Welcome back to my Beginner’s Guide: Making Your Own Training Videos series. This guide is for anyone interested in learning about making training videos, also known as learning videos.
The Beginner’s Guide to Making Training Videos will give you everything you need to start creating effective video for learning. It’s full of practical processes, guidance, and advice on how to execute learning videos of all sizes using a repeatable and customizable process. If you missed my first post, which covered the first step to making a learning video (set a goal), check it out here. This post focuses on step 2: write the script or the 8-step process.
Step 2: Write the Script
After you’ve set your goal, it’s time to write your script.
Writing for the small screen, especially a screen used to aid in the learning process, is like learning to drive a manual transmission after driving automatic cars for years. The basics are the same, but now there is a new set of steps to follow in order to keep the engine moving in the right direction. For example, you must have a mastery understanding of the writing process, a wide vocabulary, a consistent style, and knowledge of proper grammar and punctuation. To make your writing work on the small screen specifically for learning purposes, you also must master the instructional design process and adhere to its best practices.
And, you need a cursory understanding of screenwriting. When you are creating scripts for learning, you must become well versed in writing for narration, dialogue, and screen action.
The Scriptwriter’s Mindset
The Scriptwriter’s Mindset can be achieved by following these 4 rules.
- Let it go! In order to deliver on the promise of video for learning, you need to have an open-minded, inquisitive, and fiercely dedicated mindset. If you are going to improve the knowledge, skills, and behaviors of your audience, then I suggest letting go of your biases and your ego as it relates to the content. Criticism about your writing is not a personal attack on you as an individual. Let it go, let it go, don’t hold onto it anymore.
- Be consistent. Be consistent in your approach to method and style. Keep a consistent tone. You wouldn’t start out a video saying, “Hey dudes!” and end it with a word-for-word reading of a workplace policy straight from the employee handbook.
- Share error-free. Focus on the details so that you always, always, share error-free versions with your reviewers. It helps them stay on task, reviewing your content and not your grammar.
- Simple and concise makes everything nice. Omit needless words. I had a teacher who once called them “weeny words” – they take away from the message and waste valuable screentime.
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Use a Formula
There are proven methods for writing certain types of learning video. Use them! They are proven methods for a reason. Check out the below post to find out what I mean.
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The Writing Process
Research/Pre-Write
The research and pre-write phase is when you organize your thoughts. Review your learning strategy and instructional design document to immerse yourself in the project’s purpose. Locate the learning objectives and read them aloud. With learning objectives in mind, start by asking yourself these script-shaping questions:
- What type of video will work best for the content?
- Should we be modeling behavior?
- Should the actor speak directly to the learner (audience)?
- Will narration without speaking actors suffice?
- And perhaps the most controversial question of them all: is a video even the appropriate solution?
Draft
Write out the entirety of the script based on the results of your pre-writing and research. Choose your sequence of events for the video, what your actors or narrator will say, and even what actions will be happening on screen. You can always tweak things later, but the rest of the writing process will be much smoother if you get a substantial draft down first. It’s a great idea to read through your script as you’re drafting it to make sure that all dialogue and narration sound natural.
Revise
Once you have your draft, it’s time to revise. Take a deep breath and read through your script again. Have some of your colleagues read through it as well. Make notes on the script of what isn’t working or scenes that need to be revisited. Perhaps a concept is too vague to get the point across or maybe it’s over-explained and making things drag. Once you’ve completed the revision stage, go back to step 2 and produce another draft based on your findings. Rinse and repeat between steps 2 and 3 as needed, until you feel really great about your script. You’re almost there!
Edit
So, you’ve got a respectable final draft. Congrats! It’s time for editing. Get an objective editor to go through your entire script and correct things like grammar, syntax, punctuation, and clarity. What if you don’t have access to another human? Try running the copy through Grammarly, Google Docs, or Microsoft Word. Each tool will give you suggestions on how to correct the copy based on their set of grammar rules. Warning: When comparing these programs, you will find that each has its own varying opinion for certain language situations.
Publish
After editing, it’s time to publish! This means locking down the final version of your script and distributing it to all the appropriate people. Make sure you back-up the final copy of your script to at least two locations.
Pro-tip: Use file naming conventions that make it easy to keep track of versions. Avoid the “ScriptName_FinalFINALFINAL” conundrum. i.e. “
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The Writing Process for Learning Videos
Recap: Write the Script
Scriptwriting is where instructional design meets creativity. Writing is a skill that takes practice and confidence. Most importantly, confidence is the result of practice. Using an iterative writing process will yield a document ready for actors and the production crew. Remember: you are writing for the small screen. So, offer natural lines for your actors that allow them to show instead of telling the viewer important information aimed at improving their knowledge, skills, or behavior.
Keep a weather eye out for Step 3: Plan the Video coming soon.
