{"id":109,"date":"2026-03-18T18:54:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T18:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/?page_id=109"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:25:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:25:46","slug":"script-writing-guide-for-instructional-video","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/script-writing-guide-for-instructional-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Script Writing Guide for Instructional Video"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Research from a large\u2011scale study of 6.9 million online video\u2011watching sessions shows that students consistently engage far more with short videos\u2014ideally under six minutes\u2014than with longer, multi\u2011topic recordings (Guo, Kim, &amp; Rubin, 2014*).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To keep your video short, write a script!&nbsp; The Media Team highly recommends it.&nbsp; A script keeps your writing succinct and organized.&nbsp; You\u2019ll be able to stay on topic and avoid a rambling narrative.&nbsp; Finally, you\u2019ll know if you have a complete idea with little chance of wondering, \u201cDid I leave something out?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\">What is the Goal?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>To help focus the script, address one big idea or goal per video.&nbsp; Consider writing down the goal before you even begin scripting the video.&nbsp; Here are examples goals for the most common videos in an online course:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-3\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"3\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Video Goal\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a069704a874b&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a069704a874b\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"200\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/207\/2026\/03\/Untitled-7-25.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/207\/2026\/03\/Untitled-7-25.png 1000w, https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/207\/2026\/03\/Untitled-7-25-300x60.png 300w, https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/207\/2026\/03\/Untitled-7-25-768x154.png 768w, https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/207\/2026\/03\/Untitled-7-25-400x80.png 400w, https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/207\/2026\/03\/Untitled-7-25-800x160.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\">To Script or Not to Script<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-dark-gray-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-10e044b015a648fb0b73043f0ac7eac7\">Writing a script can steady your delivery, but it often tempts you to read rather than speak, which flattens the emotion that helps audiences connect. Because video strengthens the classroom community, many instructors find that using a detailed outline instead of a full script allows their natural tone and passion for the discipline to emerge\u2014even with small imperfections. (NOTE: small mistakes can be endearing and add authenticity).&nbsp; Whether you choose to write a script or an outline, rehearse before recording; the practice will sharpen your message and reduce the inevitable stumbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gen AI Tools and Script Writing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The age of Generative AI is upon us! These tools can speed up our journey from idea to script, but can remove authenticity and are known for generating inaccuracies. Always carefully review and edit your outputs! For tips on using Gen AI tools to co-write a video script and a prompt framework tailored to instructional videos, see our page on <a href=\"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/gen-ai-tools-and-script-writing\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"137\">Gen AI Tools and Script Writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-dark-gray-color has-text-color has-link-color has-small-font-size wp-elements-9a0275717b5349a9e03dfb7bf25059ae\">*Guo, P. J., Kim, J., &amp; Rubin, R. (2014). How video production affects student engagement: An empirical study of MOOC videos. Proceedings of the First ACM Conference on Learning at Scale, 41\u201350. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/2556325.2566239\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/2556325.2566239<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research from a large\u2011scale study of 6.9 million online video\u2011watching sessions shows that students consistently engage far more with short videos\u2014ideally under six minutes\u2014than with longer, multi\u2011topic recordings (Guo, Kim, &amp; Rubin, 2014*). To keep your video short, write a script!&nbsp; The Media Team highly recommends it.&nbsp; A script keeps your writing succinct and organized.&nbsp; &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/script-writing-guide-for-instructional-video\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Script Writing Guide for Instructional Video&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-109","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":507,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109\/revisions\/507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/media-team-vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}