# Send a short video before sending a proposal, and what to say

A video before sending a proposal reminds the client who they are hiring. What to say in under a minute and how to send it with the proposal, with a script.

By Pranav Reddy, founder of hi.video. Published 2026-09-14, updated 2026-09-14. Canonical page: https://hi.video/blog/video-introduction-before-a-proposal

## Short answer

Send a short video before or with your proposal so the client meets the person behind the document. Record it in under a minute, address the client by name, say what you heard in the discovery call, name the one thing you would fix first, and point them to the proposal. Paste the link at the top of the email that carries the proposal.

You finished the proposal at eleven at night. Fourteen pages, with a timeline that has real dates on it. You attach it, write "Please find attached" and hit send. Then nothing happens for four days.

The proposal is trying to do a job it was never designed for, which is reminding the client who you are. A document is poor at that, and a short video takes less time than the cover email you agonised over.

## Why the first message before a proposal matters

By the time your proposal lands, the client may have spoken to other consultants too. The calls blur together. What they remember is how the conversation felt, and that memory fades by the day.

The proposal also travels. The person you spoke with forwards it to a partner or a finance lead who was not on the call. Those people open a PDF from a stranger. They have no face to attach to it and no reason to read past the fee table.

A video helps with both. The person you spoke with gets a reminder of the conversation, and the people you never met get an introduction.

A proposal is also a formal document, and formal documents lose tone. The warmth from the call and the moment you both laughed about the old reporting system do not survive in Helvetica. Sixty seconds of you talking can bring some of it back.

## What to say in under a minute

Keep the video short because the proposal is long. The video's job is recognition, and the proposal's job is persuasion. If you try to summarise the whole proposal you will run long and say less.

Cover five things, in this order.

1. Their name and a plain greeting.
2. One line about the call, ideally something specific they said.
3. The problem you are proposing to solve, in their words rather than yours.
4. What is attached and which page to read first.
5. How to reply, and that you are happy to talk through any of it.

Leave the fee out. If you say a number on camera, the client hears nothing after it. The fee belongs in the document, where it sits next to the scope that justifies it.

Do not apologise for the length of the proposal, and do not read it aloud. The client can read it themselves. What the video adds is your voice.

## An example script

Here is a script for a consultant sending a proposal to a made-up client called Dana after a discovery call. Swap in your own details and say it in your own words. Reading a script word for word sounds like reading.

> Hi Dana. Pranav here, from the call on Tuesday. I have been thinking about what you said about the month-end close taking nine days, and your team rebuilding the same spreadsheet every time. The proposal is attached. It is fourteen pages, but if you only read one, read page four, which lays out the first six weeks. Everything else is detail behind that. If something in there does not match what you told me, reply to this and say so, and I will fix it before we talk again. Thanks, Dana.

That runs about forty seconds at a normal speaking pace. It names the person, repeats the problem in their words, gives one instruction and asks for a reply. The fee never comes up.

## How to send the video with the proposal

Put the video link at the top of the email, above the attachment. If it sits below the PDF, the client opens the PDF first and never scrolls back.

The order of the email matters more than the wording. A short version looks like this.

> Subject: Proposal for the month-end close project
>
> Hi Dana,
>
> Before you open the attachment, here is a forty second hi from me about what is in it: [link]
>
> The proposal is attached as a PDF. Page four is the place to start.
>
> Pranav

If you record the video in hi.video, you add Dana's name and a short note before you publish, and the page she opens shows both above the video. She does not need an account or an app, and the page works on her phone. You choose whether the button under the video goes to your email address or to a calendar link, depending on whether you want a written reply or a call.

The note on the page is a second chance to say what the email said. Keep it to one or two lines. There is a separate article on [what to write in the note with your video](https://hi.video/blog/what-to-write-in-the-note-with-your-video) if you want more on that.

You will also see when the link has been viewed, which tells you whether the client has opened it before you follow up.

## What if the proposal goes to several people?

Record for the person you spoke with and say their name. If you know the proposal will be forwarded, add one line near the end: "If you are passing this to Mark, feel free to send the video along too." The link works for anyone who has it, so the forward costs nothing.

If the sponsor matters enough, record a second video addressed to them. Keep it even shorter and skip the callback to a call they were not on. The free plan on hi.video covers five published videos a month at up to a minute each, which is enough if you send a few proposals a month. If you send more than that, the [Pro plan](https://hi.video/pricing) raises the limits and lets you put your own username in the link.

## Mistakes that make the video worse than no video

Do not go over a minute. Past that point you are summarising the proposal, and the client stops watching before the ask.

Do not record a pitch. The client has already heard the pitch, so this should sound like the quieter message that follows it.

Do not send it a day after the proposal. By then the proposal has been opened and judged, so the video needs to arrive in the same email or before it.

Do not use a generated avatar or a stock clip. Clients may notice, and a proposal is a poor place to be caught faking sincerity. hi.video has no AI avatars and no uploads, and the [trust page](https://hi.video/trust) explains why. A slightly awkward recording of you is better than a polished one of someone who is not quite you.

If you are weighing whether to send a video at all or ask for another call, [personal video versus discovery call](https://hi.video/blog/personal-video-vs-discovery-call) walks through when each one works. And if this is your first time, the fastest way to find out whether it suits you is to [record your first hi](https://hi.video/app), address it to the client you are proposing to this week, and watch it back once before you send.

## Questions people ask

**Should I send a video with my consulting proposal?**

Yes, if you keep it under a minute and say something the document cannot, such as what you heard on the call and which page to read first. Put the link in the same email as the proposal, above the attachment, so the client sees you before they see the fee.

**What should I say in a video before sending a proposal?**

Greet the client by name, mention one specific thing they said on the call, repeat the problem in their words, say what is attached and where to start reading, and ask them to reply if anything looks wrong. Leave the fee for the document.

**How long should a proposal introduction video be?**

Under a minute. The video is there for recognition, and the proposal carries the detail. If you run past a minute you have started summarising the document, and the client will stop watching before you reach the ask at the end.

**Should the video go out before the proposal or with it?**

With it, in the same email, or shortly before it. A video that arrives a day after the proposal is a recap of something the client has already judged. If you send it first, send the proposal the same day so the two are read together.

**What if the proposal will be forwarded to people I have not met?**

Record for the person you spoke with and say they are welcome to forward the link. Anyone with the link can watch, and no account is needed. If a sponsor matters, record a second shorter video addressed to them by name without the callback to a call they missed.

Related: https://hi.video/blog/freelancer-video-introduction-to-win-clients, https://hi.video/blog/personal-video-vs-discovery-call, https://hi.video/blog/what-to-write-in-the-note-with-your-video