YouTube script: [Working title]
Viewer | |
Promise | |
Format | |
Target length | |
Publish |
Packaging
Pick the title and thumbnail first. The script keeps their promise.
# | Title | Thumbnail |
1 | ||
2 | ||
3 |
Confirm the promise in the first 30 seconds. Viewers clicked for the title and thumbnail; the hook tells them they're in the right place.
Pay off early. Give your best tip or result in the first chapter, not the last.
Open a loop in the intro, and close it near the end.
Change something on screen every 10 to 20 seconds: a cut, a B-roll shot, a graphic.
Hook · 0:00–0:30 · word for word
Opening shot:
Confirm the title's promise, raise the stakes, and say what's coming.
See an example hook
“I tried every way to keep basil alive” · a gardening channel, 12 minutes
Opening shot: a windowsill of five dead basil plants, then one huge, healthy one.
Hook: Supermarket basil dies in a week. This one is seven months old. // I tested five ways to keep it alive, and only one of them worked. / By the end of this video, you'll know which one, and why the other four kill it. //
Open loop, in the intro: The one that worked costs nothing, and I'll show you at the end why I almost didn't try it.
Why it works: the first shot proves the title, the stakes arrive in the second line, and the loop gives a reason to stay to the end.
Intro
Why you:
What the viewer needs to know first:
Open loop:
Chapter 1
Copy from this heading down to the divider for each chapter.
Chapter title:
Starts at:
Question it answers:
Talking points:
On screen:
Re-hook into the next chapter:
Optional: Sponsor segment
Where it goes:
Disclosure, said and shown: This video is sponsored by [brand].
Read:
Line back into the video:
Payoff and end screen
Answer the title's question:
Close the loop:
Next video, and why it follows:
Outro line:
The end screen runs for the last 5 to 20 seconds, with up to four elements.
Upload
Chapters start at 00:00, with at least three, each ten seconds or longer.
Title:
Description, first two lines:
Chapters:
Cards:
End screen:
Paid promotion setting:
Before you hit record
Read aloud at recording pace, within a minute of the target length
The hook confirms the title and thumbnail inside 30 seconds
Every loop you open is closed, and the title's question is answered
Something changes on screen at least every 20 seconds
A sponsor is disclosed aloud, on screen and in the paid promotion setting