How To Write A Script For A YouTube Video (5-Step Template!)

in this video I'll show you how to write a script for a YouTube video that increases YouTube watch time drives more viewer engagement maximizes the value for your audience and helps you make videos faster it's a super simple YouTube video script template that we use here at Primal video on every video so you'll learn how to make YouTube videos using the exact same scripting process that I use plus once we've covered how you can use the template I'm going to share with you an incredibly simple Secret Sauce that you can use in combination to dramatically

improve your watch time on your videos now as we're getting into this there's one really important thing that I want you to remember when you are scripting out and structuring out your videos and that is to remember the viewer there is a real live person on the other end of your videos consuming them so you want to make sure that you're packing in as much value for them as possible that you're keeping them in mind that you're not dragging your video out unnecessarily to try and make a longer video to increase watch time no make

your videos as long as they need to be and no longer that means that if it takes you five minutes to give your viewer everything they need then make a five minute video if that's 20 minutes then make it 20 minutes but come from that place of what does the viewer need what do they expect what do they want from this content and give them that they're going to see straight through it or they're going to lose interest if you're just padding a video out unnecessarily so this is our video script structure the first thing

you want to do most important is to hook the viewer in immediately don't worry about introducing yourself and who you are and about your Channel or asking them to subscribe or any of that stuff you need to hook the viewer in let them know that your video is the one for them that they're in the right place and you want to do that immediately so that people will start to relax into your content and not wonder if they should have clicked one of the other videos that YouTube was presenting for them and you can do

that with an example like this in this video I'm going to share with you the top 5 video editing apps on iOS to help you decide which is the best one for you that's it short and sweet just letting them know what the video is about now from there is when we move into our intro and this is where you can introduce yourself introduce your Channel introduce more about the topic and how the video is going to be presented so an example of an intro line that we've used a lot on this channel is hey

it's Justin Brown here from Primal video where we help you grow an audience and scale your Revenue with online video so that's a quick introduction to me and to our Channel now from there that's where I will share a little bit more about the topic of the video and how the content is going to be presented so that's where I'd say something like so if you've ever looked for video editing apps on iOS you'll understand there's a lot of different options so I've spent a ton of time trying and testing all the top options and

in this video I'm going to share with you my top five to help you decide which is the best one for you so that's your info section now in this section this is where you'll see a lot of people out there throwing in a quick call to action and it's not a bad idea but again I want you to think of the viewer how many times have you just clicked on a video and very early on in the video you've been told to smash the like button hit the Subscribe button ring the notification Bell so

you don't miss anything but the problem with that is that you haven't built up enough value for the viewer that why would they subscribe at that point if they've never heard of you before they haven't even got to the content piece the meat of the video where that's where they'll decide if it's a good video or not that's really where they're going to want to subscribe if it's a fit for them so I'm not saying don't do this but I'm saying experiment to see what works for you for us we don't have a call to

action very early on in our videos anymore but if you are going to have one what did work well was asking for a thumbs up it is a lower commitment instead of getting someone to hit the Subscribe button and ring the notification Bell and you can ask for something that's lower commitment like if you're finding value in this video give it a thumbs up it really makes a huge difference it does really make a huge difference and it's a low commitment from their end as well but it still sends a positive indicator to YouTube that

they liked your content that they interacted with it so whether they subscribe or not they're going to be more likely to see more of your videos on the platform later now this is where as well something that we are experimenting with right now in this intro section and only now that we're past a million subscribers is that we're actually shortening this piece down and I'm no longer introducing myself and the channel I'm really just using this intro section now to give more context to the video and again let the viewer feel like they're in the

right place and that I am actually going to help them so that's the intro section and once you've delivered that we then move on to the content now this one is pretty self-explanatory this is where you want to deliver on what you promised in your hook and in your intro and again in this section it's really important not to just drag things out you want to keep it short sharp concise to keep it engaging and to keep your viewers engaged so some good ideas for delivering this content piece of your video can be to use

lists like top five top x videos those are really great for viewer engagement because people will inherently want to stick around to hear out all this steps or all the options through to completion so even if they're new step one two three and four or options one two three and four option number five could be the game changer for them so they'll likely want to stick around for that now from there we move into what we like to call the bonus which is essentially an over deliver based on the title the topic of the video

you know what your viewers are there for what else can you give them in this bonus section that you know they're going to be interested in that you know that they'll want to stick around to receive so in the case of our video editing apps on iOS example that I'm sharing here I would usually share some video editing tips that are going to be useful for anyone no matter which app they end up choosing but what you want to do here is tease out that bonus a little earlier in the video so where I like

to do that is at the end of the intro section just before we move into the content and I'll say something like make sure you stick around to the end because I'm also going to share with you my top video editing tips to help you edit faster in any IOS app or something similar like that so they know that then after the content piece there's something else to stick around so then after we've delivered that content section then that's when we're going to deliver that bonus so I would say something like earlier in the video

I said I'm going to share with you my top video editing tips to help you edit faster in any IOS app so tip number one is and I would share some amazing tip to help them so again this piece is so powerful because it's coming from that place of adding value it wasn't expected from the viewers that you're going to help them with their editing tips as well as their editing apps in this case so what can you add in as quick bonus value designed to help your viewers based on the topic or the title

of the video that they're watching what else can you give them so this is something that really helps with your watch time because people want to stick around to hear this out but also it helps with the great experience you're giving with the viewers and the Goodwill and the reciprocity that you're building up from adding so much value for them now after that bonus section is where we move into our call to action this is the last piece of your video for the action takers that have made it to the very end of your video

this is where you tell them what you want them to do next now that they've consumed this content is it to subscribe to your channel to go and check out the resources that you've Linked In the description to go over to your website to subscribe to your email list to download one of your free pdf guides to watch another video that's linked on screen what is the best next step for your viewer now that they've made it to the end of your video and again you're coming from that place of how do I add value

to the viewer if they like this video what is the next best thing for them to do or the next best video for them to watch even if you don't have the next best video for them to watch then link them to another channel that does it's obviously got to be a good video that you're linking them to but this can help your channel grow because you're creating these ties between your video and another video and YouTube's gonna see that that if people do make it to the end of your video they click on what

you've recommended they go over and watch another video that YouTube's going to see that the audience is similar so it could be that your video might start to show up off the back of their videos and vice versa it's more information that you're providing YouTube about the types of content that your channel is producing but also the types of audience that would like it now earlier in the video I said I'd also share with you the incredibly simple Secret Sauce that you can use in combination with this template to dramatically improve your watch time on

your videos and what this is is opening loops and I've actually been doing it throughout this video as well so an open loop is essentially a statement or a promise or when you're teasing something out that's going to happen a little later so we're opening that loop we're saying something is going to happen when that thing happens is when the loop is closed now this isn't just something to keep people engaged for videos this works for stories and for written content as well and this is where the most engaging stories are really opening some big

Loops towards the start that you want to hear closed out towards the end you just got to know what happens in the end of that story in the end of that movie is the main character okay that's the concept of opening and closing Loops now if you do these in your YouTube videos from from that perspective of adding value what value can you add to your viewers that you know they will be interested in a little later in the video so teasing out that bonus section in our video is a great example of opening the

loop so back in the start of the video I said make sure you stick around to the end because I'm also going to share with you the secret Source right that was opening a loop until now in the video I am closing that Loop so it's coming from that place of adding value it's something that's going to help you with your video creation but it's also something that can keep people watching or consuming your content as well but we're also not doing this with the primary piece of content we're not holding anything back we're not

delaying the answer for people the content pieces the content piece and that's delivered in a fast efficient way it's this bonus or an over deliver is where we're adding extra value to people and it just so happens it also keeps them watching the video longer because it's not what they came for but it's something else that they're going to be interested in but this is where you're also able to open and close much smaller more subtle Loops inside your videos as well if you're structuring your videos using lists or top X top five tips people

want to stick around for that entire list but by saying that you're going to break this down and share the top five tips then people want to stick around for number five because that's the complete Loop so they will want to watch that video through to completion to hear out all five of them if you stopped at number four and didn't close out the loop by promising five and delivering five the view is going to feel like you ripped them off that you've that you've left them hanging so this is where it's really important that

if you open a loop it's really important that you close it and again it's not just about dragging things out unnecessarily it's all about keeping the viewer in mind being respectful of their time but also pack in as much value as you can now for a bit of fun why don't you go back and start this video again from the beginning and you'll be able to pull apart exactly what I've just taught you when I'm in the hook the intro when I'm opening Loops when I'm teasing out the bonus when I'm delivering the bonus and

I can't stress this enough this stuff really well Works to make it easy for your viewers to follow along to watch to consume your content but it also helps them be more engaged in it as well now having this structure all thought out and in place before you get in front of the camera is actually going to make the filming process easier as well because there's less mistakes when you're filming because you know what you want to say and when you want to say it which means that there's less footage to edit which means faster

editing which means faster video creation so by following this you're actually going to speed up your video creation time as well now if you're interested in how we manage our entire video creation process from coming up with ideas to keyword and topic research right through to upload and release then check out the video that is linked on screen and I'll see you in there