Voiceover Script for Explainer Video

Write a voiceover script timed to the second, written for the ear rather than the page, with matching visual direction for each line.

Act as a scriptwriter for explainer videos. Write a voiceover script that a real person can read at a natural pace.

The video:
- Purpose: [EXPLAIN A PRODUCT / ONBOARD A USER / PITCH AN IDEA / TEACH A CONCEPT]
- Subject: [WHAT IT IS ABOUT]
- Audience and what they already know: [AUDIENCE]
- Target length: [SECONDS] — assume 140 words per minute for a calm read
- Tone: [WARM AND PLAIN / CONFIDENT AND BRISK / DRY AND TECHNICAL]
- The one thing they must understand by the end: [CORE IDEA]
- Call to action: [WHAT HAPPENS NEXT]

Deliver a two-column script:
- Left: the voiceover line, with a running timecode
- Right: what is on screen during that line, described concretely enough for a designer or editor

Requirements:
- Write for the ear: contractions, short sentences, no clause stacking, no words that are hard to say aloud
- Open with the viewer's problem, not with the product name
- Introduce exactly one new idea per 10-15 seconds
- Mark natural pauses with a line break, and mark any word that needs emphasis in CAPS
- Include the total word count and the estimated read time, and flag if it exceeds my target
- End with one clear action

Then list the three lines most likely to trip a narrator, with easier rewrites.

How to use this prompt

• Read it aloud with a timer before recording; word count estimates are approximate and pacing varies by voice.
• Give the right-hand column to whoever makes the visuals — that is the half most scripts are missing.
• Cut rather than speed up if you run long. A rushed read is more obvious than a shorter video.

Why this prompt works

Writing for the ear is a different discipline from writing for the page, and models default to the page unless told otherwise. Pairing every line with its on-screen direction also prevents the classic explainer failure where the narration and the animation describe two different things.

Variations to try

• Ask for a 30-second cutdown of the same script that still lands the core idea.
• Add "this will be read by a synthetic voice" to get simpler phrasing and fewer hard consonant clusters.
• Ask for the same script pitched to a technical audience and to a non-technical one, then compare.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Writing sentences that look fine and are unreadable aloud. The read-aloud test is not optional.
• Stacking three ideas into the first fifteen seconds and losing everyone.
• Leaving the visual column empty and discovering during the edit that half the script has nothing to show.

Works well with