfort, and creative styles. HeyGen gives you three equally powerful ways to bring your ideas to life with professional, on-brand videos in minutes.
Choose the method that best fits your process, or combine them for maximum flexibility.

Build with Video Agent

Your ideas deserve to be seen, not stuck in drafts. HeyGen’s Video Agent is your always-on creative partner, designed to turn concepts into studio-quality videos from a simple prompt.

Forget timelines, manual editing, or waiting on freelancers. With Video Agent, you can go from concept → script → visuals → narration → export automatically.

Why it’s perfect for knowledge entrepreneurs

Your expertise is your most valuable asset. Video Agent automates production, enabling you to focus on teaching, selling, and scaling.

Pro tip: Treat prompts like your creative brief. The clearer your idea, the smarter the Agent becomes. Use specific prompts like:

• “Create a 90-second explainer video on building a personal brand using digital avatars.”
• “Summarize my latest newsletter as a 1-minute TikTok script.”
• “Generate a product launch video with upbeat pacing and energetic tone.”

Think of prompts as conversations with your editor; the more detail you give, the better your results.

Pro tips for cinematic results

1. Craft a clear brief. Think of your prompt as your creative direction, including tone, format, and goal.“Create a 90-second explainer on building a personal brand with digital avatars.”
2. Use strong visuals. Upload your own product clips or B-roll for a personalized touch.
3. Iterate fast. Preview, tweak, and re-generate, the Agent learns from your feedback.
4. Go global. Localize instantly using multilingual voice support.
5. Add your avatar. Combine Video Agent with your HeyGen avatar for a cohesive brand.

Shortcut: Use Video Agent for your first draft, then refine or customize in AI Studio (Step 5). It’s the fastest way to turn raw knowledge into polished, publish-ready video.

Want to go deeper?

→ Explore these next:

• Learn how to use Video Agent step-by-step
• Create a digital twin avatar to star in your Video Agent creations

Build using scripts

Already have the words? Turn your written script into a fully produced video in just a few clicks. This path gives you complete control over your message and tone while letting HeyGen handle the production details.

Start by writing or importing your script. It could be a blog post, newsletter, course outline, or talking-points document. Then, HeyGen transforms it into a scene-by-scene video.

Your script is your message, the bridge between your knowledge and your learner’s understanding. Keep it simple, warm, and actionable.

• Start with a clear promise or insight.
• End with a direct next step (CTA): “Join my course,” “Watch the next module,” or “Download the worksheet.”
• Keep your tone conversational and imagine you’re talking to one motivated student.

Head over to step 5 to learn exactly how to import and refine your script inside AI Studio, where you can edit scenes, pacing, and design with full control.

Pro Tip: Use AI tools to help you write faster. You can also access ChatGPT directly inside HeyGen to brainstorm, outline, or refine your video scripts without ever leaving the platform.

Just click the “ChatGPT” panel in your script editor to generate or improve your script instantly.

Do you prefer using your own GPTs outside of HeyGen? No problem. You can still draft your script using tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, then paste it into HeyGen for instant video generation.

“Write a 60-second explainer video script for my online course about [topic]. Keep the tone friendly, encouraging, and clear.”

Explore script templates and more tips for popular knowledge video types

Training videos - How-to videos - E-learning courses - Product explainers - AI tutorials - Financial knowledge sharing -

Want to see it in action?

→ HeyGen Academy: AI Studio - Pronunciation module

Strategies to Scale Your Impact

Whether your clients are trying to reach new markets, test what works, or tailor content to niche audiences, these advanced best practices and tools will help you scale your impact with precision.

Optimize and Iterate like a Performance Marketing Pro

With HeyGen, creating multiple versions of your videos for A/B testing has never been easier, faster, and cheaper. Learn how to A/B test like a performance marketing pro and start boosting conversions, maximizing performance, and building campaigns with data-driven confidence!

Go Global with Translation

Learn how to translate and localize your videos into 175+ languages and dialects, no dubbing or voice actors required.

Use HeyGen’s Brand Voice feature to maintain consistency in translated videos by customizing how certain words are handled (i.e., brandname pronunciations, forcing or blocking translation for certain terms).

Enterprise and Team plan users can also make edits directly to translated scripts by using our Proofread feature.

Need some inspiration? Check out how Trivago used HeyGen to simultaneously localize TV ads in 30 markets.

Personalize At Scale

Add a personal touch to your email campaigns, sales outreach, or customer support with Personalized Videos. By using dynamic elements, like the viewer’s name or details tailored to their interests, you can create a unique, more engaging experience for each person.

Integrate Personalized Videos directly into your workflow on HubSpot, Zapier, Make, Clay and more!

Interactive Avatar

Whether for sales, customer support, or education, Interactive Avatars turn one-way videos into dynamic, two-way conversations. It’s a powerful way to boost engagement, personalize experiences, and drive action.

Need some inspiration? Check out how getitAI increases ecommerce sales with live, personalized shopping experiences.

Support Change Management with Flexible, Updatable Content

Change is constant and your learning materials need to keep pace. Whether you’re refreshing a full course module or updating a single training video, traditional content production with re-shooting and editing can turn even a small update into a major lift.

With HeyGen, updating videos takes minutes, not days. Swap out scripts, edit text, change visuals, and generate new versions with just a few clicks. No more bottlenecks. Just fast, flexible video that helps your learners adapt as quickly as your organization moves. Learn more about using HeyGen for change management.

Accessibility and Inclusive Learning at Scale

In today’s learning environments, accessibility isn’t optional- it’s essential. Learners bring a wide range of abilities, preferences, and digital literacy levels, and your content needs to reflect that.

Dive into our guide on how to create accessible training videos that meet diverse learner needs for more info on how to easily adapt for visual and auditory accessibility needs, create microlearning modules, and adjust for cultural differences.

Use Case #1: Video Ads

Customer Stories & Examples

Best Practices

• Keep videos short. Aim for under 30 seconds to keep viewer attention and increase completion rates.
• Lead with the value. Make sure your core message or value proposition is conveyed within the first few seconds
• Match the format to the funnel. Tailor the ad length, style, and CTA based on where it will appear and what action you want.
• Think mobile first. Optimize framing and pacing for small screen consumption.
• Make your edits pop. Use b-roll, animated text and motion to keep visual energy high and engagement steady.
• Test and optimize performance.A/B test different hooks, visuals, avatars, and CTAs to find what converts.

Top Features

• Product Placement: add physical products to your videos with a click.
• Generate Looks: make your avatar more dynamic by switching their pose, surroundings or attire with nothing but a text prompt.

Pro tip

Here's a tried and true script structure from social media producer George “GG” Gossland of Favoured:

• Hook – Something visually weird or unexpected.
• Problem – What challenges is your viewer facing?
• Solution – How does the product or service alleviate those challenges?
• USPs – aka “unique selling point.” Show the features that stand out!
• CTA – Always give viewers something to do next.

Ready to level up?

→ Watch a step-by-step tutorial for creating video ads

→ Dive into HeyGen’s 5 ways to improve your video ads and performance ebook

Use Case #2: Social Influencer Videos

Customer Stories & Examples

Best Practices

• Hook viewers fast. Aim to grab attention in the first 1-2 seconds with motion, bold text, or a compelling visual.
• Design for silent autoplay. Use captions, text overlays, and visual storytelling since many users watch without sound.
• Keep it short. Less is more. Aim for under 15-30 seconds on TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts. Adjust your script speed using advanced voice settings.
• Frame it for the feed. Use vertical (9:16) or square formats depending on the platform. Avoid landscape orientation unless you’re posting to YouTube.
• Lead with the “aha.” Highlight the transformation, benefit, or emotional payoff early, not just the product features.
• Make it look native. Use platform trends, faster-paced creator-style edits, or UGC avatars to blend into the feed.

Top Features

• UGC avatars: browse hundreds of AI-generated stock avatars with an authentic content creator feel.
• Captions: make sure your message gets through, even when the sound is off.

Pro tip

Here’s a high-performing content structure used by top creators across TikTok, Reels and Shorts:

1. Scroll-stopping visuals: open with bold text, motion or a surprising visual to halt the scroll
2. Relatable moment: reflect a real pain point or “I’ve been there” situation to build an instant connection
3. Transformation or payoff: show the value of your product in action
4. Creator POV: use voiceover or on-screen text to narrate with a personal, authentic tone
5. Simple CTA: make the next step obvious! (“Try this,” “watch more,” or “visit website.”)

Ready to dive in deeper?

→ Watch a step-by-step tutorial for creating social influencer videos

→ Dive into HeyGen’s ebook 5 ways to improve your video ads and performance

Use Case #3: Personalized Videos

Customer Stories & Examples

Best Practices

• Segment your audience for relevance
  Break your audience into meaningful groups (leads, customers, event attendees, etc.) so each video feels tailored and intentional.
• Create a flexible base script
  Write one strong script with clearly marked variables (like [First Name], [Company], [Product]) that can be easily swapped out without disrupting flow.
• Use natural tone and pacing
  Keep a consistent, neutral delivery across both the static script and dynamic variables, avoiding exaggerated emphasis on names or custom inserts.
• Keep it short and sharp
  Aim for 30–60 seconds. Focus on one key message or CTA to drive results without losing attention.
• Be strategic with dynamic elements
  Add personalization through names, logos, and visuals, but don’t overload. Let the message stay clear and focused.
• Test before scaling
  Run small test batches to check that variables render smoothly and don’t sound awkward in context.
• Stay on-brand
  Use your client’s fonts, colors, and tone of voice. Personalization should feel like an extension of their brand.
• Include a clear, personal CTA
  End with a call-to-action that aligns with your campaign goal like “Schedule your demo, [Name]” or “Let’s connect this week.”
• Track performance and optimize
  Use video analytics or UTM links to measure watch rates, clicks, and conversions and refine your approach based on what works.

Top Features

• Personalized Video: Create personalized videos that greet new hires by name and customize other variables such as department or region to streamline onboarding and boost engagement.
• Custom Avatars: Give your onboarding a human touch with a digital twin or department-specific presenters to deliver training in a familiar, branded voice.
• Brand Kit: Maintain visual brand consistency by setting up a Brand Kit with approved logos, fonts, colors, and assets.
• Integrations: Browse our partners and distribute your personalized videos through Zapier, Clay, HubSpot, Make, and more