How To Write A YouTube Script

by Josh Band

The Structure Of A Good YouTube Script
There are tons of different structures for YouTube scripts online and it varies by video type. For example, a video which is focused on entertainment from Mr Beast will have a lot of storytelling aspects such as turning points, climaxes, etc.
For our videos where we're generally making educational videos that either:
(a) Make the viewers' life easier
(b) Solve solutions to common problems the viewer has
(c) Improve the viewers' business and revenue
A typical structure for our videos should look like this:
Here's What A Good Script Looks Like
Wording: Scripts should sound like someone thinking out loud, not reading an essay. If it doesn’t sound right when spoken out loud, it doesn't work.
Structure: It constantly opens and closes loops - every section should create a reason to keep watching.
Flow: Each line should naturally provoke the next line. No hard stops, no “anyway”, no obvious transitions.
Concise: If a line doesn’t increase curiosity, clarity, emotion, or momentum, remove it. A lot of entrepeneurs try to hard to sound smart and it confuses the viewer.
Intentional: A good script respects the viewer’s attention. It assumes they have zero patience and avoids long warm-ups and waffling about irrelevant information.
Writing Hooks That Capture Attention
The hook is the single most important part of a YouTube script.
It's the part that should take the most time and work to get right.
After all, if the hook is bad, the rest of the script is irrelevant as the viewer will have stopped watching.
YouTube scripts need to capture the viewers' attention, reaffirm why they clicked, and incentivise them to watch as much of the video as possible.
The perfect YouTube hook will:
  • Reiterate the Title
  • Relate to Audience
  • Sell Viewer a Dream
  • Present Problem
  • Promise Solution
  • Present Self as Authority Figure
  • Give an incentive to watch until the end (retention)
Examples Of Good & Bad Hooks
Good Hook Examples:
Title: Why Most AirBNB Hosts Fail (And How To Succeed)
There are over 8 million active listings on Airbnb. And the truth is, almost all of them aren’t getting bookings.
Title: I Made £500,000 with Amazon FBA Online Arbitrage
I started Amazon FBA in October 2022 and on 23rd April 2025 I crossed £500,000 in total profit.
Title: What Separates A $2,000/m Designer From A $10,000/m Designer
This might be a shock to you but what separates a $2,000 per month designer from a $10,000 per month designer has very little to do with being the most talented designer.
Bad Hook Examples:
Title: Why Most AirBNB Hosts Fail (And How To Succeed)
AirBNB hosting isn't "dead"... You're just doing it wrong.
Title: I Made £500,000 with Amazon FBA Online Arbitrage
Hey guys, Felix here and in today's video I'm going to be talking about how I made £500,000 with Amazon FBA.
Title: What Separates A $2,000/m Designer From A $10,000/m Designer
There are a lot of differences between $2000/month designers and $10,000/month designers and today I'm going to show you what they are.
Typical Hook Structure
  1. Reiterate Title - Yellow
  1. Present Problem - Green
  1. Demonstrate Authority - Pink
  1. Promise Solution - Blue
  1. Give Incentive To Watch - Orange
Script Bodies
The most important part of the body is choosing the right headings. Each section needs to fit with the title, provide an opportunity for the client to elaborate, and flow nicely in the overall structure.
A good example of this for a video titled "how to start a business" would be:
Making a list of your skills/interests > Doing market research into business models > Choosing a business model > Figuring out how you can improve the model / what your USP is > Starting the business
Rather than a structure where starting the business comes before creating your USP. It needs to flow nicely and all of the points are relevant to the title, without flamboyant language or made up names for systems.
Examples Of Good & Bad Script Bodies
Examples of good script bodies:
Examples of bad script bodies:
Writing CTAs That Make People Want To Click
The CTA (call to action) is also incredibly important to get right. It's how we get people to click the link in the description, which in other words, is how you make money from YouTube.
A good CTA will:
  • Present problem - Blue
  • Focus on the benefits for the viewer - Green
  • Introduce the offer - Pink
  • Give clear next step - Purple
  • Be low commitment for the viewer - Orange
  • Outro - keep the viewer on your channel - Grey
Examples Of Good & Bad CTAs
Good CTA Examples:
Examples of bad CTAs:
Mid-Video CTAs
The reality is, the majority of people who watch your video, won't make it until the end. This is a problem because if most people don't watch to the end, most people don't hear about your offer.
So you should include a mid-video CTA around 20-30% of the way into the video. And it should be really brief and concise, only 2-3 sentences long, but still ticking the same points as before:
  • Present problem - Blue
  • Focus on the benefits for the viewer - Green
  • Introduce the offer - Pink
  • Give clear next step - Purple
  • Be low commitment for the viewer - Orange
  • Fit naturally into the video - Grey
Scriptwriting Process
Our scriptwriting process uses a combination of Claude (AI) and manual copywriting.
Generally, this is what the process looks like:
  1. Competitor Research
  1. Claude Set Up
  1. Generate Initial Script
  1. Check Structure
  1. Verify Information
  1. Refine Script
  1. Final Touches
1. Competitor Research
Before you start a script, see what's already working. Watching videos with similar titles ensures your script includes the crucial points that authority figures in the niche are covering. You don't want to exclude anything important.
How to Do It:
  1. Search your video title (or similar) on YouTube
  1. Watch 1-2 top-performing videos
  1. Note the key points they cover
  1. Identify any gaps you can fill
OR
  1. Search your video title (or similar) on YouTube
  1. Take the top 1-2 videos and generate the transcript
  1. Ask ChatGPT what key points they cover
  1. Identify any gaps you can fill
2 + 3. Claude Set Up & Script Generation
When it comes to writing an individual script, you will already have a Claude project, so the actual set up process for each individual script is minimal.
You just need to let Claude know what the title is, as well as include any additional resources or information you have for this specific script. This is where you can mention anything you found from your competitor research.
Then, you want to send this prompt:

Create a YouTube script for a video with this title. You should only use information from the resources provided. If you do not have any information, you can use instructional prompts so the person recording can give their thoughts. The script should be optimised for YouTube in a way that flows naturally with each section building on the last. It should not be AI sounding, and it should not have an y AI hallucinations.
From here, Claude will generate the first draft of the script and usually will send it as an MD.
4. Check The Structure
As I said before, a good body all comes down to the structure. So you want to make sure that Claude has generated something that actually makes sense.
Give the body a quick run through and see if there are any glaringly obvious errors, if so, let Claude know what these are and it will ammend them.
But regardless, I always send this prompt even if I think the sructure is good:

Do you think this current structure works for a YouTube video. Send your answer as a normal message, do not update anything without my approval. You can say yes or no but give your reasoning and explanation why it does or does not work. If it does not work, give a suggestion on how to improve it.
From there, it’ll almost always suggest a way to improve it - even if you already thought it was good to begin with.
5. Verify Information
Since we only want the script to include information that you actually agree with, you need to verify what Claude has included in the script.
You can do this manually by reading through and changing anything you disagree with, or you can send this prompt:

Please verify that all of the information included in the script is taken from the resources I have provided either in this chat or in the project. Send me a tick or an X for each part.
This also removes any AI hallucinations which Claude has come up with.
If it’s all verified, then you can start to work through the script. If there are any parts that aren’t verified, I send this prompt:

For the parts that are not verified, please either replace them with information we have from the resources, or if there is nothing that fits, include an instructional prompt so the person recording can share their expertise.
This is what we do for our clients - but obviously you can then take the instructional prompts and adapt them yourself to say what you actually agree with.
If you want to script your bodies word-for-word so you can use a teleprompter, you can use this prompt:

I want to turn the body into a word-for-word script so I can just use the teleprompter when recording. It needs to be in a normal, casual tone, it shouldn’t be AI sounding, and the tone should work well for a YouTube video. Send me it as a new message, not an MD.
6. Refine Script
From there, I work my way through the script. The intro normally just needs a bit of tweaking to remove AI sounding language and usually just to make it flow better. Sometimes I remove a sentence or two as well because it’s a bit long sometimes.
For the body, I always copy and paste the first section back into claude with this prompt:

The first section is wishy washy and surface level. It explains the what, but not the why or the how. It is missing context in parts and overall just lacks depth. It also does not have any flow so please add transition words to make it flow better.
I do this even if the first section is good because it always improves it. From there, I edit it manually. Then I copy and paste it back into Claude and say this:

Tell me what I have changed about this section. I don’t mean the actual literal words. I mean the principles of what I have edited.
It’ll normally say things like “you’ve added clarity and explanations” and “you’ve made things flow better” and things like this.
From here, you tell it to do the same for the 2nd section. And so on and so forth until you’ve done the whole body. Note it’s best to do it section by section because claude gets lazy if you ask it to do the whole script at once.
7. Final Touches
Copy and paste the full script back into Claude and ask:

What do you think of this script? Are there any inconsistencies, spelling mistakes, or areas that could be improved?
What Claude Typically Catches:
  • Inconsistencies between sections
  • Spelling and grammar mistakes
  • Awkward phrasing or repetition
  • Missing transitions
  • Tone shifts
Why This Works:
You can spot things you've become blind to after editing. Claude will usually flag 2-3 small issues you can quickly fix before finalizing.
And then you have a completed script, ready to record.
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