Straight and Simple Tips for Writing a Video Script.

The truth is, there’s nothing simple about writing a script, whether it’s for a sales marketing video or an educational/informational video. First, like most writing, it takes time and rewriting, and anyone who says it takes them a few minutes to whip out a script is either lying or really IS a f&*king genius. Second, writing visually is very different from writing prose: you have to write text that accompanies visuals such as photos, video footage or graphics. It doesn’t matter how great your idea is (please see my previous post) unless you have visuals for it. Without visuals, um, you don’t really have material for a video.

Let’s say you own and operate a ballet school. Do you really want people to watch a video of you, talking about your school and ballet? I think not. You’ll want to show classes, maybe even short interviews with kids and parents, members of your teaching staff and maybe even a few graphics with information such as fees for classes. With the exception of interviews, each of these visuals requires text that you will narrate. Just talking about your school is not enough. And frankly, not very interesting, either. If people arrive at your site and see one person talking about ballet, believe me, unless you’re Peter Martins, they will click away in less than a minute. Cruel, you think. Not really. If you don’t give people a reason to watch your video, they have every right to click away.

So how do you stop that from happening? Write a good script. Here are some simple tips:

Write an outline of what you want to put into a 2 to 3-minute video. Information like the name of your business, its location, when it started and what you offer should appear early on. What do you offer that’s different from others in your business? Who are your customers? All this juicy information as well as a nice little call to action near the end of your script is vital. Finish your script with a sincere and polite sign-off thanking viewers for their time. Give them your site’s URL and other contact information, too.
Write in a conversational manner to your target market. Using the ballet school example, imagine you’re talking to parents looking into your school for their child. What would you say? Here are a few brilliant ideas: You’ve been in business for 20 years, you teach several styles of dance, your class sizes are small, occasionally famous dancers teach special sessions, you have two annual showcases of student talent. And oh yes, your fees are very affordable.
Include a photo or video of each point you mention. “Our classes are limited to ten students per class so that every dancer gets plenty of attention and personalized instruction.” Show shots of the small classes and teachers helping students one-on-one. Same goes for your other points such as your annual talent show, famous guest teachers, and so on.
Include graphics with your fees. You can easily create one with Photoshop or MS Word. Leave it on screen long enough for people to be able to read it.
Finish off with a short bit of narration such as “Thanks for visiting mischief mari ballet. We hope to see you here, on your toes, soon!” Okay, corny, but you get the drift. Here’s a good place to put your business name, URL and contact information, too.

Other points to keep in mind:

Keep your sentences short and simple. Or you’ll run out of breath when reading narration.
Don’t talk much about yourself. Always think of what your viewer wants.
Keep it conversational, light. Don’t oversell. Don’t be too aggressive.
Show as much as you can. Remember, this is a video, not a brochure.
Keep it short. Especially for sales/marketing videos, you want to get to the point quickly, tell as much as you can as quickly as you can, and get out.
Read your script out loud before recording. Read it several times. Read it to your colleagues, to your friends, neighbors, spouse. Then rewrite it.
Once you’ve completed your script, you’re ready to shoot it.
Once you’ve finished filming, put it into a program like iMovie or Windows Moviemaker.
Record your script.
Edit your video.
Upload it to a hosting site like YouTube, Vimeo, BlipTV, etc.
Tell everyone and their mother about it.
Have fun! omg, this is too important.

Writing a script can be a lot of fun. Whenever I’m around small business owners or artists, I ask them to recall what excites them most about what they do. Then to hold onto that feeling because it’s that passion that is needed in a script. When that comes across in a video, it’s infectious, and I believe that’s what captivates people more than anything else. So have fun, take your time writing (or if you’re working with a writer, have fun with your writer and be nice to them!) and make sure that you’re conveying your love for what you do from beginning to start.

cheers, mari