Making a video can sometimes be daunting, but having a script will make things a lot easier. It gives you a roadmap to follow and you can plan things out before you get in front of the camera.
This means you can concentrate on your performance and not be thinking about what you need to say.
Here we show you some simple steps to help you master the art of scriptwriting.
Start with these questions.
Before you jump right into writing a script it’s always good to get a framework in place for you to follow. We suggest you create a simple word document with some bulleted questions so that you can then fill in the answers. Here are some suggestions:
- Who is going to watch the video?
- Where will you place the video, will it be used on social media or used on your homepage?
- What message do you want to get across to your audience?
- What emotion are you trying to evoke?
- What specific visuals should be captured?
Once you’ve completed the questions you can then start to come up with the answers. It often helps to collaborate in a small team so you can bounce ideas off each other. Once you have fleshed out these answers you can use that as the outline for your script.
Beginning, Middle and End
All good videos have a beginning middle and an end. And at the beginning the easiest thing to do is to start with an introduction so for instance:
“Hi, I’m Nick and today I’m going to…” or “Welcome to the website. In this video we are going to show you….”
The middle is where you deliver the main content of the video. This is when you talk about your business or your product or a little bit about what you do. Think of it from the viewer’s perspective – what do they really want to know about and what will give them the most value?
A lot of times companies tend to focus on the features of their products or services but customers are most interested in the benefits so be sure to focus on these.
The ending is about wrapping up what you’ve talked about or shown in the video and then telling your viewers what you like them to do next. This call to action can be very direct or just be a polite invitation to view more content. Here are a few of the things you can ask them to do.
- Like and share video,
- Read more information
- Contact you via phone or email
- Download some content.
Set the tone
One of the main things to remember when writing a script is to keep it conversational. You’re not writing an essay. It should be clear, engaging and easy for the viewer to understand. You don’t need to use long words or complicated jargon.
Here are some further points to bear in mind:
Imagine you’re talking to a friend. Most people, when they think of a video audience, imagine hundreds of people, but in reality you’re only ever talking to one person at one time. If you can picture that person, then speak directly to them, your script will have a much more natural tone.
Use short sentences. If your sentences are long winded, it can just seem like you’re rambling on and on and don’t really know what you’re trying to say. Keep things concise and get to the point. No one likes watching a long boring video.
Read it aloud
Once you have finished your script it’s really important that you read it out loud to check that it flows.
Sometimes words can sound better on paper than they do when they are being spoken and it’s important to tailor the script for how you are going to be speaking.
Don’t be afraid to make several changes and rearrange things to make it work for you.
Once you are happy with it, perform it to a colleague to get their perspective on things. Sometimes when you are doing things on your own it can be hard to judge and getting a fresh perspective always helps.
Recording the Video
Once you have finished writing a script and practiced it a few times it’s now time to record the video.
There are a number of ways you can do this:
Number one is to use a teleprompter. This is how the professionals do it and they use it is because it works.
Top tip. If you are using a teleprompter make sure you make the text large so that it’s taking up about four words a line. This means that when you are reading from the teleprompter your eyes are less likely to track from left to right, which can seem a bit obvious to the viewer.
If you don’t have the luxury of a teleprompter, then we suggest you break the script into small sections. These can be memorised and delivered one at the time and then can be edited together afterwards by using jump cuts or inserting B roll to cover the edits.
Over to you…
We want everyone to be using video in their marketing. It’s absolutely essential in today’s world. And we hope that this has shown you an easy way to get the script together so that your videos will be easy to make and enjoyable to watch.
