Writing Killer YouTube Scripts: 3 Big Do’s and 2 Major Don’t’s

To have a great YouTube video, you must have a great script. No matter what your content is, who it’s for, or when it’s published, a good script can make all the difference in your work’s overall success.

Here’s a quick guide to master a few key do’s and don’t’s of writing engaging YouTube scripts to draw in more traffic and generate more lead conversions in the long run.

Image Source: Hubspot 

Do Know Your Audience

Whenever you’re writing for an audience, make sure the content you create is written with them in mind.

It can be tempting to start writing about anything and everything related to your niche when you’re drafting YouTube scripts, but that can be a huge mistake. If you don’t write your scripts with your audience in mind, the content you create will likely lack focus and go largely ignored by your audience.

Instead, take the time to hone in on your target viewer–not just a generic audience who may be interested in your topics, but a single person who will want to watch your video more than any other option on YouTube. That way, your content will work for you to draw in your ideal audience, and you’ll have a much greater chance of long-term success with your work.

This ideal target viewer needs to be incredibly specific, so take the time to clearly define them by their demographic, interests, goals, and pain points. You may consider questions like these when building your viewer persona:

• What is my ideal viewer’s age?
• What is their gender?
• What is their occupation?
• What is their education level?
• Do they have any specific hobbies?
• What matters most to them?
• How do they define success?
• What prevents them from being successful?
• What problem do they need to have solved?

Knowing the answers to these questions helps give your content direction and focus so that you attract the right audience of invested, engaged viewers and potential customers.

Don’t Write Formally

Writing YouTube scripts is unlike most other forms of communication. With these videos, the ambiance is much more casual as you’re simply talking to your audience members rather than writing long-form blog posts, white papers, or other content where more structure is required. But if you recreate this formality in a YouTube script, you’ll alienate your audience by coming across as very stiff and stuffy.

Instead, relax into a more casual, conversational writing style for YouTube scripts. This helps you build your brand more as you can inject personality, colloquialisms, and casual speech that is more relatable to your audience. And the more audiences enjoy your content, the more likely it is that they will return to your channel and become true business leads later on.

Writing casually for YouTube scripts may be difficult in the beginning as you’re so used to writing formally, but don’t let that intimidate you. If you struggle with this, keep a few tips in mind:

• Keep your ideal viewer in mind and write as if you’re having a conversation with them instead of drafting content. 
• Read each sentence back to yourself aloud and if it sounds conversationally weird, rewrite it.
• Be proactive about avoiding formality in your text.

Do Write with an Outline

While it’s important to write as you speak, it’s also very important to maintain structure within your videos. Make sure you organize your content in a logical way that your viewers can easily follow along with. That way, they will maximize the value they walk away from your video with instead of being confused by your content’s disorganization.

Remember that good YouTube videos are about more than providing viewers with as much information as possible. Instead, they’re about effectively communicating well-organized information in an easy-to-understand package.

Additionally, an outline can help you better remember your points if you’re not working with a teleprompter as they convey the bare bones of your content and can keep you on track with your topic flow while allowing you room to converse with your audience rather than speak at them.

Don’t Write Long Paragraphs

Whenever you have a lot of text grouped in a single paragraph, it can look chunky and overwhelming–especially if you’re trying to read it off of a teleprompter in real time. And if you don’t have a teleprompter, choosing to memorize sections before reciting them instead, bulky paragraphs can also be incredibly difficult and overwhelming.

By breaking up your content, you’re able to find natural speech breaks more often and manage your shooting process with greater ease.

Do Use Helpful Visual Aids

People watch YouTube videos because they want visually interesting content. After all, if they just wanted to hear what you said, they could listen to a podcast, and if they just wanted the information, they could read a quick blog post.

Instead, they chose to pull up your YouTube video, so don’t disappoint them by publishing static videos with one angle of the same shot for ten minutes. Using interesting graphics, images, clips, and effects can go a long way in providing value to your audience. Remember, individuals revisit companies online more when they receive something of value from them, and since most people are visual learners, the best way to provide value is to add visual aids to your content.

Additionally, you can use pattern interruptions as visual breaks in between ideas or sentences to maintain your audience’s interest and refocus them on your content. These pattern breaks can come in the form of switching camera angles, changing volumes, performing actions like pointing or waving, or any number of other adjustments that rest your viewer’s minds and help them pay attention to your content.