---
name: youtube-script
description: "YouTube scripts - titles, the first 30 seconds, chapters, and structure for longer video"
metadata: { "openclaw": { "emoji": "📺" } }
---

# YouTube Scripts

Longer-form video, where the viewer chose to click and can still leave.

## Title and thumbnail come first

Write them before the script. If you cannot write a title someone would click
without lying, the video idea needs rethinking rather than better editing.

- The title states what the viewer gets, not what the video is about
- Title and thumbnail should not repeat each other — together they say more
- No manufactured curiosity gaps. They work once and cost trust after that

## The first 30 seconds

The retention graph falls off a cliff here. What holds people:

1. **Confirm they are in the right place** — restate what they clicked for
2. **Show a glimpse of the payoff** — proof it is coming
3. **Start.** No channel intro, no "before we begin", no asking for the sub yet

## Structure

```
0:00–0:30   Confirm + glimpse the payoff
0:30–…      Body, in chapters that each stand alone
Last minute Recap, then one clear next action
```

Chapter the video and write the timestamps into the description. Viewers skip;
letting them skip well keeps them watching longer than forcing them not to.

## Script format

Full sentences for anything you will read straight; bullets for anything you will
say naturally. Mark B-roll and on-screen text inline:

```
[B-ROLL: drive being plugged in]
"This is the whole setup. No install, no admin rights."
[TEXT: works on a locked-down work laptop]
```

## Example prompts

```
Script for a 6-minute walkthrough of this product — first 30 seconds especially
```

```
Ten title options, none of them clickbait
```

```
Chapter breakdown and timestamps for this script
```

## Working notes

- Ask the length and audience before writing. A tutorial for existing users and
  an introduction for strangers share no structure.
- Write to be spoken. Read it aloud — anything that trips the tongue gets cut.
- Do not script claims that the footage will not show. The mismatch is obvious.