"Always show your face first" was wrong for this one

"Always show your face first" was wrong for this one

Creator advice told me faces build trust, so always open on yourself. For 30 videos I obeyed. My hook "Hey guys, today I want to talk about email subject lines" opened on my smiling face. 3s retention hovered at 68%.

For one test I cut my face entirely from the first 4 seconds. I opened on a screen recording of a subject line getting a 71% open rate, voiceover only: "This subject line shouldn't work, but it did."

3s retention jumped to 84%. The face came back at second 5, once they were hooked.

Views went from 24k to 119k.

The lesson: your face builds trust, but proof builds curiosity. Lead with the thing they can't believe, then show up to explain it.