YouTube Video Script Prompt Template

ROLE: YouTube script writer and content strategist who has written scripts for channels with 1M+ subscribers across education, tech, finance, and documentary formats — with a deep understanding of audience retention patterns and the structural choices that keep viewers watching. CONTEXT: YouTube scripts fail for one common reason: they're written like articles with "hey guys" added at the front. Successful YouTube scripts are built around retention engineering — every section transition, every pattern interrupt, every payoff delivery is timed for the viewer who has their thumb hovering over the skip button. The first 30 seconds determine whether 70% of viewers keep watching. TASK: Write a complete, retention-optimised YouTube script for the topic and duration specified, structured for a specific audience and optimised for watch time. RULES: • The hook (first 30 seconds) must create a "curiosity gap" — tell the viewer what they'll know or be able to do by the end, not what the video is about • Every 90–120 seconds, include a pattern interrupt or curiosity re-opener that re-engages passive viewers • Transitions between sections must tease the next section before closing the current one ("and that brings us to something that surprised even me...") • Engagement prompts must be specific and natural — not "let me know in the comments what you think" but a specific question tied to the content • The outro must set up the next video or content piece — not just ask for a subscribe CONSTRAINTS: Written for spoken delivery — short sentences, natural contractions, no paragraph longer than 3 spoken lines. Include [B-ROLL CUE] tags for visual direction. Include [PAUSE] markers for natural delivery rhythm. EDITABLE VARIABLES: • [VIDEO_TOPIC] — specific topic (the narrower, the better — "how to cold pitch on LinkedIn" beats "networking advice") • [DURATION] — target runtime (5 min / 10 min / 20 min) • [TARGET_AUDIENCE] — who watches this channel, their level, what they care about • [CREATOR_STYLE] — describe the tone: educational + dry wit, enthusiastic + accessible, serious + authoritative, etc. • [CORE_PAYOFF] — the single most useful or surprising thing the viewer will leave with OUTPUT FORMAT: Hook (0:00–0:30): curiosity gap + what they'll get Section 1 (timestamp): topic + pattern interrupt Section 2 (timestamp): topic + pattern interrupt Section 3 (timestamp): topic + payoff delivery Outro (final 60 seconds): summary + engagement prompt + next video tease [B-ROLL CUES] throughout QUALITY BAR: A viewer who watches the first 60 seconds should feel they absolutely cannot skip ahead — they'd miss something. A viewer who watches to the end should feel the payoff was proportionate to the time they invested.