7 Steps to Writing a Great Video Script

A lot of video formats work best when you have a script prior to shooting. For these videos, the script is the way to give your audience exactly what they need.

While it’s not a must-have, a script can help you pin down the message you want to get across. It will help you really grab your audience’s attention, no matter what your objective is for making it.

Even if you already have existing material that you want to repurpose, like a blog post or podcast, you have to make sure your script is written in a way that will suit your video. It will make it more structured and focused.

So how can you craft a video script that will truly engage or convert? Let’s go through seven steps that will help you do it.

Start with a brief

To ensure that everything you need to say will be included, write a brief. Before you work on the actual script, you have to plan what you need to write very well.

You have to be clear about your video’s goals. What is its purpose? Who is it for? What is its message, and what is the main topic you want to discuss?

It’s important to be clear on the direction that your video will take. Otherwise, your script might end up going in different places that are not in line with your focus.

Develop a story

Your video will have more than one message that you want to deliver, and these messages should be outlined in your brief. How can you make sure that they are translated well into your video?

Your script should follow a simple story. The messages you want to communicate should be told in a manner that will resonate with your audience, and they have to be valuable for them as well.

Your story can just be a way to illustrate your customer’s journey. You need to make sure that it grabs your audience’s attention in a way that will yield your desired action in your call-to-action at the end.

Talk in your audience’s language

When you begin writing your script, keep in mind that you should speak in your audience’s language and not your own. Remember: your video has to appeal to them, and not you or your stakeholders.

How can you do this? You have to make your script conversational. Maintain a simple tone throughout your video. Stick to your brand voice, but make your audience feel relaxed at the same time.

There’s no use for jargon or buzzwords in your video so cut them out. Use words and phrases that your audience uses. This will help them understand your pitch or concepts better.

Less is more

Make sure you keep your video script short and sweet. Your audience wouldn’t appreciate you droning on about your topics, no matter how relevant they may be.

Keep your messages as succinct as possible. As we discussed in our previous blog post, social videos are best kept 2-3 minutes long, so keep that in mind. There’s no room for fluff or unnecessary words in your script.

You must make sacrifices if you want to keep your script brief. Focus on what message you really want to communicate, and make sure you deliver it in your audience’s language.

Tie everything together

Who says you should only focus on words when crafting your script? You should also consider the sounds and visuals that will go with it.

When writing your script, you should also note the kind of footage that will be shown on screen as you are narrating, as well as other audio elements that you plan to use. Your script is just one piece of the puzzle; there are other pieces that need to be put together in order to produce a great video.

Two-column scripts are most commonly used for video. One column is for audio, which is usually the dialogue itself, while the other is for video, so that it’s easy to see how everything will come together.

Read it out

Once you have a draft down, do a script reading. Before you finalize your script, you need to find out how it sounds like when spoken out loud.

Pay attention to the flow of your script. Does it sound natural? Make sure the transition from line to line is smooth, and nothing sounds forced.

You should also look out for emphasis points as well as awkward phrases that make you stumble. Lastly, take note of how long it takes to deliver your script.

Revise and sign off

Before you finalize your script, make sure you check it against your brief. Did the script achieve its purpose? Was it able to communicate your key messages? Will your audience relate to it?

Make sure that your script has the right length. You also have to determine whether your audio and video elements will be in line with each other.

Finally, don’t forget to include a call to action. Once everything is good to go, you’re now ready to produce your video.

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