The Script as Step One: Why Your eLearning Video or Demo Must Have a Script First

When it comes to creating a product demovideo it’s often intuitive to create the video first. After that, the scriptflows in, right?

Well, not quite.

If you create the video first, yousacrifice fluidity and opportunity to emphasize. The only limit you should haveis the length of the video you desire. That limitation is enough to build thefoundation of your video.

I recently constructed a short videoabout our learning software. In 44 seconds, it explains what Lesson.ly is andhow it helps businesses grow. There is a longer version (six and a halfminutes) that adds detail, showing how to actually use core parts of thesoftware.

In both cases I wrote the script first.With the complexity of animation included, editing Lesson.ly’s short productdemo took me three hours. The longer version took about eight to ten hours toedit. But if I hadn’t written the script and imagined the formatting prior, Iwould’ve added hours to my workload.

Here are three reasons why scriptwritingfirst makes the entire production run smoother:

1. You’ll think about what you’re saying

   Ditch the technical jargon, and speaklike you would to a friend. Having the main selling points in your video isenough to hit your target market, but anyone who watches your production shouldbe able to easily comprehend what you’re saying.

2. You’re planning without realizing it

   There’s always an initial anxiety withany project to immediately take action—to do instead of think. Yes, writing ascript is doing something, but as you write, you’re planning your future movesas well. Instead of being overwhelmed at where to start and what graphics touse, a script frames the entire production. It works as an outline. Thinkingabout what you want to say will instigate thinking about what you’ll show andthe time it will take.

3. Editing doesn’t become tedious

   With a script in-hand, recording thevoice-over and editing the video becomes less of a hassle. There’s less clipmaneuvering, cutting, and uncertainty. The script’s framework forces you toimagine what visuals you want and where you want them. It creates a paved roadto completion, not a rocky one.

   Editing after creating a script allowsyou to improve instead of improvise. Instead of adding things you forget,having the script lets you improve what you already have. You wrote the scriptknowing what you wanted in it. Now, take what you had planned, and make it better.

Want more?

So you can see what was involved in creating and editing them,these links will take you to the short video and the longer version that Max wrote about. This should give you some basis forestimating the length of time it takes to create and edit similar length videoswith similar use of graphics and animation.