:30 script: [Brand], “[Spot title]”

Replace the blue placeholders with your own words and delete the grey notes as you go. Delete the media you aren't writing for.

Brand

[advertiser]

Spot title

[working title]

Media

[TV, radio, social]

Versions

[:30, with :15 and :06 cutdowns]

Runs on

[channels, stations or platforms]

Approver

[one name]

The one thing

[One sentence the audience should remember]

  • Mandatories: [name, logo, price, web address, legal line]

  • Call to action: [what they should do next]

Beat plan

About 150 words a minute is 2.5 words a second. On TV, write two words a second or fewer. Sounds, pauses and silent shots come out of these ceilings.

Seconds

Beat

What happens

TV, at most

Radio, at most

0:00–0:03

Hook

[the sound, image or line that stops them]

6 words

7 words

0:03–0:18

Story or demo

[the problem, and the product solving it]

30 words

37 words

0:18–0:25

Product and proof

[the name and one reason to believe]

14 words

17 words

0:25–0:30

Brand and end card

[name, line, where to go]

10 words

12 words

One idea per spot. A :30 has room for one claim and one proof.

TV script

Time

Picture

Sound and voice-over

On screen

[0:00]

[the hook, in pictures]

[SFX or first line]

[text, if any]

[0:04]

[what we see]

[sound or V.O.]

[text]

[0:08]

[what we see]

[V.O.]

[text]

[0:16]

[what we see]

[V.O.]

[text]

[0:25]

[end card: logo]

[brand line]

[SUPER: offer, web address, legal line]

See a filled-in row

0:08 · Picture: He tears the box open. A fresh bag; close on the roast date.

Sound: ANNCR (V.O.): Daybreak Roasters sends your next bag before the last one runs out.

From a :30 for an invented coffee subscription. 30 spoken words in the whole spot.

Radio script

One cue per line. Name the brand early and say it more than once; a listener can't read an end card.

Cue

Copy

SFX

[the sound that replaces the picture]

[VOICE]

[line]

ANNCR

[brand, offer, proof]

SFX

[the sound of the product working]

ANNCR

[brand line and where to go, said as spoken]

Social version

  • Frame: [9:16 vertical]

  • First two seconds: [the image that stops the scroll]

  • Brand by 0:05: [logo or name on screen]

  • Sound off: [every fact in the voice also in a caption]

Time

Shot

Caption

Voice

[0:00]

[close-up hook]

[caption]

[first line]

[0:03]

[shot]

[brand name]

[line or none]

[0:15]

[shot]

[caption]

[line]

[0:24]

[end frame]

[offer]

[call to action]

Cutdowns

Keep the hook, the turn and the brand. Cut the middle. Rewrite the voice for each length.

Version

What it keeps

Voice

Words

:15

[hook, turn, end card]

[offer and brand]

[about 14]

:06

[one image, end card]

[one line, or a SUPER only]

[about 6]

Timing check

  • Spoken words: [TV / radio / social]

  • Timed read: [m:ss, against the picture or a silent count]

  • Seconds with no voice: [picture, sound effects, pauses and the end card]

  • Air at the end: [a second for the logo to land]

Before it goes out

  • The one thing fits in one sentence

  • The hook lands in the first three seconds

  • Every beat fits its seconds

  • Prices and addresses are on screen for TV and social, said as spoken on radio

  • The social version works with the sound off and names the brand by 0:05

  • The end card has a second of quiet

  • Each cutdown keeps the hook, the turn and the brand

  • Every claim and legal line is approved