Top 10 Scripting Tips

Most people know why they’re getting a video made, but many people freeze up because they don’t know what to say with their video.

Here are 10 tips on scripting your video.

1. Start with a paragraph that says who you are, and explains why you’re making your video: “My name is John Kingman. I’m a producer and studio manager for videoBIO. I believe script writing can be demystified, but it takes a top ten list to do it.”

2. Keep your script short: You’ll be tempted to include everything you can think of relating to your video topic, but what you really want to do is make it short and sweet. Write your script once, and then go through and mercilessly cut things out.

3. Write the way you talk: People often make the mistake of writing their script very formally, as if it were a presentation document. Then they start reading from it and stumbling around the words. It’s your voice, so use it when you write. Read what you write out loud to see how it actually sounds coming out.

4. Make broad points, but use detail to back them up: for example, if you’re talking about your past job experience you don’t want to give a chronologic synopsis of your entire life. Hit the big points, and go in for smaller details only when it really helps back up your broader point.

5. Imagine your audience: You’re going to be talking to a camera, but you need to picture who the people watching the final video are, and how they’d like to be talked to. You know your business well enough to figure out who your target audience is. Make sure you’re writing your script for them.

6. Spice it up: You’re not writing a text book here, so make sure to use some imagery and colorful language. You want to engage your audience with information, and to do that you need to make the information delivery interesting.

7. Include an appropriate quote, if possible. A great quote is always a nice way to drive a point home in language better written than we can pull off. Quotes also tell your audience the type of people you admire and look up to. But make sure that you’re quote fits the theme and mood of your script. As Gini Graham Scott said “… you can't fit a square peg in a round hole.”

8. Back up statements you make with statistics and facts: There’s nothing worse than making broad statements with no proof, especially when you’re trying to convince your audience to do business with you. Usually the easiest way to make a statement is through the statement of the statistic in the first place. The audience can piece together the rest.

9. Add a little humor: Adding a joke, or just being a little playful, let’s your audience know that you’re approachable. Certainly there are situations where that’s inappropriate (I’m looking at you, doctors) but for the most part it’s a good rule.

10. Your conclusion should summarize your beginning, and the points you made after: Whatever your opening statement was, this is the point where you justify it. “Script writing is hard, but it really doesn’t have to be. With a few simple tips, say 10 of them, you can be writing effective and compelling scripts in no time."

~ John Kingman