Tutorial script: [How to …]

Replace the blue placeholders with your own words and delete the grey notes as you go.

Task taught

[one task, in the viewer's words]

Viewer

[who is watching, and what they already know]

Target length

[1:30]

Product and version

[app name, and the version or date you checked]

Recording setup

[window size, zoom level, demo account]

Narrator

[name]

Outcome and hook

  • By the end, the viewer can: [one sentence; if it needs an “and”, split the video]

  • Opening line: [what they'll be able to do, and how long it takes]

  • Show the result first: [the finished thing on screen in the first seconds]

Before you start

  • The viewer needs: [account, permission, file, an earlier tutorial]

  • Link to: [the setup video, if there is one]

One task per video. Short tutorials are easier to find in a help center and cheaper to re-record when the interface changes.

Script

One row per action. Fill On screen during a dry run, then write the narration to it. Bold every interface label, spelled as the screen spells it. After a timed read against the silent recording, write the time each action starts in the Step column.

Step

On screen

Narration

Notes

0:00 Hook

[the finished result]

[what they'll be able to do]

[title card]

Before · [0:08]

[what they need, shown]

[one line on prerequisites]

[link on screen]

1 · [start]

[click or action, with the exact label]

[why, then what to do]

[zoom, highlight]

2 · [start]

[click or action]

[one action per sentence]

[cut the wait]

3 · [start]

[click or action]

[narration]

[on-screen text]

4 · [start]

[click or action]

[narration]

[notes]

Recap · [start]

[the result, and the steps as a list]

[the steps, in one sentence]

[on-screen list]

Next · [start]

[end screen]

[the next tutorial]

[5 seconds]

See two filled-in rows

3 · 0:37 · On screen: Invoices, then New invoice; pick the client from the list.
Narration: Now open Invoices and choose New invoice. Pick the client you just added.
Notes: Zoom to 150% on the client list.

4 · 0:46 · On screen: Add a line: description, quantity, rate. The total updates.
Narration: Add a line for each piece of work. Tillwise multiplies the quantity by the rate and updates the total as you type.
Notes: Callout on the total.

From a tutorial for an invented invoicing app.

Say the reason, then the action. “To bill a new client, open Clients.” Leave the cursor out of the narration: the viewer can see the mouse move.

Timing

  • Narration budget: [about 100–120 words per minute of video]

  • Timed read: [m:ss, read against the silent recording]

  • Chapters: [one per step, if the video runs long]

On-screen text and callouts

Time

Text or callout

Type

[0:00]

[title]

[title card]

[0:00]

[shortcut, term or warning]

[callout, zoom or lower third]

[0:00]

[the steps, as a list]

[recap card]

Interface labels

Every button and menu the script names. Check them against the current version just before you record.

Label on screen

Say it as

Where it is

[label]

[how the narrator says it]

[screen or menu]

[label]

[how the narrator says it]

[screen or menu]

Before you record

  • Demo account with invented data, no real names or emails

  • Notifications off, other apps closed, bookmarks hidden

  • Same window size and zoom for the whole series

  • Every label in the script matches the current version

  • Narration read aloud against a silent recording

  • Product version noted, for when the interface changes