An intro video before class is a short clip that plays on the studio screen while members settle in. It tells them what the class is, what to expect and what to do first. The best ones run 30 to 90 seconds, open with the class name and the instructor's face, show the format in motion, and end with a countdown to the first move. Below is how to plan, script, schedule and roll them out across rooms without adding to your front desk workload.
If you searched this phrase and saw stock templates and teacher-recorded welcome clips for online courses, you saw a different use of the idea. Those are useful for a learning platform. This guide is for the physical room: a studio, a cycling room, a functional training floor, a boutique space with one TV and one speaker.
TL;DR
- Keep a pre-class intro to 30 to 90 seconds. Save anything longer for a one-time onboarding video for new members.
- Lead with value in the first five seconds: class name, instructor, and what the next 45 minutes will feel like.
- Show the format, the equipment to grab and the first move. Skip policy lists.
- Schedule intros by room and time slot, so the right clip plays before the right class and promotions only run when the room is quiet.
- Update the clip when the instructor, format or equipment changes, and tie it to the class schedule so it never plays for the wrong class.
Table of Contents
- Why a pre-class intro earns its screen time
- Intro video vs. class countdown vs. onboarding video
- What goes in a good pre-class intro
- A script you can copy
- Production tips that cost nothing
- Scheduling: the right clip, in the right room, at the right time
- Multi-room and multi-location setups
- What our team thinks
- Putting it into practice with Kingdom Signage
- A 30-day rollout plan
- Common mistakes
- FAQ
- Sources
Why a pre-class intro earns its screen time
The few minutes before class are the most captive attention you have. Members are standing or sitting, looking for something to look at, and many are checking their phones. A screen that shows a generic loop wastes that window. A screen that tells them what is about to happen uses it.
There are three practical payoffs.
First-timers feel less lost. LG's fitness guidance notes that the first-time gym experience can be intimidating for prospective members and is a hurdle for retention. A friendly intro on the studio screen answers the questions a newcomer is too shy to ask: Do I need weights? Can I modify? Where do I put my bag?
Instructors start with a settled room. If the screen explains equipment setup and format, the instructor spends the last minutes greeting people rather than repeating the same setup speech. That matters most for back-to-back classes.
Front desk staff answer fewer routine questions. The same LG material frames screens as an operational tool rather than wallpaper, and describes staff time freed from routine questions so teams can focus on higher-value conversations such as personal training. A pre-class clip is one of the cheapest ways to apply that idea.
Intro video vs. class countdown vs. onboarding video
Three formats get mixed up. They do different jobs, so decide which one you need.
| Format | Length | When it plays | Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-class intro | 30 to 90 seconds | In the room, 5 to 10 minutes before start | Set expectations for this specific class |
| Countdown or timer screen | Continuous | Final minutes before start, then during class | Show start time, then workout intervals |
| New member onboarding video | 3 to 5 minutes | Lobby, email, or app, once | Build rapport, explain how the gym works |
The 3 to 5 minute range for onboarding comes from academic guidance on introduction videos, which says a good intro humanizes the instructor and focuses on rapport and expectations rather than a list of rules. That advice was written for course instructors, but it carries over: people respond to a person, not a policy sheet. A pre-class intro should be much shorter because members are about to move.
What goes in a good pre-class intro
Think of the clip as five beats. You do not need all five every time, but the order holds.
1. The hook (seconds 0 to 5)
Open with the class name and a visual of the class in action. Advice for online video, such as this creator guide, says the first 5 seconds should use a bold statement, a question or your most exciting clip, and should avoid slow, rambling openers. The same discipline works on a gym wall. Do not start with "Hey everyone, welcome back." Start with "45 minutes. Heavy bells. Zero guessing."
2. The face (seconds 5 to 15)
Show the instructor saying their name and one line about the class. Members who see the person before they arrive bond faster. If you rotate instructors, record one clip per instructor and per format, not one per class slot.
3. The format (seconds 15 to 45)
Explain what happens in plain terms. For a HIIT class: three blocks, 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off, a finisher at the end. For a yoga flow: slow start, standing series, floor work, final rest. Show a few seconds of each move rather than describing it.
4. The setup (seconds 45 to 70)
Tell people what to pick up and where. Mat, two sets of dumbbells, a step with two risers. Put the list on screen as text as well, since the room may be noisy.
5. The send-off (seconds 70 to 90)
End with the first move and a countdown. "We start with squats in 60 seconds." This gives the clip a natural handoff to the live instructor or the workout timer.
A script you can copy
Here is a template for a 60-second intro for a boutique strength class. Adjust to your own voice.
On screen: instructor in the studio, class name appears. "Welcome to Strength 45. I'm Dana. Today is lower body and core." B-roll: members lunging, a close-up of a goblet squat. "We work in three blocks. Each block is four moves, 40 seconds each. If a move feels too big, drop the weight, not the form." Text overlay: Grab two dumbbells and a mat. "Grab two dumbbells and a mat. New today? Tell me at the start and I'll help you scale." Countdown graphic starts at 0:30. "First move: goblet squats. See you in thirty seconds."
Notice what it leaves out: no membership pitch, no cancellation policy, no long safety statement. Those belong in onboarding and signage elsewhere in the building.
Production tips that cost nothing
You do not need a studio crew. A recent phone and a quiet moment are enough.
- Shoot horizontally. Wall TVs are landscape. A vertical clip leaves black bars on both sides.
- Make it readable without sound. Gym rooms are loud, and many screens are muted when music is playing. Add captions or on-screen text for the main points.
- Keep it bright. Film near a window or under even lighting, and avoid a backlit instructor.
- Show real members. Short cuts of your own people moving beat generic stock footage, and they make the room feel like a community.
- Avoid dated details. Do not name a month, a price or a promotion in the clip, so you can reuse it for a long time.
- Pick a music bed carefully. If the clip has its own music, it should not fight the room's playlist. Set the level to match the pre-class music or use a silent clip with captions.
If you already run demo videos for movements, consider reusing them. Digital signage guidance for gyms recommends silent-form video demonstrations of proper technique as effective content on the cardio floor, and the same footage can feed your intro's format section.
Scheduling: the right clip, in the right room, at the right time
A great clip does not help if it plays at 2 p.m. in an empty room, or the spin intro plays in the yoga studio. Scheduling is where most gyms stumble.
Start with a simple rule: the intro plays on the screen in the room where the class happens, starting 5 to 10 minutes before the scheduled start. After the class begins, the screen switches to the workout timer or off, depending on the format.
Then layer the rest of the day around it.
- Peak hours: Show utility content. Class times, room changes, what is next.
- Quiet periods: Rotate promotional content such as events, new classes and membership offers.
- Between classes: Show the next class's intro, not a loop of everything.
This mirrors a point from digital signage guidance for fitness centers: avoid constant urgency in promotions, and use schedule-aware playlists that favor class information during the morning rush and promotional content during slower midday periods, so the screens keep their credibility.
For a full walk-through of rules and day-parts, see our gym signage content scheduling guide for managers. If your studio changes often, our guide to updating gym class schedule displays shows how to keep screens accurate without manual edits.
Multi-room and multi-location setups
One screen is easy. Three studios, a cycling room and a lobby are harder. Common failures include:
- The same file playing on every screen, so the yoga room shows a boxing intro.
- A clip that finishes after the class has already started because the schedule changed.
- Music from one room bleeding into another because the audio and visuals are controlled separately.
The cleanest fix is to treat each room as its own channel with its own playlist, linked to the room's class schedule. Our guide on how multi-room gym displays work explains the structure. For examples of what to show on those screens besides the intro, see our 10 studio class schedule display examples.
If you run several locations, keep one master library of intros, named by class format and instructor, and assign them per location. When an instructor leaves or a format changes, you replace one file and every location updates.
What our team thinks
We built Kingdom Signage for gyms and studios where TVs, class schedules and music are usually managed in separate places. In that situation, a pre-class intro tends to be the first thing that breaks. Someone uploads a clip to a USB stick, the schedule changes, and the intro keeps playing for a class that no longer exists.
Our view is that the intro should be a property of the class, not a standalone file. When the clip is attached to the class in the schedule, it plays in the right room at the right time, and a schedule edit moves the intro with it. The same logic applies to music: the room's audio and the room's screen should follow one schedule, so a quiet intro does not collide with a loud playlist.
We also think shorter is better. Members do not come to watch a video. They come to train. If the clip lasts longer than it takes to fill a water bottle, it is too long. Put the longer storytelling in onboarding, and keep the pre-class clip for the single job of getting people ready.
— Kingdom
Putting it into practice with Kingdom Signage
Kingdom Signage is a multi-platform subscription service for gyms and fitness studios. From one dashboard you can control digital signage and TV screens, class schedules, workout timers with demo video support, room-based music and real-time announcements, across multiple rooms or locations. It works with the screens you already have, so you do not need to replace hardware to run pre-class intros. Start with a free trial or demo on kingdomsignage.com, and set up one room first.
If you are earlier in the process, our walkthrough on how to set up gym digital signage that works covers the basics of screens, content and rollout.
A 30-day rollout plan
Do not try to film every class in week one. Pick a sequence you can finish.
Week 1: Audit and choose. List your classes by attendance. Pick the top three formats and the busiest room. Note which ones attract the most first-timers and questions.
Week 2: Film. Record one 45 to 60 second intro per format with your best instructor for each. Record a short universal clip as a fallback.
Week 3: Schedule. Attach each intro to its class slot, 5 to 10 minutes before start. Set the fallback to play when no class is scheduled. Check the room on a live day, including the sound.
Week 4: Measure and adjust. Ask instructors what changed. Count how often the front desk fields the same questions. Ask a few new members whether the clip helped. Then film the next three formats.
Track simple, honest measures: number of repeated setup questions, instructors' start-on-time rate and new member feedback. Do not promise yourself a retention number from one clip. Retention depends on many factors, and a video is one of them.
Common mistakes
- Too long. Anything past 90 seconds starts competing with the class.
- Too much policy. Rules belong on a sign or in onboarding, not in a clip people watch while warming up.
- Selling during the intro. A membership pitch right before a workout feels off. Use the quiet hours for promotions, as described in our guide to how class promotions display on gym TVs.
- Out-of-date instructors. A clip with an instructor who left breaks trust fast.
- No fallback. When a class is cancelled, the screen should show the cancellation, not the intro. See our six steps for live class updates.
- Ignoring the lobby. The room is not the only place new members get nervous. A welcome at the entrance helps too; see three front desk signage essentials.
FAQ
How long should an intro video before class be?
Aim for 30 to 90 seconds for a pre-class intro in a gym or studio. That is long enough to name the class, show the format and give setup instructions. If you want to explain how the gym works or introduce your team, make a separate 3 to 5 minute onboarding video.
Should the instructor be in the video?
Yes, when you can. Seeing the instructor before class helps members connect with them, especially first-timers. If instructors rotate often, make the clip about the format and equipment, and add the instructor's name through your schedule instead.
Do I need sound for a gym intro video?
No, but plan for both. Many studio screens are muted or drowned out by music, so use captions and on-screen text for the key points. If you use sound, check the volume against the room's playlist before you go live.
Where should the intro play?
It should play on the screen inside the room where the class is held, starting 5 to 10 minutes before the start time. Playing it in the lobby is fine for a general welcome, but class-specific clips belong in the class room.
Sources
- Digital Signage Will Pump Up Member Engagement and Improve Retention (LG)
- Creating Introduction Videos (University Center for Teaching and Learning)
- How to Make a YouTube Channel Trailer That Converts (2026 Guide)
- Digital Signage for Fitness Centers and Gyms: Building Member Engagement and Secondary Revenue