How to write an explainer video script (with a template)

A good explainer video script has six parts: a hook, the idea, how it works, a real example, a question for the viewer and a one-line recap. At about 150 words per minute of narration, a one-minute script is roughly 150 words. Below is the structure, a fill-in template, a worked example and the mistakes to avoid.

The six-part structure

1. Hook (first 10 seconds). Give people a reason to stay: a surprising fact, a common myth, a question they have wondered about. Skip the clichés; “Have you ever wondered…” is the “Once upon a time” of explainers.
2. The idea, through an everyday comparison. One sentence saying what this is, tied to something familiar. The comparison comes before the technical term, never after.
3. How it works. The mechanism, step by step. This is the core of the video and gets the most time.
4. A real example. Where the viewer meets this in real life. It turns an abstract idea into something they will notice tomorrow.
5. A question. Ask the viewer something they can answer from what they just watched, then pause for a second or two. Retrieving an answer makes it stick far better than hearing it again, as the research on learning shows.
6. A one-line recap. The answer, in a single memorable sentence. Then stop.

Fill-in template for a 60-second script

Copy this, keep each part to its word budget, and you will land close to one minute:

Part	Words	Your line
Hook	15–25	A surprise, a myth or a question about ___
The idea	20–30	___ is like ___ because ___
How it works	50–70	First ___. Then ___. That is why ___.
Real example	15–25	You see this when ___
Question	10–15	So, ___? (pause)
Recap	10–15	___ in one line.

For longer videos, stretch “How it works” into several scenes of one idea each, and keep the whole video under six minutes.

A worked example: why bread goes stale

Here is the template filled in, at about 150 words:

Hook: Leave bread on the counter and it goes hard. Most people think it’s drying out. Mostly, it isn’t.

The idea: Inside fresh bread, starch is like a relaxed crowd, holding water loosely between everyone.

How it works: As the loaf sits, the starch slowly lines up again, like that crowd forming tidy rows. As the rows form, they squeeze the water out, and the soft crumb turns firm and crumbly. Scientists call it retrogradation.

Real example: That’s why bread goes stale fastest in the fridge: the cold speeds up the lining up. The freezer almost stops it. And a few minutes in a hot oven loosens the rows again, which is why stale bread comes back to life, for a while.

Question: So where should you keep bread you’ll eat this week? (pause)

Recap: On the counter for a few days, in the freezer for longer, and never in the fridge.

Notice what the script does: the comparison (a crowd) comes before the technical word, every sentence could be drawn, and the question tests the idea rather than a trivia fact.

Write for the ear, not the eye

A script is heard once, at the speaker’s pace. So:

• Short sentences. One thought each. If you run out of breath reading it, split it.
• Contractions and everyday words. “It’s” not “it is”, “use” not “utilise”. Write the way you would explain it across a table.
• Say the thing you will draw. Every drawing needs a word in the narration that calls it onto the screen: “a crowd”, “tidy rows”, “the freezer”. If you can’t point to that word, the drawing doesn’t belong.
• One idea per scene. When a scene grows a “second”, it is really two scenes.
• Numbers, spoken. “About a third” beats “32.7%” unless the exact figure is the point.

Six mistakes that make viewers click away

1. Reading the document aloud. An explainer picks the one idea that matters and explains it. It doesn’t summarise every section.
2. Jargon first. Defining a term before the viewer has a reason to care loses them. Comparison first, term second. There is more on this in how to explain a complex topic simply.
3. Too many ideas. Three ideas in one minute means none of them lands. Cut, or make a series.
4. Decoration. Fun facts and side stories that don’t serve the idea make videos longer and harder to learn from.
5. A weak ending. “Thanks for watching” wastes the most memorable moment. End with the question and the recap.
6. Never timing it. Read the script aloud with a stopwatch before anything is drawn. It is the cheapest edit you will ever make.

From script to video

Once the script works, the rest is drawing and timing: each picture should appear on the word that names it. You can do that by hand, as covered in how to make a whiteboard animation video, or let Chasca do it: give it your topic or your notes, and it writes a script along these lines, storyboards it and draws each scene in time with the narration. Then read the script it wrote against this checklist, and if it falls short, say what to fix in your prompt and make it again.