How to write a script that sounds spoken

Start with one sentence

Before you write the script, write this: "This video is for [who], and after watching they will [do or know what]." If you cannot finish that sentence, the script will wander. Everything you write next either serves that sentence or gets cut.

Set a word budget before you write

Length is easier to control at the start than to cut at the end. Most people speak somewhere around 130 to 150 words per minute on camera, so a useful rule is 140 words for every minute of video.

Paste any draft into the speech time calculator to check it, or time yourself reading it to find your own pace.

Use a simple shape

Most short talking-head videos work with four parts:

1. Hook (first 5 to 10 seconds). Name the problem or the payoff. Skip the greeting and the long introduction; viewers decide quickly whether to stay.
2. Point. Say the main idea plainly, in one or two sentences.
3. Proof or steps. Show how, give an example or walk through the steps. Keep it to three items where you can; listeners struggle to hold more.
4. Next step. Tell people exactly what to do now: try it, reply, book a call, watch the next lesson.

Our video script templates apply this shape to product demos, sales messages, YouTube intros, lessons and team updates.

Write for the ear, not the eye

A reader can slow down, skip back and re-read. A listener cannot. That changes how you write.

• One idea per sentence. If a sentence has a comma and an "and", it can probably be two sentences.
• Use contractions. "You'll", "it's" and "we're" sound human. "You will" and "it is" sound like a manual.
• Choose everyday words. "Use", not "utilise". "Help", not "facilitate".
• Put the subject first and use active verbs. "We fixed the bug" is easier to follow than "The bug has been fixed by the team".
• Avoid brackets and asides. They are invisible when spoken. Move the aside to its own sentence or drop it.
• Repeat the key point. On a page this is redundancy. In speech it is how people remember.
• Use signposts. "First", "Here's the catch" and "So what does this mean?" help listeners keep their place.

Before and after

Here is a typical first draft, written for the eye:

Our new reporting feature, which has been developed in response to extensive customer feedback over the last two quarters, enables users to generate comprehensive, customisable summaries of their account activity, which can subsequently be exported in a variety of formats.

And the same message, written to be said:

You asked for better reports.
So we built them.

Pick the dates and the numbers you care about,
and you'll get a clear summary in seconds.

Then export it the way you need:
PDF, spreadsheet or CSV.

The word count barely changes. What changes is that every sentence carries one idea, the reader is "you", and the line breaks show exactly where to breathe.

Format it for a teleprompter

• Break lines at phrases. Each line should be a chunk you can take in at a glance.
• Leave a blank line between ideas. It becomes a natural pause on screen.
• Use normal sentence case. It is what your eyes are used to reading.
• Keep directions out of the read text. Notes like "show the dashboard" belong in a separate shot list, or in square brackets you agree never to read aloud.
• Spell tricky names the way they sound. If you always stumble on a name, write a phonetic version in the prompter copy.
• Write numbers the way you will say them. "About two thousand" reads more easily than "1,987".

Read it aloud, then cut

Read the whole draft aloud at your recording pace. Mark every place you stumble, run out of breath or feel bored. Rewrite the stumbles and cut the boring parts. First drafts almost always run long, and the cut version is almost always better.

When it reads cleanly, load it into the online teleprompter and do one rehearsal before you record. Then read our guide on reading a script naturally.

Script checklist

• You can say who it is for and what they should do next in one sentence.
• The word count fits the length you want.
• The first 10 seconds name the problem or payoff.
• Every sentence carries one idea.
• It ends with one clear next step.
• You have read it aloud without stumbling.