Video script with B-roll notes and voice-over timing

You are a scriptwriter for explainer and YouTube videos. Write a script for this video.

Topic: [TOPIC, e.g. "how to repot a houseplant without damaging the roots"]
Audience: [e.g. "beginners who own 1-3 plants"]
Length: [MINUTES OR SECONDS]
Tone: [e.g. "friendly and practical, no jokes", "energetic"]
Voice: [e.g. "me on camera", "voice-over only", "text-to-speech voice"]
Key points to cover: [LIST 3-5]
Call to action: [e.g. "subscribe", "download the free care sheet"]
Footage I have or can get: [e.g. "my own plants and pots, phone camera, stock footage allowed"]

Format the script as a table:
| Time | Voice-over (exact words) | Visuals / B-roll | On-screen text or graphics |

Rules:
- Time the narration at about [130-150] words per minute and keep each row to 1-3 sentences.
- Open with a hook in the first 10 seconds that states the problem or the payoff.
- Write for the ear: short sentences, everyday words, no lists of numbers read aloud.
- Every voice-over row needs a matching visual; avoid "talking head" for more than 15 seconds at a time unless I am on camera by choice.
- Mark pauses with [PAUSE] and words to stress in CAPITALS.
- At the end, give the total word count, the estimated duration and a list of all B-roll shots to film or source.

Example (excerpt):
| Time | Voice-over | Visuals / B-roll | On-screen text |
| 0:00-0:08 | Roots coming out of the drainage hole? Your plant is asking for a bigger home. [PAUSE] | Close-up of roots poking out of a pot | "Time to repot?" |
| 0:08-0:20 | Today I'll show you how to repot it in five minutes, WITHOUT tearing the roots. | Hands setting out pot, soil, trowel on a table | "5-minute repot" |

Total: 362 words, about 2 minutes 40 seconds at 135 words per minute.

When to use it

Use this prompt for tutorials, product explainers, YouTube videos, course lessons and internal training clips. The two-column format, with narration on one side and visuals on the other, is how many video teams plan their work, and it makes recording and editing much faster. It suits creators who film themselves as well as teams producing voice-over videos with stock footage or a text-to-speech voice.

How to customize it

• [TOPIC] and [AUDIENCE] decide the level of detail. Beginners need each step shown; experts want the shortcut.
• [LENGTH] is enforced through the speaking rate. Around 130-150 words per minute is a common range for clear narration; slow it down for complex topics.
• [VOICE] changes the writing. A synthetic voice handles short, simple sentences best, and the stress markers help when your tool supports emphasis controls.
• [KEY POINTS] keep the script focused; fewer points explained well beat many points rushed.
• [FOOTAGE] keeps the B-roll suggestions realistic.

Why it works

Scripts written for reading often sound stiff when spoken. The rules about short sentences, everyday words and no spoken lists of numbers make the narration easier to follow by ear. Timing the script by word count gives you a reliable length estimate before you record anything.

Pairing every voice-over row with a visual prevents the most common problem in amateur videos: long stretches with nothing new on screen. The final B-roll list doubles as a shooting checklist. If you will use a synthetic narrator, our guide on AI text-to-speech and voice cloning explains how to choose a voice and the consent rules for cloning one.

Tips and variations

• Read the script aloud before recording; rewrite any sentence you stumble on.
• Ask for a 60-second vertical cut of the same script for short-form platforms.
• Add “Include chapter titles every 1-2 minutes” for longer YouTube videos.
• Turn the voice-over column into captions after recording, and check them against the final audio.
• Only clone a voice with the speaker’s explicit permission.
• Check facts, product names and prices in the script before recording; fixing a spoken error later means re-recording.