Scripts & Video prompts

Write a video script.

TOPIC: [WHAT IT IS ABOUT]
LENGTH: [MINUTES]
PLATFORM: [YouTube / short-form vertical / course / internal training / ad]
VIEWER: [WHO AND WHY THEY CLICKED]
WHAT THEY SHOULD DO OR KNOW AFTERWARDS: [OUTCOME]
WHAT I KNOW THAT OTHERS DO NOT: [YOUR ANGLE OR EXPERIENCE]
PRESENTATION: [talking head / voiceover over screen / animation / no face]

Structure:

**0-5 seconds**: the hook. State the specific promise or show the result. No introduction, no 'hey guys', no channel branding, no 'in this video I'm going to'.

**5-20 seconds**: why this viewer should stay. What they get and roughly when.

**Body**: sections, each with a timestamp, the point it makes, and how it opens. Every section must open with something that earns attention - a question, a claim, a result - not a transition phrase.

**Close**: the actual conclusion, then one call to action. Not three.

For each line of script, mark whether it is spoken, on-screen text, or a visual note.

Also give me:
- THE RETENTION RISKS - the three moments most likely to lose the viewer, and what to do at each. Usually: right after the hook, at any point where you explain background, and before the payoff.
- WHAT TO CUT if this runs long, in order
- THE TITLE AND THUMBNAIL CONCEPT that matches this hook

Rules:
- Write to be spoken. Short sentences. No subordinate clauses that only work on the page.
- Do not front-load context. Get to the substance and backfill.
- No 'before we get started', no 'don't forget to like and subscribe' mid-video.
- If this content does not need [LENGTH] minutes, say so and give the honest length.

Write a short-form vertical video script.

PLATFORM: [TikTok / Reels / Shorts]
LENGTH: [SECONDS - 15, 30, 45 or 60]
TOPIC: [WHAT IT IS ABOUT]
VIEWER: [WHO]
THE ONE THING they should take away: [TAKEAWAY]
MY FORMAT: [talking to camera / voiceover with b-roll / text on screen / screen recording]

Structure it second by second:

**Second 0-1**: the visual and the first words. These must work with sound off - most viewers see before they hear. Give the on-screen text for this moment.
**Second 1-3**: the promise or the tension. Why keep watching.
**Middle**: the content, in beats. Something must change every 3-5 seconds: a new point, a cut, a visual change, a question.
**Last 3 seconds**: the payoff. Deliver what the hook promised. Optionally a loop back to the start.

Output as a table: Time | Spoken | On-screen text | Visual

Rules:
- One idea only. Short-form fails by trying to cover two.
- The hook must be the most interesting thing, not a build-up to it.
- No introduction of yourself. No 'part 1 of a series'.
- Assume sound off for the first two seconds - the on-screen text carries the hook.
- Write spoken lines to be said in one breath.
- No 'follow for more' before the payoff.

Then give:
- THREE ALTERNATIVE HOOKS for the same content
- THE CAPTION, written to add something rather than repeat the video
- THE HONEST CHECK: is this idea too big for [LENGTH] seconds? If so, say what to cut or split.

Plan a podcast interview.

GUEST: [WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY ARE KNOWN FOR]
WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THEM: [BACKGROUND, THEIR WORK, ANYTHING YOU HAVE READ]
MY AUDIENCE: [WHO LISTENS AND WHAT THEY WANT]
EPISODE LENGTH: [MINUTES]
WHAT I WANT THE EPISODE TO BE ABOUT: [ANGLE]

Produce:

1. THE ANGLE - the specific thing this conversation is about. Not 'their career'. The narrower the better.

2. WHAT THEY HAVE ALREADY SAID EVERYWHERE - the questions they have answered a hundred times, which will produce their rehearsed answer. List them so I avoid them.

3. THE QUESTION ARC - 8-12 questions in an order that builds. Start with something concrete and specific rather than broad, because opening with 'tell us about your journey' produces a rehearsed monologue.
   For each question: the question itself, why it will produce something interesting, and a follow-up probe if the answer is thin.

4. THE THREE BEST QUESTIONS - the ones most likely to produce something they have not said before. Usually these are about: a specific decision and its alternative, something that did not work, a disagreement with their own field, or a concrete detail of how they actually work.

5. THE UNCOMFORTABLE ONE - the question worth asking that they might not enjoy, phrased fairly. Whether to ask it is my call; give me the best version of it.

6. WHERE TO LET IT WANDER - the topics where a tangent would be better than the next question.

7. THE OPENING AND CLOSING - the first question, and how to end without 'where can people find you'.

Rules:
- No question answerable with yes or no.
- No two-part questions; they always answer the second and forget the first.
- No 'what advice would you give'. It produces platitudes every time.
- Prefer 'tell me about the time when' over 'what do you think about'.

Write a product demo script.

PRODUCT: [WHAT IT IS]
AUDIENCE: [WHO IS WATCHING AND WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT]
CONTEXT: [sales demo / onboarding / conference talk / recorded walkthrough]
LENGTH: [MINUTES]
THE PROBLEM IT SOLVES: [THE PAIN]
WHAT I MUST SHOW: [REQUIRED FEATURES]
WHAT USUALLY GOES WRONG IN MY DEMOS: [IF ANYTHING]

Structure:

1. THE BEFORE - 30 seconds on the painful current state, in the audience's terms. Concrete, not abstract. This is what makes the rest land.
2. THE PAYOFF FIRST - show the end result before showing how to get there. Audiences need to know where you are going.
3. THE WALKTHROUGH - the path from problem to result. For each step: what you click, what you say, and what the audience should notice. Say the benefit, not the feature name.
4. THE MOMENT - the single point where the audience should be impressed. Identify it and say how to slow down and let it land.
5. THE CLOSE - what they do next.

Rules:
- Never narrate the interface. Nobody needs 'and here I'll click the settings icon'. Say what you are achieving.
- Use realistic data. Demo data called 'Test Customer 1' undermines everything.
- Do not show every feature. Show the path that solves the stated problem.
- Have an answer ready for 'can it do X' that is not a detour into another feature.

Also give me:
- THE CUT LIST if it runs long
- THE THREE QUESTIONS the audience will interrupt with, and short answers that do not derail the demo
- THE FAILURE PLAN - what to say if something does not load or breaks live
- WHAT NOT TO SHOW - features that will raise questions you do not want to answer yet

Help me build a conference talk.

THE IDEA: [WHAT YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT]
WHY YOU: [YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THIS]
AUDIENCE: [WHO ATTENDS, THEIR LEVEL]
LENGTH: [MINUTES INCLUDING OR EXCLUDING Q&A]
WHAT THEY SHOULD DO DIFFERENTLY AFTERWARDS: [OUTCOME]
CONFERENCE TYPE: [TECHNICAL / INDUSTRY / ACADEMIC / INTERNAL]

Produce:

1. THE ONE SENTENCE - what this talk argues. If it is 'here is an overview of X', that is not a talk, it is a documentation page read aloud. Push me toward a claim.

2. THE TALK'S SHAPE - one of: problem→journey→solution, a thesis defended, a story with a lesson, or a myth dismantled. Recommend one for this material and say why.

3. THE STRUCTURE - sections with minute budgets. Budget 80% of the stated time; talks always run long.

4. THE OPENING 90 SECONDS - written out. No agenda slide, no 'a bit about me' beyond one sentence, no apology. Start with the problem or a specific moment.

5. THE SPINE - the 5-7 points the audience should retain, in order. If they remember nothing else, these.

6. THE SPECIFIC BITS - talks are remembered for concrete details: a number, a failure, a real example, a screenshot of something real. From what I told you, which specifics should anchor each section? Mark [NEED] where I have not given you one.

7. THE HONEST PART - the talk needs a moment where you say something true and slightly uncomfortable: what did not work, what you got wrong, what the trade-off actually is. Audiences trust talks that admit cost. Identify where it goes.

8. SLIDE GUIDANCE - roughly how many, and what belongs on them versus what you say. No slide should be readable and listened to at once.

9. THE Q&A PREP - the four questions you will be asked, including the hostile one.

10. THE ABSTRACT - the submission version, under 200 words.

Write a voiceover script for this footage.

FOOTAGE DESCRIPTION: [WHAT IS ON SCREEN, WITH TIMINGS IF YOU HAVE THEM]
TOTAL LENGTH: [DURATION]
PURPOSE: [explainer / brand film / tutorial / documentary / ad]
AUDIENCE: [WHO]
TONE: [DESCRIPTION]
MUSIC OR AMBIENT SOUND: [IF ANY]

Produce a table: Timecode | Visual | Voiceover | Words | Notes

Pacing rules:
- Conversational narration runs roughly 140-160 words per minute. Slower for emotional or technical content, faster for energetic. Calculate the word budget per segment and stay inside it.
- Leave silence. Footage that speaks for itself should not be narrated over. Mark these segments [NO VO] deliberately.
- Never describe what is visible. If the viewer can see it, say something else: why it matters, what happened before, what it leads to.
- Land key lines on visual cuts, not across them.

Writing rules:
- Write for the ear: short sentences, active voice, no clauses that require rereading.
- No tongue-twisters or awkward consonant clusters.
- Numbers written as they should be spoken ('twenty-twenty-six', not '2026').
- Mark [PAUSE], [EMPHASIS] and pronunciation for anything unusual.

Then give me:
- WHERE THE SCRIPT IS FIGHTING THE FOOTAGE - moments where what I want to say does not match what is on screen, and whether to change the words or the edit
- TOTAL WORD COUNT AND RUNTIME estimate
- THE THREE LINES that carry the piece

Write or improve this dialogue.

SCENE/SITUATION: [WHAT IS HAPPENING]
CHARACTERS: [WHO THEY ARE, THEIR RELATIONSHIP, WHAT EACH WANTS IN THIS SCENE]
WHAT MUST HAPPEN IN THE SCENE: [PLOT OR INFORMATION REQUIREMENT]
MEDIUM: [screenplay / novel / audio drama / game / training video]
EXISTING DRAFT: [PASTE, or 'write it from scratch']

Write the dialogue, applying these principles:

1. CHARACTERS WANT DIFFERENT THINGS - dialogue without conflicting wants is exposition with quote marks. If both characters want the same thing here, tell me the scene has a structural problem.
2. PEOPLE DO NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION ASKED - they deflect, change subject, answer a different question, or answer the emotion rather than the words.
3. DISTINCT VOICES - each character should be identifiable with the names removed. Vary: sentence length, vocabulary, how directly they speak, what they avoid, verbal habits (sparingly).
4. SUBTEXT - the most important thing in the scene should mostly not be said aloud.
5. INTERRUPTION AND OVERLAP - real conversation is not turn-taking.
6. CUT THE GREETING - start the scene as late as possible, after the small talk.

Rules:
- No character explains something both already know for the audience's benefit
- No speech longer than four lines unless the character is deliberately holding the floor and that is the point
- Sparing dialect spelling. Rhythm and word choice convey accent better than phonetic spelling.
- Cut dialogue tags where the speaker is obvious

Then tell me:
- THE VOICE TEST - cover the names: can you tell who is speaking? Where you cannot, say so.
- WHAT IS BEING SAID ALOUD THAT SHOULD BE SUBTEXT
- WHERE THE SCENE COULD START LATER