Whatever you want to achieve, creating a video or animation is a great way of communicating a message. It could be an in-house corporate video to introduce your company or brand to a new client or customer, an educational video to simplify complicated content, an explainer video to demonstrate something or a promotional video or animation to showcase a product or service on a social media platform. While producing a video or animation involves several moving parts, at its heart will be a powerful piece of video scriptwriting or copywriting. In essence, scriptwriting and copywriting are pretty much the same thing, except one is trying to communicate with a target audience on paper or screen and the other is trying to communicate a message and tell a story on video. The best video scriptwriting is a voiceover that you hardly notice or written content that blends seamlessly into the graphics.
Creating a video script starts long before putting pen to paper or finger to key. While there is no single formula to writing scriptwriting for a video or animation, there are a number of fundamental things to consider before adding your own creativity to the process. Start by creating a short, written brief which provides an overview of your vision and objectives, as well as any ideas and concepts you might have. Then you need to identify your target audience. What are their characteristics? What are their needs, objectives and pain points? How do they communicate and consume information? What do you want them to do after they finish watching the video or animation? Knowing exactly who you are talking to will inform the content, tone of voice and style of language of your video script. To achieve this, create a viewer persona – talk directly to them in a language that will resonate with them and using second person pronouns (you and your).
The next key step in writing a video script is to define the objective. What is the purpose of your video? What is the message you want to convey? How do you want your target audience to think and feel after watching your video? Having a clear objective will help you to focus your script and avoid any unnecessary details. One of the most effective ways to write a compelling script for a video is to build it around a good story structure. It’s a powerful tool to connect with your audience, evoke a desired emotion and communicate your message. Use an active voice to talk to the viewer directly, keep the language simple and the sentences short. Using the minimum amount of words to convey the maximum amount of information also helps to keep the video script engaging, focussed and memorable, avoiding any repetition, confusion, ambiguity and jargon, unless technical terms are necessary, relevant and familiar to your audience.
A video script should always finish with a strong call-to-action (CTA), explaining succinctly what you would like the viewer to do (ring a telephone number, visit a website, subscribe etc). Next, consider the length and pace of the video including the visuals and any accompanying music. Somewhere around 140 words per minute for a two-minute and 200 words per minute for a 90-second video is the usual rate. The final stage for writing a compelling video script is to read it aloud. Reading your script aloud helps you check the flow, tone, and clarity of your script. It also helps you spot any errors, inconsistencies, or awkward phrases. Reading your script aloud also helps you imagine how your script will sound and look when it is animated. You can also ask someone else to read your script aloud and give you feedback.
- Know your audience.
- Define your objective.
- Write a story.
- Write in a natural active voice.
- Use simple language.
- Keep your video script concise.
- Read it aloud, then edit and refine it.
Engaging scriptwriting for videos, animations and voiceovers.
If you need help with writing a video script, animation script or voiceover script, please get in touch.
