How to make a facts video
Facts videos deliver a run of surprising claims in quick succession. They are the most produced format on short-form video.
That makes both the ceiling and the risk unusually clear: the format is easy to execute, which is precisely why executing it adequately is not enough to grow a channel.
This produces a finished vertical video with narration and captions.
Steps
Pick facts with a reaction attached
A fact needs to make someone want to tell somebody else. Statistics without consequence do not, however impressive the number. Anything that changes how a familiar thing looks does, which is why 'bananas are radioactive' outperforms a larger but abstract figure.
Group them around one theme
Five facts about the deep ocean beats five unrelated facts. A theme gives someone a reason to subscribe, whereas an assortment gives them a reason to enjoy this one video and move on. The theme is the channel; the facts are just this episode.
Verify every single one
Facts channels lose credibility permanently on one wrong claim, and the widely repeated facts are disproportionately the wrong ones. Check each against a primary source rather than against another video, because the error you are about to repeat came from somewhere.
Add the line that makes it yours
One sentence of consequence or opinion per fact. This is the difference between a video and a list anyone could generate from the same prompt, and it is exactly what YouTube's reused-content review is looking for when it decides whether a channel contributed anything.
Generate and check the reading pace
Run it through Leaxor. Facts videos fail when claims arrive faster than they can be read. If the captions outpace comprehension, remove a fact rather than speeding the narration, because five understood facts beat seven that blur.
What you end up with
A 40 to 60 second vertical video with one illustrated scene per fact, narration paced for reading, and captions carrying each claim so the video works silently.
Watch sample videosWhen this isn't the right approach
This is the format most likely to fail YouTube's reused-content review, because unattributed facts with no commentary are precisely what it targets. If you are not adding a perspective, choose a different format. If your facts need charts or data visualisation to make sense, illustration will not carry them and a screen-recorded chart will.
Ready to make one?
Make a facts videoFrequently asked
How many facts should one video have?
Four or five in 60 seconds. Comprehension rather than runtime is the limit: facts arriving faster than they can be read produce a video people watched and remember nothing from, which is worse for retention on the next upload than a shorter video would have been.
Where should I source facts?
Primary sources, not other videos. The widely repeated facts are disproportionately the wrong ones, precisely because they travelled by being repeated rather than by being checked. A university page or an original study beats an aggregator every time.
Do facts videos get demonetised?
Not for being facts videos, but the format sits closest to what YouTube's reused-content review targets. What separates a monetised facts channel from a declined one is whether each fact carries a line of the creator's own perspective or consequence.
Should facts be related to each other?
Yes, if you want a channel rather than a video. Themed sets give someone a reason to subscribe; unrelated ones give them a reason to enjoy this one and leave. The theme is what compounds.
Where do you source facts you can actually trust?
Primary sources, and check anything that sounds too neat. Facts videos are the format most contaminated by recycled misinformation, largely because the surprising claims travel furthest and get copied most. A claim you found on three other faceless channels is not corroborated; it is one claim repeated. Encyclopaedia entries, published research and official statistics are slower to read and dramatically less likely to embarrass you. If you cannot trace a fact past aggregator sites, cut it rather than hedge it.