How to Film an Online Course at Home: A Simple Setup That Looks Professional

The most common problem in the course footage we receive is sound. The picture is usually fine. Phones shoot sharp video now, and most people have a window or a lamp somewhere nearby. But the audio has an echo, or a fridge hum, or the voice drops in and out as the speaker turns their head.

Students forgive a slightly soft image. They stop watching when they have to strain to hear you. Instructors on Reddit say Udemy has rejected their courses because of echo, and viewers say poor audio is one of the first things that makes them leave a bad review.

So this guide goes in order of what matters most: sound, then light, then camera, then everything else.

Start with sound

If you buy one thing for your course, make it a microphone.

A lapel mic (lavalier) clips onto your shirt about a hand's width below your chin. Because it sits so close to your mouth, it picks up your voice and very little of the room. Wired lapel mics that plug into a phone or laptop are cheap and reliable.

A USB microphone sits on your desk and plugs into your computer. It works well for screen-recorded lessons where you're seated in the same place. Keep it close, about 15 to 20 centimetres from your mouth, and point it at you.

The built-in mic on your camera or laptop is the last choice. It's too far away, so it records the room as much as your voice.

Then fix the room:

• Pick a room with soft things in it. Sofas, curtains, rugs, beds and bookshelves soak up echo. Empty rooms with bare walls and hard floors sound hollow.
• Turn off anything that hums. Fans, air conditioning, the fridge if it's close by. You stop noticing these sounds after a minute. The microphone never does.
• Put your phone on airplane mode. A buzzing notification can ruin a perfect take.
• Record a 30-second test and listen on headphones. Do this every time you set up, before you film a whole lesson.

Light your face

Good lighting for a course comes down to two things: light that comes from the front, and light that stays the same from lesson to lesson.

• Face a window, or sit side-on to it. Never sit with a window behind you, or the camera will turn you into a silhouette.
• If you buy a light, buy one soft light and place it in front of you, slightly to one side and a little above eye level. Ring lights and small LED panels with a diffuser both work.
• Avoid overhead lighting on its own. Ceiling lights cast shadows under your eyes.
• Think about consistency. Daylight changes through the day and with the weather. If you film lessons across several days, a lamp or LED light keeps every lesson looking the same, which matters when students watch them back to back.

Camera and framing

A recent phone is good enough for most online courses. Use the rear camera, which is usually sharper than the selfie camera, and prop it on a tripod or a stack of books.

• Record in 1080p. It's sharp enough for every major course platform and keeps file sizes manageable. Pick 25 or 30 frames per second and use the same setting for every lesson.
• Set the camera at eye level. Looking down at a laptop camera is the fastest way to look less confident on screen.
• Frame from mid-chest up, with your eyes roughly a third of the way down from the top of the frame and a little space above your head.
• Shoot in landscape. Courses are watched on laptops and TVs, and vertical footage leaves big black bars on either side.
• Lock focus and exposure. On most phones, press and hold on your face until you see a lock. It stops the picture from pulsing every time you move your hands.

Your background

Simple and tidy beats clever. A bookshelf, a plant, or a plain wall with a bit of distance behind you all work well. Sitting right up against a white wall looks flat, and anything busy pulls attention away from you.

Once you find a spot that works, take a photo of the whole setup: where the camera stands, where the light sits, where you sit. When you come back to film lesson 12 three weeks later, you can rebuild the exact same shot, and your course won't look like it was filmed in five different rooms.

Screen recordings

If your course teaches software, the screen recording is the lesson. A few settings make it far easier to follow:

• Record at 1920 × 1080 and set your apps to that size, so nothing gets squashed or blurry.
• Make text bigger than feels normal. Bump up the font size in your browser, code editor or app. Students watch on laptops, and some on phones.
• Clean up first. Close extra tabs, hide your bookmarks bar, clear the desktop, and turn on Do Not Disturb so no messages pop up mid-lesson.
• Move your mouse slowly and pause on the thing you're clicking. Your editor can add zooms and on-screen arrows, and they work best when the viewer can already follow the cursor.
• Record your webcam as a separate file if your software allows it. Your editor can then resize and move your face around the screen, or hide it when the screen needs all the space.

Record for the edit

How you record decides how long editing takes, and that decides what editing costs. These habits save hours:

1. Restart the full sentence after a mistake. Pause for a second, then say the whole sentence again from the start. A clean restart is quick to cut. A sentence that changes direction halfway through is not.
2. Mark the bad takes. Clap once, or say "again", before you retry. It shows up clearly on the audio track, so your editor can find every mistake fast.
3. Leave two seconds of silence before you start talking and after you finish. It gives room for clean cuts and transitions.
4. Record one lesson per file, and say the lesson name at the start: "Module 2, lesson 3, pricing your offer."
5. Keep your energy up. Editing can tighten pace and remove pauses, but it can't add energy that wasn't there when you recorded. Stand up if it helps.

We wrote more about how recording habits change the final bill in our guide to course video editing costs.

A quick checklist before you press record

• Microphone clipped on or close to your mouth
• Fans, AC and phone notifications off
• 30-second test recorded and checked on headphones
• Light in front of you, window not behind you
• Camera at eye level, landscape, 1080p, focus locked
• Same spot and setup as your last lesson
• Screen tidy, fonts enlarged, Do Not Disturb on
• Water nearby, lesson outline in front of you

Frequently asked questions

Can I film an online course with my phone?

Yes. A recent phone records sharp 1080p video, which is enough for Udemy, Kajabi, Teachable and every other major course platform. Pair it with an external microphone, because a phone's built-in mic picks up too much of the room.

What is the best microphone for recording an online course?

For talking-head lessons, a wired lapel microphone clipped close to your mouth gives the clearest sound for the money. For seated screen recordings, a USB desk microphone placed 15 to 20 centimetres away works well.

How do I stop echo in my course videos?

Record in a room with soft furnishings like curtains, rugs and a sofa, and keep the microphone close to your mouth. The closer the mic is, the less of the room it records. Echo is hard to remove in editing, so fix it before you film.

What resolution should I record my course in?

1080p (1920 × 1080) at 25 or 30 frames per second suits nearly every online course. It looks sharp on laptops and TVs, uploads quickly, and keeps editing smooth. Use the same settings for every lesson.

Do I need a teleprompter to record a course?

No. Many instructors sound more natural speaking from bullet points than reading a script. If you do want one, free teleprompter apps work on a tablet placed just below the camera.

Should I record all my course lessons in one day?

Batching lessons saves setup time and keeps your look consistent, but energy drops after a few hours. Two or three shorter sessions, with the same setup and clothing, usually give better results than one long day.