How to Write a Video Script: Steps and Templates

Renderforest Staff

17 Dec 2020

13 min read

How to Write a Video Script: Steps and Templates

Choose Your Topic and Goals

You’re probably starting off with a rough idea of your video’s topic and purpose, i.e., what the video is going to be about and why you’re making it. This is a great starting point, as the first stage of scriptwriting only aims to solidify your initial plan by specifying the video topic and your main goal(s).

What is the question you’re trying to answer or the central idea around which you’ll be weaving your script? Don’t concern yourself with the details and specifics just yet; you’ll have plenty of time to attend to those.

Let’s say you want to shoot a video introducing your real estate agency to potential clients. Your video topic should be “business introduction,” while your main goal is to leave the viewer informed about who you are and what you do. To go a step further, you can also determine that the type of video you need is an explainer.

If your script doesn’t have a direction and a message to communicate, chances are, it’s going to be all over the place. So choose your topic and set your goals to make sure you start off on the right foot.

Consider the Audience

So long as you’re making your video to appeal to a specific audience, you’ll need to keep them top of mind throughout the whole process of scriptwriting. Consider the following points when defining your target viewers:

Demographics: What is their age group, occupation, educational background, marital status, etc.?
Interests: How do they like to spend their time? What topics do they find interesting? What social platforms do they prefer?
Problems: What are their main pain points? How do they want to overcome them? What’s stopping them from doing so?
Why should they care: Why should they spend the time to watch your video? How can you mold your video script to make it attractive to them?

To learn more about defining the right target audience for your business, we recommend you check out our article on this topic.

Without a clear picture of your target demographic, you’ll be shooting in the dark with your video script. Use the vocabulary and tone of voice that resonates best with your audience. Also, pay close attention to the length of your video script.

Estimate the approximate word count before you write a script. Keep in mind that it takes around a minute to read 130 words. You can use online tools to calculate the reading time of your video scripts. estimate reading time online tool

Source: Read-o-Meter

Brainstorm Ideas

As soon as you have your primary objective pinned down, it’s time to search your brain for any ideas and approaches. This stage of writing a script doesn’t have to be disciplined or rigid. Give yourself full freedom for creative thinking, daydreaming, and imagining; otherwise, you’ll be blocking your own creativity.

You’re not crafting a draft nor an outline yet. It’s perfectly fine to have a semi-chaotic scribble of thoughts and ideas with no details. You might end up with a disordered bullet list, which is ideal for our next stage.

Write an Outline

The most brilliant of video ideas might fall flat without a clear outline for the video script. Organize your ideas in a logical sequence to ensure your script makes sense and flows naturally. Let’s break down the main constituents of a well-balanced video script:

Introduction

Intros and outros for a video help to make it more coherent and effective. It’ll be hard for a viewer to concentrate and grasp the gist of your video unless you give them a clear idea right from the start. See how the video below achieves this goal with its quick intro:

When you write a video script, make sure it begins with a brief introduction of yourself and the topic you’ll be discussing. Don’t linger too much on the intro. Quickly tell your audience why they should watch your video and move on to the main points.

In the example below, the narrator manages to introduce his channel and topic in under 30 seconds. Note that if your video is going to be 1-2 minutes long, you’ll have less time for an intro.

Depending on the topic and audience, you might need to give some backstory or context before you’re able to dive into your main content. In this case, do so as succinctly as you can. Your intro has to be compact and impactful to persuade the viewer to keep watching.

Main Content

After the introduction, make a smooth transition to your main points. Arrange them so that they build on one another, creating a cogent storyline. Otherwise, they’ll be nothing more but blocks of uncorrelated information.

Don’t include too many key points in your video script. Too much information in one video will be distracting, and your audience will have a hard time capturing your main message.

Check out the video below; there are countless habits worth quitting, but let’s admit that “5 Habits You Need to Quit” sounds way better than “25 Habits You Need to Quit.”

Takeaways

Once you cover all your key points, summarize them, or reiterate the answer to the main question. Highlight the takeaways to give a smooth end to your video and avoid leaving the audience with a sense of incompletion and dissatisfaction.

Call to Action

What’s the next step for the viewer to take after watching your video? It could be subscribing to your channel, following you elsewhere, downloading a free template, or heading to your blog. Whatever it is, a quick mention of it will do you no harm.

YouTube end screens are a perfect call to action. They can show your social media profiles and website URL, or link to another video of yours. You can make your personalized outro with this YouTube End Screen Pack.

Create My Outro

Expand on Each Point

At this point in writing your script, you should have a basic outline carved out. Now, all that’s left to do is expand on the topic point by point, from the intro all the way to the end scene. It’s always recommended to divide your script into short chunks of text. Follow the rule of one message a paragraph to increase the impact of each.

Make it Concise and Clear

Your video scripts won’t and don’t have to be flawless at the first attempt, which is why we have this stage. It’s good to have brevity in mind while writing your initial draft, but once your writing is complete, you should go back and reread it with the sole purpose of abridging it.

Get rid of any unnecessary phrases and filler sentences to sharpen your script. Always remember that the shorter the message, the easier it is to remember. However, this doesn’t mean that you should compress your messages at the expense of their clarity. Ensure that your script clearly communicates your main point, then look for a way to say the same thing in fewer words.

Take a look at this HubSpot video, for example. The video only focuses on three points, and each of them is direct, short, and effective.

Lastly, try to keep a conversational tone. Unlike in written content, in videos, it’s harder to get away with lengthy, convoluted sentences. Keep your sentence structure as plain as possible. Break up compound sentences into simple ones.

Add Visual and Auditory Aids

Video content is so compelling because of its ability to stimulate both the visual and auditory senses. If your video script only revolves around the speaker presenting the topic seated in front of the camera, then you’re neglecting the visual aspect of video production.

Write a video script that incorporates B-rolls, closeup shots, typography, graphics, or change of scenery. Visual elements will emphasize important messages and will make your video much more engaging.

And, of course, don’t forget about music and sounds. Subtle background music that’s not too loud or obtrusive can establish the right ambiance for your video. Sound effects are also a creative way to bring more life to your project and draw attention to the right messages. Notice how sounds effects and background music effectively enhance just the right elements in the video shown below.

If you’re wondering how to add music to your video, we have a helpful article on that topic.

Also, take into account that some people might watch your video without sound. Be sure to add subtitles to your videos to avoid losing viewers.

Read it Out Loud

As your video script is meant to be spoken and not read quietly, reading it aloud is a step you can’t skip. When you read your text out loud, you’ll likely come across speed bumps you didn’t notice while writing. It’s the perfect opportunity to see how well your written text translates to a speech.

Does the speech flow naturally? Get rid of any bits that sound awkward or are tricky to pronounce. Your goal is to make it as conversational and free-flowing as possible.

Get Feedback

Ask your team (or anyone who’ll be willing) to review your video script. We tend to get too involved in our writing to be able to look at it with fresh eyes, hence the need for feedback. Stay open to suggestions, as they might give you a chance to improve your script in ways you wouldn’t have thought of.

Practice off Camera

This step applies to you only if you’re going to be the speaker in the video. You want to make sure you have a good command of the script before you get on camera. And the only way to guarantee such confidence is to practice, practice, practice.

Know when to take pauses in your talk to give your audience enough time to process and comprehend the presented information.

Use Video Script Templates

To put all the information from the previous steps into practice and help you get started with your script, we’ve created a video script template based on one of our ready-made video stories. First, let’s watch the video, and then we’ll have a closer look at the script.

Use Preset

Concise and to the point, this video is super efficient in introducing a product or service or pitching a company. Below is a breakdown of the script used to create the video. Access the video script template by clicking on the link or the image below.

The video starts with a brief introduction that serves as a hook to grab the viewer’s attention. As soon as the connection is established, the script moves on to introduce the problem and then the solution to the said problem. In promo videos and company introductions, the solution will be your brand or the product/service you provide.

To reinforce the presented solution, the script elaborates on what the company can deliver. Here’s where you can introduce the benefits and advantages of your offer. Once the solution and promise are presented, the script sums up the video in a concise statement and prompts the viewers to action with a short CTA.

You can find more similar video stories in the “Presets” section of our website. Type in your keywords in the search bar to find presets that match your topic. Click the button below to get started!

Try Presets

Lights, Camera, Action!

To ensure a smooth video production process and a polished, well-developed final product, you’ll need to invest some time in scriptwriting. Start with a specified video topic and objectives, then build your script step by step. This way, you’ll give yourself enough time to contemplate, reevaluate, and fine-tune your plan when you write a script.

We hope you found this guide helpful. Good luck with your next video project!