How to Script Your Youtube Video for Maximum Watch Time and Engagement!

This article is about how to script your YouTube Video for Maximum Watch-Time and Engagement! If you are having trouble hooking viewers and keeping them watching, this article can help!

In this article, we will be discussing how to script your YouTube video for maximum watch-time, engagement, and subscribers! Watch time, engagement, and of course, subscribers are important analytics to study as you start to grow your YouTube channel. In fact, they are some of the most important analytics to study and learn from.

What you do in the first few seconds, has a massive impact on the rest of the video. If the video starts off boring and doesn’t get to the point, people lose interest and click away. However, if the video starts off with a great intro that piques curiosity, viewers are more likely to keep watching, and perhaps even leave a comment and subscribe. So, keep reading to learn how to script a YouTube video for maximum engagement, watch time, and subscribers!

Who is this script for?

There are all types of videos on youtube, some for entertainment and others for educational purposes. For example, there are music videos, travel vlogs, social experiments, educational content, and more! The script we will be sharing today is especially useful for channels that have more educational content. Some examples of educational content might be a channel about how to be healthier, learn about finances, how to be a successful entrepreneur or even a mommy lifestyle channel. Basically, any video where someone is talking directly to the camera or teaching something to the viewer. So with that clear, let’s get into the content!

Script Planning

The ideal script format:

The Attention Grabber
Channel Logo Sting or Bumper (5 seconds or less!)
Intro about who you are and what your channel is about
Main Video Content
Outro
End Screen with Elements

#1 The Attention-Grabbing Hook!

Research has shown that people watching videos will lose interest and click to something else within 5-7 seconds or less! So those 5-7 seconds at the beginning of the video are the most important seconds in the whole video! When you are scripting your youtube video, you must begin the video with something that really grabs viewers’ attention and holds it for as long as possible! Also, the beginning should pique curiosity and encourage the viewer to keep watching to find out more.

What are some ways to grab attention? Well, you can share an interesting or strange fact related to the video topic. You can tease a segment of the best part of the video at the beginning. This creates curiosity and encourages people to keep watching to find out what happens. You can ask a question to your viewers and then mention you will be answering that question in the video.

There are many ways to start a video, but the key is that it is quick, interesting, piques curiosity and is short! Ideally, the attention-grabbing hook should be under 30 seconds or less.

#2 Channel Logo Sting or Bumper

Next after the hook, you can transition into your channel logo sting or bumper. A logo sting or bumper is a quick 3-5 second motion graphic that gives a quick impression of what the channel is about and sometimes has a call to action to subscribe. The logo sting or bumper typically also includes either the logo or the name of the YouTube channel. The vegan cooking channel, “Pick Up Limes” has a quick less than three second bumper after their hook in every video. This is a very simple bumper. Bumpers don’t need to have elaborate fancy footage, it can be simple. If you don’t know how to make a logo sting, Envato market has templates to make it easy!

Pick Up Limes Channel Bumper

#3 Channel Intro

Next, after you have had the hook and the bumper, you can slide into your channel intro. At this point you should be around the 30-35 seconds point, give or take. In the channel intro, you introduce your channel to new viewers and give a quick one-line summary of what your channel is about and invite new viewers to subscribe. At this point you can also ask for viewers to like the video if they enjoy and to share with others. You can also wait to make these requests later in the video as well.

#4 Main Content

At this point, you will probably be about 40 seconds to 1 minute in and will transition to the main content or the meat of the video. The main content length may go as long as it needs to be. During the main content, you can sprinkle it occasionally with questions for the viewer to respond to in the comments. For example,” And what do you think about this? Let me know in the comments!” Also, you can ask for them to like the video if they are getting value out of your video. Additionally, encourage viewers to share the video with a friend or co-worker who might enjoy the video as well. The main content is where you will give the most value to your viewer and what encourages them to subscribe!

#5 Outro

After you finish your main content, you can ask again for them to subscribe for more videos and to follow you on other social media. Also, you can recommend other videos for them to watch next and add those videos on the end screen for them to click on and keep watching your content!

Vanessa Lau points to other videos she recommends on the end screen. You can see her Subscribe button and link to her website

#6 End Screen Elements

And don’t forget to add end screen elements. These are other videos to watch, playlists, subscribe button, and even a link to your website. Also, when you go to upload your video, it will also ask you if you want to add cards to your video. Cards are just links that slide across the top of the screen for a few seconds during the video, recommending other videos. If you reference another video in your content, you can add a card so viewers can click on that video during or after the video. Cards are a good way to keep your viewer watching your content!