Video Scripting Tip: Writing Less is More

Video Scripting Tip: Writing Less is More (Episode 114)

video marketing podcast Jul 11, 2022

Every word counts. And if you don't want to lose your audience with a speech that could get out of hand because of overwriting, here's a great scripting tip: writing less is more. 

Welcome to 'Video Tips,' the Video Made Simple podcast segment where we offer strategies for on-camera presenting, scripting, and video marketing: all the tools you need to get started with videos.

In this episode, Chris Schwager, Video Marketer from Ridge Films, talks about how important it is to keep your message short and sweet as the average attention span to a video is about 60 seconds, with the first 7 seconds being your breaking point. Chris hands out great tips how to keep your message on point, deconstructs a case study script, and offers the importance of having a script template.

The DIY Video Program actually comes with script templates, which breaks down the sections of the script and comes with maximum word count, giving you the best guide to focus and refine your message. Check the link below OR you can get it FOR FREE if you leave us a review for this episode. You don't want to miss this! 

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Video Transcription:

 Chris Schwager 00:00:03

Welcome to the Video Made Simple Podcast, where we help take the mystery out of video and break through the monotony of day to day communication. I'm your host, Chris Schwager. And if you want your audience to get more out of your presentation and not lose them midway, then here's a video scripting tip.

[00:00:19] Writing less is more. It's a great tip. It's very hard to do for the average person, so that's why I'm gonna give you some of my golden favorites. According to psychologists, the average human has a 20 minute attention span. For videos, give or take 60 seconds. Now on average, the video length is about a minute or about, uh, 180 words.

[00:00:48] Now that's in our world of inbound video marketing. It's easy to get bogged down and write way more than you need. It is just so easy. Like, oh, I'll just include this. I'll just include that. The . However, the first seven seconds of your video is the breaking point for viewers because you are competing against attention scarcity. If you wanna waffle on, you're gonna lose them. And if you confuse, you lose.

[00:01:17] If you are new to the podcast, then Ridge Films has the DIY Video Program, which has script templates in there that break down sections. Each section of a script, you are given a maximum word count, and this is a great guide for you to focus your message, because there's always room for refining your message.

[00:01:40] It's just that you may not see it. You know, we are very familiar as humans writing very technical, analytical type copy. We're very familiar with making sure that everything's grammatically correct, and it just doesn't roll well in video. If you're a copywriter, it's a high probability you have no experience writing video scripts because it's just a completely different skill set.

[00:02:06] Tips on how to get to the point in writing video scripts.

[00:02:10] Look, the first one is be clear about your purpose. Every video has a goal. It'll stop you from going off track when you are true to that goal. Uh. So make sure that you stick and just stick to it, okay. Don't try and derail too much. Not too much, not too little. Just keep it on track.

[00:02:31] Secondly, consider what your audience really needs to know. Key messages is there for the stuff that you need to include. So if you are trying to add on another key message and another key message, then of course you'll confuse and you'll lose.

[00:02:51] And onto point three, here's a little great little case study. And it's with a client of ours named Jackie. Jackie was putting together a little personal profile video, and I was guiding her to the personal profile framework, keeping her glued into the template. And she did pretty well. She did 150 words. However, it's a 30-second video and you need to include only 90 words. So we had what's that? 60 words to chop out? And so we went through methodically and made sure that the value was demonstrated and we removed all the other stuff that was either creating confusion or just wasn't value it all. And, or just clutter, filler words, very common for people to use a lot of filler words cause they don't know any better. Now here's an example. This is before says a little excerpt of what Jackie had written and Jackie's great cuz she's so eager and keen. And I love that in all of my students. And she was very responsive to the new improved version. So here's the older version that she had just a little couple seconds from the intro of her video. Have a listen.

[00:04:02] Hi, my name is Jackie Ashley. I help leaders, entrepreneurs, businesses, and their teams to overcome mindset barriers so that they can fully show up and make a difference in the world.

[00:04:12] Now that took 32 words to say that. Obviously we need to try and cull it, cuz we need to save the time because we had to create a 30-second video that would fit onto the LinkedIn profile. So here's the shorter version.

[00:04:29] Hey, I'm Jackie Ashley and I'm a certified coach helping leaders in business and their teams overcome mindset barriers.

[00:04:37] 19 words. So 32 versus 19. Okay. So we shaved considerable amounts of time off the duration of the video and really kept things quite tight and quite to the point. And this, a couple of kind of, uh, interesting moves in, in the second version she says straight up. I'm a certified coach. Um .In the first version, she, she, she doesn't.

[00:05:05] And so there is confusion created, right? So, you know, in the first couple of seconds you just gotta get to the point, like, what are you trying to do? Like, what do you wanna, what are you about, you know, and get into it. Right. Okay. So that's a little case study, bit, bit of a before and after I'm gonna be creating a lot more content. Like that little case study, but in lots more detail, and it's gonna be part of the DIY Video Program coming to you very soon.

[00:05:29] Okay. So here's point four, keep boiling till you have one point inside the maximum word count for each section. Remember less is more.

[00:05:39] And finally point five, deliver the message using everyday language of your audience. Okay. You're not writing copy for the page. You're not writing it for the legal team, you know, and as always, just be conversational. It's not website copy. You just be conversational, be human. You know, you can break down a lot of those clunky, robotic, technical words. People will still love you. In fact, I'll love you more because you'll be talking to the lowest common denominator you'll be talking to. Uh, an audience that will get you, will be far clearer for them to understand. Now you're writing like you are chatting to someone. Okay. And write like you're at a barbecue. This is how you've got to start getting to that mindset. All right. Start sling words together and making things far easier and far more interesting to listen to.

[00:06:30] Now, back to my script template, by having those sections as guides on the script, you'll be moving your audience through the journey, giving them just enough valuable information as you go and leading them to the call to action. And really every one of these videos, nine times outta 10 has a direct call to action.

[00:06:49] It doesn't need to be, Hey, call me now. But it could just be something as, as sweet, particularly in the LinkedIn profile page. Hey, DM me let's have a chat, you know, something that's, uh, still a call to action, but softer and less aggressive. Okay.

[00:07:05] If you wanna access the script templates that talked about, you can go to the link, uh, of the DIY Video Program in the show notes, or if you leave us a review for this episode, I'll even send it to you for free.

[00:07:20] And join in next week where you'll get weekly Video Made Simple ideas to produce videos like a pro. That's all for this episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I did. Thanks for listening and seeing you next week.

 

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