Writing scripts for course videos

Many course creators sit down in front of the camera with a rough idea and trust themselves to talk it through. Sometimes that works. More often, the result is a lesson full of false starts, tangents and “where was I?” moments, followed by hours of editing and a video that still takes twice as long as it should.

A script, or at least a well-planned outline, changes that. It lets you decide exactly what to say and show before the camera rolls, so recording is faster, editing is lighter and learners get a tighter, clearer lesson. The trick is writing a script that sounds like you talking, not like you reading.

Full script, outline or something in between?

Not every video needs a word-for-word script. Match the level of scripting to the type of lesson:

• Full script for explanations where precise wording matters: definitions, safety points, concepts that are easy to muddle, and anything short and important such as a course introduction.
• Detailed outline for demonstrations, where your hands are busy and you narrate what you are doing. List every step and the key phrase you want to say at each one.
• Hybrid for most lessons: script the opening, the key explanations and the recap word for word, and use an outline for the middle.

If you tend to ramble, script more. If scripts make you sound stiff, script less and rehearse more.

Write for the ear, not the eye

Writing meant to be heard follows different rules from writing meant to be read. A reader can glance back at a long sentence; a listener cannot. Here is a before-and-after from a hypothetical fly-fishing membership run by a guide named Teodora:

Before: The improved clinch knot, which is widely considered to be one of the most reliable knots for attaching a fly to the tippet (the thin, final section of your leader), is formed by making several turns of the tag end around the standing line before passing it back through the loop.

After: This is the improved clinch knot. It's the knot I use to tie on almost every fly. You'll wrap the loose end around the line a few times, then tuck it back through. Let's do it slowly together.

The second version uses short sentences, everyday words and contractions. It drops the bracketed definition, which is hard to follow aloud, and saves it for the moment the term matters. A few more rules for spoken scripts:

• Signpost. Tell learners where they are: “There are three steps. Here's the first.”
• Repeat the key point. Say it near the start and again at the end. Repetition that looks clumsy on paper helps listeners.
• Use “you” and “we.” You are talking to one learner, not presenting to a hall.
• Read it aloud as you write. Anything you stumble over, rewrite.

Plan what learners see alongside what they hear

A course video is not a podcast. Learners are watching, so your script should say what is on screen at each moment. The simplest method is a two-part script: for each section, note what learners see, then what they hear. This stops you describing something the camera cannot show, and it tells you exactly which shots, close-ups or slides you need. If you use slides, the script is where you decide what goes on them, and the habits in course slides that do not put learners to sleep help here.

Here is an excerpt of Teodora's knot lesson:

See: Close-up of hands holding a fly and a length of line against a plain background.

Say: Thread the end of your line through the eye of the hook, and pull through about the length of your hand.

See: Close-up of the loose end wrapping around the line, slowly.

Say: Now wrap the loose end around the main line. Five or six turns is plenty. Keep them neat and side by side.

See: Same shot, repeated at normal speed, with the text “5 to 6 turns” on screen.

Say: Here it is again at normal speed. If your turns overlap, don't worry. We'll fix that in the next step.

Notice how the script calls for a slow version and a normal-speed version, and a short line of on-screen text. Deciding that in advance saves a reshoot.

Open strong and close with a next step

The first and last lines of a script deserve the most care. Open with the learner's problem or the result they will get, not a greeting and a list of reminders. The principles of introductions that make members keep reading apply to spoken openings as much as written ones. Close with a short recap and one clear action: something to practice, a question to answer or a preview of what comes next.

Check the timing before you record

Read the finished script aloud at a natural pace and time it. Add time for demonstrations, pauses and anything you show without speaking. If the total is far longer than your other lessons, split the script into two lessons now, rather than discovering the problem in the edit.

Deliver it without sounding like you're reading

• Rehearse two or three times so you know the flow, then glance at the script rather than reading every word.
• Record in short sections. One section per take is easier to deliver well and easier to fix.
• Mark pauses and emphasis on the script so you remember to breathe and slow down at key points.
• Allow yourself to paraphrase. If a slightly different phrase comes out naturally, keep it. The script is a guide, not a contract.

Get more from every script

A finished script is valuable after recording, too. Tidy it into captions and a transcript, which helps learners who cannot use sound or prefer to read. Pull the recap into a short written summary beneath the video. Keep the scripts in one place, and updating or re-recording a lesson later becomes much easier.

Your scripting routine

1. Decide whether each lesson needs a full script, an outline or a hybrid.
2. Write the opening and closing lines first.
3. Draft the middle as short, spoken sentences, reading aloud as you go.
4. Add what learners see alongside each section.
5. Time the script aloud and split it if it runs long.
6. Rehearse, then record one section at a time.
7. Turn the script into captions, a transcript and a lesson summary.

Starting with your course introduction is a good choice, because it is short and it is the lesson where every word counts. Work through the ideas in make the first lesson count and script it word for word.