11/11/2026

How to Write a Video Script: Template, Example and Finished Video

Name: How FoldRun works
Uploaded: 2026-11-11T07:03:26.920Z
Duration: 50 s
Description: A 50-second 16:9 explainer made in NoLang from the filled-in script table in this guide, with English narration and captions

Key takeaways

A video script plans each scene: what the viewer sees, what they hear and how long it runs. The template here is a short brief plus a two-column script table you can copy.
Write it in 7 steps: goal, audience, one-sentence key message, length and word budget, structure, visuals and narration, then read it aloud and time it.
Budget about 130 to 150 words of narration per minute, and cut whole scenes rather than speeding the narration up.
Choose a structure by goal: explainer, tutorial, list, story or ad. The worked example is a 60-second explainer for a fictional laundry pickup service.
We made that filled-in script into a finished video, so you can compare each row of the script table with the scene it became.

You know what the video needs to say. The blank page doesn’t tell you where the words go, what the viewer sees while they’re spoken, or how many of them fit in a minute. A video script settles all three, one scene at a time.

This guide shows how to write a video script in seven steps and gives you a template to copy: a short brief on top and a scene-by-scene script table below it. We filled the template in for a 60-second explainer and then made that script into a finished video, so you can compare each row of the table with the scene it became.

If you only need the template, go straight to “The video script template”.

What a video script is

A video script is the written plan for a video: every line the narrator or speaker says, what the viewer sees while each line plays, and roughly how long each part runs. It’s written scene by scene, so anyone reviewing it can see the whole video before anything is filmed, drawn or generated.

It sits between two other planning documents and usually comes before a third.

Video planning documents and what each one decides

Document	What it decides	When you make it
Creative brief	Why the video exists, who it’s for, budget and deadline	First
Script	What is said and shown in each scene, and for how long	Once the brief is agreed
Storyboard	What each shot looks like: framing, action, movement	After the script, when the look needs sign-off
Shot list	What to film, in what order, with which setup	Before a shoot

The template in this guide puts a short brief on the same page as the script. Most script decisions, such as which scene to cut or what to open with, come down to the goal, and it’s easier to make them when the goal is written right above the table.

One column or two

Scripts come in two common layouts. A single-column script runs the spoken words and the action together from top to bottom, like a screenplay. It works for talking-head videos, vlogs and interviews, where the person on camera is most of the picture.

A two-column script, often called an A/V (audio/visual) script, puts what the viewer sees on the left and what they hear on the right, one row per scene. It works for explainers, product videos, training and ads, where the picture, the on-screen text and the narration have to line up.

The template below is a two-column script with four extra columns: a scene number, the job of the scene, its length in seconds, and notes.

The video script template

The template has two parts. Fill in the brief first. It takes a few lines, and every later choice refers back to it. Then write the script table, one row per scene.

Part 1: The script brief

Script brief: what to write in each field

Field	What to write
Working title	A plain description of the video, for you and your reviewers
Goal	The one thing a viewer should do after watching, written as an action
Audience	Who watches, what they already know, and where they’ll be when they watch
Key message	The one sentence you want them to remember
Where it plays and length	Platform or page, aspect ratio, whether the sound will be on, target length in seconds
Call to action	The exact words of the final instruction, and where it sends people
Assets	What you already have (footage, screenshots, product photos, logo) and what still has to be made

Write the goal as something the viewer does, such as “book a demo” or “submit the form by Friday”, not as a topic. A topic like “explain our new policy” gives you no way to decide what to cut. If the key message needs two sentences, you probably need two videos.

Part 2: The script table

Script table: what goes in each column

Column	What to write
#	The scene number. A new scene starts when the picture changes to something new
Scene’s job	What the scene does for the video: hook, problem, step, proof, call to action
Visuals and on-screen text	What the viewer sees, plus any words that appear on screen
Narration	The exact words that will be spoken
Sec	How long the scene runs, timed by reading the narration aloud
Notes	Facts to confirm and who confirms them, assets to find, legal or brand checks

Read top to bottom, the Narration column is your voiceover script, and the Visuals column is a written storyboard. Keep on-screen text short and don’t repeat the narration word for word. Use it for what the narration doesn’t say.

Copy the template

Paste this into a document or a spreadsheet. In a spreadsheet, give each column its own cell; the vertical bars show where the cells split.

VIDEO SCRIPT: [working title]

SCRIPT BRIEF
Goal:
Audience:
Key message:
Where it plays and length:
Call to action:
Assets:

SCRIPT TABLE
# | Scene's job | Visuals and on-screen text | Narration | Sec | Notes
1 | Hook |  |  |  |
2 |  |  |  |  |
3 |  |  |  |  |

How to write a video script in 7 steps

Don’t fill the table in from left to right. Settle the brief, then the column of scene jobs, and only then the visuals and narration. Each step below shows, in parentheses, what we wrote for the worked example later in this guide.

1. Decide what the viewer should do afterwards: Write the goal as an action. It’s the test for every scene: if a scene doesn’t move the viewer toward it, cut the scene. (Viewers book their first laundry pickup in the FoldRun app.)
2. Describe who’s watching, and where: Note what the audience already knows and the situation they’ll be in. People scrolling a social feed with the sound off need the key points on screen as text, not only in the narration. (Busy renters who already use delivery apps, often watching without sound.)
3. Write the key message as one sentence: Every scene should support it. In the worked example, it’s spread across the solution scene and the three steps. (Leave your laundry at your door tonight and get it back washed and folded within 48 hours.)
4. Set the length, then the word budget and the number of scenes: Pick a length for where the video will play, convert it into words with the table below, and divide by the length of a typical scene. A scene that carries one or two sentences usually runs 4 to 10 seconds. (About 60 seconds, around 130 words, eight scenes.)
5. Choose a structure and fill in only the Scene’s job column: Pick one of the structures in the next section and write the job of each row from top to bottom. Reorder and delete rows now, while each one is a single word. (Explainer: hook, problem, solution, three steps, reassurance, call to action.)
6. Write the visuals and the narration, row by row: Decide what the viewer sees and what they hear in each scene, and split the work between the two. Numbers, names and short labels go on screen; actions and reasons go in the narration. Anything that needs checking goes in Notes.
7. Read it aloud, time each scene, and cut: Read the narration at the pace of a narrator, fill in Sec, and add up the column. If the total runs over, remove a scene instead of squeezing more words into each one. (Our estimate was 51 seconds; the finished video ran 50.)

Narration speed decides how much fits. Columbia University’s Center for Teaching and Learning suggests aiming for 130 words per minute when reading a script aloud (Script Writing Recommended Practices). A brisker read runs closer to 150. Use the range as a budget:

Words of narration by video length

Video length	At 130 words per minute	At 150 words per minute
15 seconds	About 33 words	About 38 words
30 seconds	About 65 words	About 75 words
60 seconds	About 130 words	About 150 words
90 seconds	About 195 words	About 225 words
2 minutes	About 260 words	About 300 words
5 minutes	About 650 words	About 750 words

Stay under the budget rather than on it. Scenes where the picture does the talking, like a product shot or a pause before the call to action, use time without using words.

Video script structures

Once you have the goal, choose the order of the scene jobs. These five structures cover most business videos.

Common video script structures

Structure	Order of scene jobs	Good for
Explainer	Hook → problem → solution → how it works → proof → call to action	Product and service explainers
Tutorial	Outcome → what you need → one step per scene → check the result → next step	How-to, onboarding, support
List	Promise → one point per scene → recap or call to action	Tips, short social videos
Story	Situation → turning point → change → takeaway	Brand and customer stories
Ad	Opening that shows the brand → connection → call to action	Paid video ads

Explainer. The viewer meets a problem they recognize before they hear the product’s name, so the solution arrives as an answer. The worked example below uses this structure. For more ways to structure videos about a product, see how to make a product video.

Tutorial. State what the viewer will be able to do, then give each step its own scene and show the result. A step that needs two scenes is usually two steps. How to make instructional videos covers this format in more depth.

List. Open with the number (“three ways to…”) and give each point one scene. The clear breaks between scenes suit short vertical videos.

Story. The point comes at the end, so it needs a viewer who will stay to the end: a brand film on an About page, a customer story, a recruiting video. If the point has to land early, use an explainer instead.

Ad. Viewers can skip, so the opening matters most. Google’s guidance for YouTube ads, the ABCDs (Attention, Branding, Connection, Direction), recommends introducing the brand or product from the start, keeping the message focused, and pairing the on-screen call to action with voice-over (ABCDs of effective video ads).

Training videos add a learning goal and a knowledge check to the tutorial pattern. The training video script template has a scene table built for that.

The same script, cut to 20 seconds

A shorter video usually needs a different structure, not faster narration. Here is the worked example’s explainer reshaped as a three-scene list for a 20-second social cut. The key message stays the same.

The worked example as a 20-second list video

#	Scene’s job	Visuals and on-screen text	Narration
1	Promise	“Laundry in 3 steps”	Laundry day, done in three steps.
2	Steps	“Book. Leave it out. Get it back.”	Book a pickup, leave the bag at your door, and get it back folded within 48 hours.
3	Call to action	“Book your first pickup”	Book your first pickup in the FoldRun app.

That’s about 30 words, around 12 seconds of narration at 150 words per minute, which leaves time for the picture to carry the opening and the closing button.

Worked example: a 60-second explainer script

Here is the template filled in for a short explainer. FoldRun is a fictional laundry pickup service, and the scenario was written for this guide.

The brief

Worked example: script brief

Field	Entry
Working title	How FoldRun works
Goal	Viewers book their first laundry pickup in the FoldRun app
Audience	Busy renters without in-unit laundry who already use delivery apps. They see the video on FoldRun’s home page and in social feeds, often with the sound off
Key message	Leave your laundry at your door tonight and get it back washed and folded within 48 hours
Where it plays and length	Website home page and social feeds. 16:9, captions on. About 60 seconds
Call to action	Book your first pickup in the FoldRun app
Assets	No footage. Every scene is illustrated

The goal is the field most worth getting right. “Explain how FoldRun works” would give no way to choose what to leave out. Written as “book their first pickup”, it fixes the last scene and turns the middle of the video into the three things a first-time customer actually does.

The script table

Worked example: script table

#	Scene’s job	Visuals and on-screen text	Narration	Sec
1	Hook	A tired renter waiting in a laundromat, clock on the wall. Text: “Another Saturday?”	Another Saturday morning, another two hours at the laundromat.	4
2	Problem	A weekend calendar filling up with laundry icons. Text: “8 hours a month”	Hauling heavy bags, waiting for a free machine, folding on a sticky counter. Two hours a week is a full workday every month.	9
3	Solution	FoldRun logo, then a van stopping at an apartment building. Text: “Pickup. Wash. Fold. Delivered.”	FoldRun picks up your laundry, washes and folds it, and brings it back to your door.	6
4	Step 1	A phone with a pickup time picker. Text: “1. Book a pickup”	First, open the FoldRun app and book a pickup for any evening that suits you.	6
5	Step 2	A FoldRun bag on a door handle at night. Text: “2. Leave the bag at your door”	Second, put your laundry in the FoldRun bag and leave it outside your door. You don’t need to be home.	8
6	Step 3	Neat, folded stacks back at the door. Text: “3. Back within 48 hours”	Third, your clothes come back washed, folded and sorted.	5
7	Reassurance	A care label close-up, then a text message on a phone. Text: “Washed by care label”	Every item is washed according to its care label, and you get a text when your order is on its way.	8
8	Call to action	The app’s Book button. Text: “Book your first pickup”	Take your Saturdays back. Book your first pickup in the FoldRun app tonight.	5

The narration adds up to 126 words, and the Sec column to 51 seconds, estimated by reading at about 150 words per minute. Two choices in this table are worth copying.

The screen and the narration split the work. In scene 6, “within 48 hours” appears only on screen, and the narration talks about what comes back. Someone watching with the sound off still gets the promise, and someone listening doesn’t hear the same words twice. Scene 2 does the reverse: the screen shows the number, “8 hours a month”, and the narration turns it into something you can feel, “a full workday every month”.

The scene jobs set the lengths. The hook gets 4 seconds and one sentence. The problem gets the most time of any scene, because the solution only lands if the viewer recognizes the problem first. Each step gets one scene and one action.

A real script would also fill the Notes column. For this one, it would hold checks like these:

Scene 2: “8 hours a month” is 2 hours a week × 4 weeks. Keep the arithmetic visible to whoever approves the script.
Scene 6: Confirm the 48-hour turnaround with operations before the video goes out.
Scene 7: Confirm that every order sends a text when it’s on the way.
Scenes 3 and 8: Use the current logo and the current design of the app’s Book button.

The finished video made from this script

We gave the script above to NoLang as a one-page PDF and made it into the video below, then saved the video as a template. The narration is the table’s Narration column, word for word, read by one voice with captions.

How FoldRun works

Make the attached script into a 16:9 explainer video. Read the Narration column as written and show the on-screen text from the Visuals column.

Use this template

The video follows the table in order. Scene 1 is the laundromat with “Another Saturday?”. Scene 2 shows the three hassles one by one, then the calendar with “8 hours a month”. Scene 3 brings in the FoldRun name and the “Pickup. Wash. Fold. Delivered.” labels. Scenes 4 to 6 give each step its own card. Scene 7 shows the care label and the text message, and scene 8 closes on “Take your Saturdays back.” and the Book button. Pause at each scene change and you have the storyboard the Visuals column described.

Here is how the Sec column compared with the finished video, measured from where each scene’s narration begins:

Estimated and actual scene lengths

#	Scene’s job	Estimate	In the video
1	Hook	4 sec	4.5 sec
2	Problem	9 sec	10.0 sec
3	Solution	6 sec	6.3 sec
4	Step 1	6 sec	5.7 sec
5	Step 2	8 sec	5.9 sec
6	Step 3	5 sec	4.5 sec
7	Reassurance	8 sec	6.1 sec
8	Call to action	5 sec	7.3 sec
Total		51 sec	50.3 sec

The total landed within a second of the estimate: 126 words in about 50 seconds, close to 150 words per minute. Single scenes moved more than the total did. Scene 5 came in two seconds shorter than estimated, and scene 8 two seconds longer. Use the word budget to set the length of the whole video, and expect to adjust scene by scene once you see it.

To make the same kind of video from your own script, open the template with the button under the video and give it your script in place of FoldRun’s.

Writing narration for the ear

Narration is heard once, at the speaker’s pace, so it needs different habits from text on a page. Reading the script aloud, more than once, is the most useful check of all; these four habits fix most of what reading aloud turns up.

One idea per sentence: Scene 5 could have been one sentence (“put your laundry in the bag and leave it outside your door, and you don’t need to be home”). Split in two, each half is easy to follow.
Don’t read the screen aloud: When a label is on screen, use the narration for what the label leaves out. Scene 6 shows the 48-hour promise and spends its words on what comes back.
Say numbers the way people hear them: Exact figures are easier to read than to hear. Scene 2 shows “8 hours a month” and says “a full workday every month”. Spell out abbreviations, or write them the way the narrator should say them.
Write the way you’d talk: Contractions, “you”, and short words read naturally: “You don’t need to be home”, not “Customer presence is not required.”

How to storyboard a video from your script

A storyboard turns the Visuals column into pictures. Whether you need one depends on how the video gets made.

You need a storyboard when a camera crew has to frame shots, when an animator has to know what moves where, or when several people have to approve the look before money is spent. You can usually work from the Visuals column alone when the video is narration over slides, illustrations or screen recordings, or when the visuals are generated from the script. In that case the column is your written storyboard.

1. Start from the finished script table: Make one frame per row, and add a frame wherever the picture changes inside a scene. Storyboarding before the script is settled means redrawing.
2. Draw the frames in the final aspect ratio: Use 16:9 boxes for a landscape video and 9:16 for vertical, and number each frame to match the script.
3. Sketch only what the viewer must notice: The main subject and the framing are enough. Stick figures, photos from your phone, screenshots and stock stills all work.
4. Copy the script into each frame: Under each frame, add the narration line, the on-screen text, the shot type, any movement or transition, and the seconds.
5. Review the frames before filming or generating: Show them to whoever approves the visuals. If a frame changes, change the script table first, then the frame, so the two documents stay in step.

What to write under each storyboard frame

Field	Example: scene 5 of the worked script
Frame	5
Picture	A FoldRun bag hanging on an apartment door handle at night
Shot	Medium shot of the door
Movement and transition	Slow push in, cut to scene 6
On-screen text	2. Leave the bag at your door
Narration	Second, put your laundry in the FoldRun bag and leave it outside your door. You don’t need to be home.
Seconds	8

For a corporate video with a shoot, the storyboard also tells the crew who appears in each frame and where it’s filmed. From there, a shot list regroups the same frames by location and setup, so everything filmed in one place is shot together.

Writing it yourself or hiring a video scriptwriter

If someone else writes the script, a freelance scriptwriter or an agency, the brief is what you hand over. Send all seven fields, the source for every fact the video states, words and claims your brand avoids, and one or two videos whose tone you like.

Ask for the draft in the same table, so you can check it quickly:

Every row has a job: If you can’t name what a scene does, it can probably go.
The narration fits the length: Read it aloud and add up the seconds.
Every number and name is in Notes: Each one should have a source, and a person to confirm it.
The screen and the narration don’t repeat each other: Anything the narration repeats from the screen is a place to cut words.

If the video itself will be produced outside your team, our video production cost guide covers what studios charge and what drives the price.

Turn your script into a video

In NoLang, a finished script can go straight into a video. On the home screen, click Create from a script. Paste your Narration column, top to bottom, into Enter a script, keep One person for a single narrator, and click Next. In Select a template, choose a template, or choose Auto to let AI pick one based on the content. The home input box then holds the instruction “Read the following script as is.” followed by your script. Click Generate a video, the arrow button in the input box. When the video is ready, check each scene against your script table.

At work, NoLang can turn an approved script into a narrated video for training, a product explainer or an internal announcement, and when the script changes, you can paste the new version and make the video again. To discuss using NoLang at your company, contact us, or download our materials below.

Download Materials

FAQ

How many words is a 1-minute video script?

About 130 to 150 words of narration. Columbia University's Center for Teaching and Learning suggests 130 words per minute for scripts read aloud; a brisker read runs closer to 150. Leave some room under the budget for moments where the picture carries the scene without narration.

What is the format of a video script?

There are two common layouts. A single-column script runs dialogue and action together from top to bottom, and suits talking-head videos and interviews. A two-column (A/V) script puts visuals on the left and audio on the right, one row per scene, and suits explainers, product videos, training and ads.

Do I need a storyboard if I already have a script?

Only when someone has to see the picture before it's made: a crew framing shots, an animator, or several approvers signing off the look. For narration over slides, illustrations or screen recordings, a script table with a detailed visuals column is usually enough.

How do I write an explainer video script?

Open with a problem the viewer recognizes, then present the solution, show how it works in a few short steps, add a line of proof or reassurance, and finish with one call to action. Keep it to one key message. The worked example in this guide does that in eight scenes and about 50 seconds.

Can I use AI to write a video script?

Yes, but write the brief and the job of each scene yourself first. With the goal, audience and scene order fixed, it's easy to see which parts of a generated draft to keep, and every number or name still needs checking against its source before the video is made.

Can NoLang read my script word for word?

Yes. Choose Create from a script on the NoLang home screen and paste your script. NoLang puts the instruction "Read the following script as is." in front of it, so the narration is generated from your wording. Choose Multiple people instead of One person when your script is a dialogue between speakers.