How to Write Great YouTube Video Scripts: Step-by-Step Guide

If you really want your videos to shine and be of a high standard, then you should definitely use YouTube video scripts to record and produce better content. 

This article will discuss the following:

What is a YouTube video script?
Why create YouTube video scripts
How to write a YouTube script
Some important things to remember when creating video scripts

If you want to learn more about video scripts, then continue reading.  

What is a YouTube Video Script?

Simply put, a YouTube video script is a written document that outlines the content of a video. It usually includes the video’s key discussion points, the video hook, the intro, and more. 

Much like an actor or actress uses a script to prepare for shooting a movie scene, a YouTuber can use a video script to have a clear picture of what he/she will be communicating with the audience. 

The video script tends to include the exact wordage and terminology a creator will use when recording the content. 

Why Follow a YouTube Script?

The benefits of creating a video script far outweigh the effort it takes to write one. 

A YouTube script gives you the opportunity to organize all your thoughts. 

So instead of babbling on and just recording a video without having a clear idea of what exactly you want to communicate with your viewers, a script will help you to share your thoughts in a structured manner.

This will help you sound more professional and believable to viewers, which in turn, can lead to more subscribers. 

Following a video script will also ensure that you don’t forget any important discussion points when recording your content. 

Additionally, a YouTube script will eliminate common grammatical errors. When you write and follow a script, you’ll reduce the odds of making mistakes when speaking or using filler words such as “um”.

By following a video script you’ll reduce the number of retakes needed, which as a result, cuts down on the total time it takes to produce an entire video. 

How to Write a YouTube Script?

As you can see, creating a script for your video production will only be beneficial to your YouTube channel. 

Writing a video script is almost like writing a blog post. Similarly, it consists of research, the introduction, the main content, and the conclusion.

Here are the steps that you need to follow to write great YouTube video scripts:

1. Do a Competitive Analysis

The first step is to do a competitive analysis of the current content. (This is assuming that you’ve already done YouTube keyword research to find opportunities that don’t have a lot of competition.)

The reason why you need to perform a competitive analysis is so that you can get ideas from content that’s already performing well. Top-ranking videos give you a good indication of what the YouTube algorithm likes and prefers to rank in the video search results. 

Now, I’m not saying that you should just blatantly copy what your competitors are saying. Instead, use their ideas as a foundation to build your content outline.

The competitive analysis will also reveal the optimal length for your content. You can determine this by calculating the average length of the top 5 ranking videos. 

2. Create for Your Audience

This next step is heavily dependent on the YouTube niche you’ve chosen. It’s important that you know who your target audience is and what they want to learn by watching your videos. 

For instance, the interests of someone looking to learn how to pass the CFA exam are very different from that of someone who just wants to learn about finance in general. 

So, identify who your target audience is and write your script with them in mind.

Try to answer the questions that your target audience might have, address their pain points, or just provoke their interest. 

This phase is also where you need to think of and find the common terminology that your target audience is using to find videos on YouTube. 

Include this in your video script so that you will remember to say these words loud and clear when recording the content. Doing this will ensure that the YouTube algorithm will detect these common terms as you upload your content to the platform. 

This will help YouTube understand what your content is about, giving it the ability to rank it for the appropriate search queries.

2. Write the Video Title

Another important element of the YouTube video script is writing the video title. 

By deciding on the title prior to writing the video outline or recording the content, you will have a clear idea of the direction of the video and what pertinent information you need to include in the script. 

Writing a good YouTube title is a science in itself. If you’re having trouble thinking of catchy, attention-grabbing titles, our Title Generator Tool can help you brainstorm the best title ideas.

3. Write the Intro/Hook

After you’ve done the research and gathered some ideas it’s time for the actual writing of the video script, beginning with the introduction and the hook.

The hook is simply the very beginning of the video, usually, the first 3 sentences, and its purpose is to capture the attention of the viewer. 

The hook is a subsection of the video’s introduction and should entice the viewer to continue watching the remainder of the introduction.

After the hook, you can elaborate further on the video’s main discussion points, and finish off the introduction.

4. Write the Body Script

The next part of the video script is the main content or the “body”. This is where you will discuss the main talking points of your video. 

YouTubers tend to break this section of the script into shorter subsections using video chapters. 

The body is probably the most important part of the video script since here you will share all of your research, findings, and knowledge with your viewers. 

5. Write the Outro

The last part of the video script is the outro. The outro consists of the conclusion, CTA, and end screen elements. 

The conclusion summarizes what you discussed in the video’s main content. Try to keep this section brief since you don’t want to be too repetitive.

Then, be sure to add a CTA (Call-to-Action) which prompts the viewer to take some sort of action. This could be to like the video, leave a comment, subscribe to your channel, or click on an external link to learn more. 

The last part of the video outro is to plan which end screen elements you’ll add to your video. These end screen elements can be links to other YouTube videos or your own website. 

Important Things to Remember

Well, now you know how to write a great YouTube video script. But to make your video scripts even better, here are some tips that you need to keep in mind when writing your scripts.

1. Keep Sentences Short and Simple

The shorter your sentences, the easier it will be for you to stick to your script when recording the video. Longer sentences tend to be more difficult to remember, and they increase the probability of making mistakes or leaving out something important.

Furthermore, the shorter your sentences the easier it will be for viewers to hear and understand what you’re saying to them.

With that being said, your sentences should still vary in length. The best piece of advice is to write your sentences in such a way that it sounds like you’re having a conversation with your viewers.

Additionally, you should remove any unnecessary parts of the script if they don’t provide any value to the viewer. 

2. Stick to Your Brand Voice

When writing a video script it’s important to stick to your channel’s brand voice. 

Your channel’s brand voice includes the type of vocabulary you use, the general “personality” of your channel, and elements like sounds or graphics.  

For instance, if your channel produces finance-related content, you’ll likely not be making jokes in your videos. You want to keep to this brand voice and avoid randomly adding humor to your content. 

Likewise, if you publish content for kids, you should stick to your channel’s personality to prevent your audience (kids) from getting bored. This includes sticking to similar background music, images, graphics, etc. 

3. Use Active Voice

Active voice is easier to understand and interpret than passive voice, so be sure to write your video script using this voice.

The active voice simply means that the subject of the sentence is performing the action. An example of this is, “Paul made a wooden replica of a plane he saw at the show.” 

Whereas with passive voice, the subject is receiving the action. The passive voice of the example sentence is, “A wooden replica of a plane was made by Paul after he saw it at the show.”

Conclusion

Using a video script when recording your content will take your YouTube videos to the next level. 

As you’ve read, using a script has got a lot of advantages. So yes, even if it takes time to write one, you’ll be better off with a script than without one. 

By following the steps and keeping the tips we outlined in mind, you’ll be able to write great video scripts for your next YouTube videos.