How to Make a Course Trailer with Synthesia

Most “AI course video” posts skip the two facts that actually decide the project. First: a trailer is not the lesson and it is not a product tour. It is 30–60 seconds that names the cohort, the two or three outcomes, and one next step — enroll, join the waitlist, reply to the email. Second: the tool this site sends for that talking-head file is Synthesia (synthesia.io). This guide is the working path when you will not film the instructor every time the start date moves: script, host, title card, generate, shelf.

When a course page needs an avatar — and when it doesn't

Use an avatar when the sales page or the launch email needs a face and you cannot or will not sit the instructor in a room every time the syllabus line or the cohort date changes. Edit the line, fix the title card, generate again. That is the economic case.

Skip the avatar if the page is a written outline or a testimonial wall. Skip it if the prospect needs a live Q&A — the trailer closes with “enroll below,” it does not replace office hours. Skip it if the file is the first module — the training how-to is the other desk. Skip it if the file is a SaaS walkthrough — the product-demo how-to lands a trial card. Skip it if you are posting a point of view in the feed — the LinkedIn how-to is a comment or DM, not an enroll button.

The seven-step Synthesia course trailer

1. 01

   Write a 30–60 second trailer, not the lesson

   A course trailer is a pitch for a seat. Open on who the cohort is for, name two or three things they will leave able to do, then land one enrollment ask — the landing-page form, the waitlist, or a reply to the email this file arrived in. Spell the course title the way it should be heard. Time it out loud. Most trailers sit between 30 and 60 seconds. If you wanted the scored module itself, that is the training how-to. If you wanted a SaaS walkthrough with a trial card, that is the product-demo how-to. If you wanted a feed take, that is the LinkedIn how-to.

2. 02

   Confirm a talking-head trailer is the right enrollment format

   Use a presenter when the sales page or the launch email needs a face and you will not film the instructor every time the syllabus or the start date moves. Skip the avatar for a live welcome call, a testimonial montage, or a slide deck that is really a curriculum PDF. Skip it if the file is the first lesson — that is a course, not a trailer. The avatar is a host reading the enrollment brief, not a substitute for the teacher on week one.

3. 03

   Open Synthesia (synthesia.io) — check the domain

   Synthesia is the presenter desk this page is written for. From the homepage, use New video in the upper-right. Synthesys (synthesys.io) is a different company. HeyGen shows up in the same “AI course trailer” search; it is an editorial mention here, not a hop. Mixing the names is the expensive mistake. This page sends you to Synthesia only. Kajabi, Teachable, and Circle are course shelves, not hops.

4. 04

   Pick one stock avatar as the course host

   Select the Avatar tab in the top menu and choose one stock presenter. Keep that face for the trailer and for later recuts when the start date or the module list changes. A course-host read is second-person and specific: you, this cohort, this week. Head-and-shoulders. Do not commission an instructor likeness until you have watched a stock cut of the real enrollment script. Do not clone a teacher’s voice unless you have written consent. One host. One crop.

5. 05

   Add a title card with Text — there is no title-card preset

   Use Add scene on the left of the canvas if you want the name on its own beat, or keep the card on the opening scene next to the host. Select Text at the top of the canvas and pick Title 1 or Title 2 for the course name, then Subtitle for who it is for. Type the same words the avatar will say. Drag the box; pull a corner to size it. We do not invent a “course trailer” or “title card” control — if your workspace has a saved layout, use it; if it does not, these Text styles are the whole move. Leave interactive buttons off if you need an MP4.

6. 06

   Paste the script, then Generate

   Select a scene in the left scene menu, open the script box, and paste the spoken trailer. Split beats across scenes if you want a pause between “who it is for” and the ask. Use Generate at the top right. If the file will play muted on a landing page or in an inbox preview, turn Burned-in captions on in that panel before you generate. Watch the first second, the course title, the dates you named, and the on-screen card. Mouth-sync is consistently strong in English and major European languages. Hand gestures loop. These are narrators. Edit the line and generate again instead of re-booking the instructor.

7. 07

   Download the MP4 or copy the embed, then drop it on the sales page or in the launch email

   A clean download starts on a paid plan — Synthesia’s download help says Basic and trial users cannot download. After generate, use the three-dot menu and choose Download, then the MP4 (Full HD 1080p). Or open Share, create a link, and copy the embed code; Synthesia’s share help says an embed updates when you edit. The same Share panel can copy a GIF thumbnail for an email. Paste the embed above the enroll button on the course page, or upload the MP4 if that builder wants a file. Put the same URL on the end card and in the email. Name the export so the next recut is obvious: course-trailer_cohort-apr_v1. When the start date or the syllabus line moves, change that line, generate, bump the version, replace the object.

Course-host avatar vs filming the instructor vs the PDF

“AI course trailer” is a search, not a product. The decision is the format. Plan names and download gates on the Synthesia column match the live synthesia.io/pricing page as of August 2026. Confirm the current grid before you tell marketing the export is included.

A 30–60s trailer script is the enrollment brief, spoken

Do not write module one and hope marketing cuts it down. Open the live sales page: the course title, the audience line, the three outcomes you already promise, the start date you can stand behind. Those sentences are the script. If a date is still in review, that clip waits. An avatar reading last cohort’s open date is worse than a still, because it sounds finished.

Three beats, in this order. Who it is for, in the first sentence. What they will leave able to do — two or three outcomes, not a twelve-week outline. One ask: the form on this page, the waitlist, or a reply to the email. Second person. No joke about “the algorithm.” Time it out loud: 30 seconds is a tight waitlist clip; 60 seconds is a full enroll read with a start date. Longer than that and you are making a lesson.

A cohort read that fits the window sounds like this — about 45 seconds when you say it, not when you skim it:

This six-week cohort is for operators who already run customer interviews and still lose the thread between the call and the product decision. You will leave with a one-page interview guide, a booking cadence you can keep, and a note format your team can actually ship from. It is not a sales-training MBA and it is not a YouTube crash course. Next cohort starts on the date on this page. Enroll from the form below — or reply to the email this video arrived in if you want the waitlist instead.

A pre-recorded course uses the same skeleton. Swap “cohort” for the course title, name the two or three skills, and point at one button. Do not stack a syllabus tour, a founder bio, and a testimonial reel in a single file. One trailer, one ask.

Do not write a learning objective with a quiz. Do not write a SaaS feature tour. Do not ask the avatar to “sound like a favorite teacher.” These presenters are narrators: blink cadence, micro head-tilt, a looping hand. On a head-and-shoulders framing that is enough. Full breakdown of what the avatars actually do is in our Synthesia review.

Pick one course host. Keep that face.

Select the Avatar tab in the top menu. Choose one stock presenter and keep that face when you recut the start date so the sales page does not look like a new hire every launch. A course host says you and this cohort. It is not an enablement lead and it is not a support agent.

A custom instructor likeness is a later decision, not the first invoice. Prove the script on a stock presenter. Personal avatars sit on paid plans — confirm the current count on synthesia.io/pricing. Synthesia’s pricing grid lists a Studio Express-1 avatar as a $1,000/year add-on that can take up to ten days. Clone a voice only with written consent. The consent rule is the same one in How to clone your voice for YouTube.

The title card is Text, not a hidden preset

Prospects watch these muted, on a phone, above an enroll button. The voice is not enough. Select Text at the top of the canvas. Title 1 or Title 2 for the course name. Subtitle for the audience line. Type the same words the avatar will say:

• Title: Customer Interview Notes — 6-week cohort
• Subtitle: For operators who already take the calls

Place the block beside or under a head-and-shoulders crop, or put it on its own opening scene with Add scene on the left of the canvas. Drag a corner to size it; keep it readable on a narrow sales-page column. We do not invent a “trailer template” or a “title card” control. If your workspace has a saved layout, use it. If it does not, this Text block is the whole move.

The last beat should name the ask on screen as well as in the voice — Enroll below, Join the waitlist, Reply to this email. Same words. One URL. Do not stack a calendar, a syllabus PDF, and a community invite on the same card.

Captions: Synthesia’s help lists closed captions, dynamic captions (Captions in the top menu), and a Burned-in captions toggle in the Generate panel. For a muted landing tile or an inbox preview, turn burned-in captions on before you generate. After generate you can also download .srt or .vtt from the video menu if the page builder wants a separate track.

Generate, then export onto the page or into the email

Generate sits at the top right. Title the file the way the sales page is titled. Watch the first second and the title card against the live offer. Proper nouns, cohort dates, and the course name are where these reads go wrong — fix the script, generate again. That loop is the product. An instructor re-book is what you are not buying.

A logo-off download starts on Starter. After the render, open the three-dot menu and choose Download, then the MP4 (Synthesia’s help lists Full HD 1080p). Or open Share, create a link, and copy the embed code. The embed is the better shelf when you will recut the same launch; the MP4 is the better shelf when the course builder wants a file. Interactive buttons and branching cannot go out as an MP4 — leave those off a trailer you need to download. If a last scene still points at a “next scene” instead of ending the video, Synthesia’s download help says the MP4 can stay locked; set that last scene to end, generate again.

Paste the embed, or upload the file, above the enroll button on the course page. Keep the written outcomes. A prospect who cannot play video still needs the three bullets. For a launch email, the Share panel can copy a GIF thumbnail; put the same enroll URL in the message that you put on the end card. Kajabi, Teachable, and Circle are ordinary page builders on this page, not hops — use whatever control that editor already has for an embed or an upload. We do not invent a “Synthesia app” inside those products.

Name the object so the next person can find it: course-trailer_interview-notes_v1, cohort-trailer_apr-2026_v1. When the start date or an outcome line changes, edit that line, generate, bump the version, replace the object. Leave the clips that are still true.

Which Synthesia plan ships a course trailer in 2026

The live pricing page (August 2026) lists Basic at $0 with 9 avatars and 10 minutes a month. Downloads and logo removal start on Starter at $29/month, or $18/month billed yearly. Creator is $89/month, or $64/month yearly, with more minutes and personal avatars. Languages and voices are published as 160+ on every tier. Confirm the current grid on synthesia.io/pricing before you tell marketing the download is included — we do not invent a checkout total or a commission rate.

For a first trailer, start on Basic with a real enrollment paragraph, not a placeholder greeting. Move to a paid plan when you need a logo-off file or an embed you will actually publish. Buy Creator for a personal course-host avatar or more minutes — not for “more cinema.” Buy Enterprise when brand asks for a kit or you are ready to localize a locked English master. Confirm commercial and customer-facing terms on the plan you will export from. Ten minutes a month is a handful of 45-second trailers, not a catalog.

Localization and other desks are next steps, not this brief

Ship the home-market trailer first. A second language is a translation of a signed offer, not a reason to start in Enterprise. When you are ready, lock this cut, then follow how to localize training videos — same loop, different packet. A scored lesson is the training how-to. A SaaS walkthrough is the product demo. A ramp file for new AEs is sales enablement. A feed take is LinkedIn. A help-center explainer is customer support.

Prospects still deserve a plain-language note when the presenter is synthetic. Say it on the sales page, above or under the player: this is a course-host avatar reading the current enrollment brief. If you later publish the same file on a public platform, you also need that platform’s current disclosure for synthetic media. That is separate from the vendor license. You need both.

The comparison of presenter platforms — including where Synthesys sits as a different company — lives on Synthesia vs Synthesys and Best AI Avatar Video Tools 2026. This page does not hop there. The only Try button here is Synthesia.

HeyGen, a phone camera, and a filmed instructor — editorial only

Those names sit in the same “AI course trailer” search. HeyGen is the usual Synthesia alternative in reviewer write-ups: faster custom-avatar turnaround, punchier social presenters, less of the course-page shelf. A phone camera is the right tool when the instructor has to be the one on camera and you can actually book the take. None of them have a live hop on this page, so there is no Try button. If you need the enrollment trailer we can route, it is Synthesia.