A good video script, in four steps. Start with the payoff.

The structure Corantr Media Desk sets out for a short video (anything under three minutes) has four parts, in this order. It opens with a hook in the first line. A short story follows and holds back the value. Then comes one idea, delivered without hurry, and the script finishes with one soft ask. For timing, allow about 190 spoken words for each minute of video.

It's the structure the Desk uses for short scripts, based on Chris Goor's H.I.D.E. framework, taught at The Studio. Its four steps are Hook, Intrigue, Deliver value and Exit with action. Below we take each step in turn, then cover word counts, videos of 10 to 15 minutes, and what regulated firms have to put on screen.

What should the first line do?

The first line has one job: to grab attention. Aim for about 10 to 14 words, written with your ideal viewer in mind. Say the keyword in it, meaning the word or phrase that viewer would use for the topic. If your viewer would say "remortgage", the first line says "remortgage", and they hear straight away that the video is about their problem.

There are several kinds of strong hook. One is a warning, such as "this catches people out". Another is a contrarian take that goes against what viewers expect to hear. There's the "what nobody tells you" line, and there's news of a change that has just landed. You can call out to a specific audience. Or you can open with a number.

An example of a call to a specific audience is "if you're remortgaging in the next six months". It works as a filter. A viewer who is remortgaging soon knows the video is for them. Everyone else knows it isn't, and that's fine: the video wasn't made for them. The example also puts a time frame on the audience. "The next six months" narrows the call further than "if you're remortgaging" would on its own.

No one type of hook works best for every topic. Pick the type that suits what you actually have to say. If something really has just changed, say so. If there's a common mistake, warn about it. Don't force a contrarian take onto a topic that doesn't have one.

Why write the payoff before the hook?

A hook makes a promise. "What nobody tells you about remortgaging" promises that the video will tell you something. If you write that line first and work out the substance later, you can end up with an opening the rest of the video can't honour.

So start at the other end. Decide the one thing the viewer will know or be able to do by the end. Write it down in full, in the words you'll say on camera. Only then write the first line.

This is the habit we'd keep above all the others. It puts the work in the right order: you find the substance, and only then do you advertise it. It also makes the middle of the script easier. Once the payoff exists on the page, you know what the story has to hold back and what the closing ask can follow on from.

How do you keep people watching?

The second step is intrigue. That means a real story of one or two sentences, told straight after the hook. It holds back the value so the viewer stays to hear it.

Suppose the hook is a warning about something that catches people out. The intrigue might be a sentence or two about a customer it happened to, stopping before the answer. The viewer now has a reason to keep watching, and you've used two sentences to give it to them.

There's one firm rule here: use only true stories. A made-up anecdote is easy to write and hard to defend if anyone asks about it. It's the rule on the Desk too: the intrigue is a true story from the facts or brief, or a common misconception, never an invented anecdote. If you don't have a true story that fits, keep the intrigue to a plain statement of the problem and move on to the idea.

How much can one short video deliver, and how should it end?

One idea. The third step is to deliver value: a single idea, unhurried, that pays off exactly what the hook promised. If the hook warned about remortgaging, the idea is about that warning, and the video doesn't wander into mortgages in general. Short videos feel tight, and the temptation is to speed up and fit more in. Resist it. Say the idea clearly, give it room, and stop when it's done. If you find you have three ideas, that's material for three videos.

The fourth step is the exit. End with one soft, genuine ask, such as a question. "Have you been caught out by this?" invites a reply and gives the viewer an easy next step. "Comment, share, follow and visit our site" is four asks; choose one. We'd keep the hard sell out of it too. A sales pitch at the end of a useful minute sits badly with the minute that came before.

How many words does the script need?

Speech runs at about 150 to 220 words a minute. For a short video, plan on about 190. At that pace, 30 seconds is about 95 words and a minute is about 190. The same sum gives about 285 words for 90 seconds and about 380 for two minutes. A short video stops just under three minutes, so its script tops out at a little under 570 words.

The range matters because people speak at different speeds. A minute of video from someone who talks at 150 words a minute holds 150 words; from someone at 220, it holds 220. If you know the person on camera speaks slowly, write towards the lower figure. If you don't know yet, plan on 190 and adjust after the first read-through.

Here's how a one-minute script might divide up. The hook takes 10 to 14 words. The intrigue is one or two sentences. The exit is a single short question. The rest of the 190 words goes to the one idea.

A 30-second script is tighter, at about 95 words. That's a reason to keep the story to one sentence, or to skip it if the hook already sets up the tension.

Write at full spoken length. Every word you'll say goes in the script, including the hook and the ask, so the count is honest. Write plainer than feels natural, too. Use short words and short sentences, even if they look bare on the page.

Never pad. The word counts are a ceiling to work towards, never a quota to fill. If the idea takes 150 words, a one-minute video doesn't need 190; let it run shorter. Read the script aloud with a timer before you film, and you'll know whether it fits.

What changes for a longer video?

A long video keeps the hook but adds more structure behind it. It opens with a hook and a light introduction. It then runs in chapters, and each chapter sets up a point, teaches it and pays it off. Plan re-hooks about a third and two thirds of the way through: a fresh line that gives the viewer a reason to keep going. End with one call to action.

The re-hook positions are easy to work out. On a 10-minute video they fall at about three minutes 20 seconds and six minutes 40 seconds. On a 12-minute video, they come at around four and eight minutes. On a 15-minute video, they sit at about five and ten minutes. Mark those points in the script before you write the chapters, so a chapter break and a re-hook can land together if the timing allows.

The advice on writing order is firmer for long videos. Write in reverse: the payoffs first, chapter by chapter, and the hook last. In practice, that means the hook is written once every chapter exists on the page. You can read back through the finished payoffs and choose the one the opening line should point to.

The word count guide still helps with planning. At 150 to 220 words a minute, a 10-minute script runs to about 1,500 to 2,200 words, and a 15-minute script to about 2,250 to 3,300. That's long enough to lose your way, so plan the chapters and their payoffs before you write any of them, then fit the two re-hooks to the marks you've set.

The Desk writes long scripts for YouTube videos of 5 to 15 minutes. If your video falls between three and five minutes, choose by content: one idea suits the short structure, cut to under three minutes; several points suit chapters.

If you're a regulated firm

If your video promotes a regulated product, it may be a financial promotion, and any risk warning it needs may have to appear in the video itself, not only in the caption. Check the wording, and how long it stays on screen, with whoever signs off your financial promotions. The FCA's guidance on financial promotions and adverts is the place to start.

If you add a warning on screen, treat it as part of the script. Build it into the edit and allow screen time for it when you plan, so it doesn't crowd out the one idea or get squeezed into the last second. On a long video, decide early whether it appears once or with each chapter where it applies. On the Desk, scripts for regulated sites carry the site's approved risk warning on screen throughout a short video, and at the point of promotion in a long one.

On the Desk, every piece is written from a fact sheet taken from the source and checked claim by claim. A person reads and approves the finished script before anyone films it; nothing is published by itself.

See how the Desk writes video scripts from your source facts and holds them for your approval.