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How to write a script so good viewers can’t stop watching — Transcript

by Kallaway · 3,720 words · 532 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Today we're talking about script writing
0:01for your videos. If you want your
0:03content to perform better, you need to
0:05improve your script writing and
0:06storytelling. Now look, I've studied
0:08literally thousands of videos. And it
0:10turns out if your scripts are not
0:12working, there's three massive mistakes
0:14you might be making. If you solve for
0:15these three things, your retention and
0:17views will skyrocket immediately. These
0:20are the three biggest script writing
0:21mistakes holding back your videos with
0:24tactical examples and tips for how to
0:26fix each of them. By the way, I'm
0:27Callaway. I have a million followers.
0:29I've done billions of views and content
0:30is all I do all day long. All right, the
0:33first script writing mistake that so
0:34many people make is writing with bad
0:36story flow. And what I mean by story
0:38flow is that the flow of the points in
0:41your story is not clear enough or easy
0:43enough for the viewer to follow. In
0:45other words, it's hard for the viewer to
0:46stay hooked throughout because you're
0:48adding all this extra stuff that doesn't
0:50need to be there. This is called the
0:51story flow problem. Now, to help
0:53visualize the concept of story flow,
0:55think about it like this. When you're
0:57writing a script to tell a story, you
0:58want there to be a clear through line
1:00that people can follow to get from the
1:02beginning to the end. You give context,
1:04introduce some conflict or question,
1:06more context, more conflict or question
1:09all the way through until an ultimate
1:10resolution. Now, the story does not need
1:12to have a straight predictable line
1:14down. That would be way too boring. But
1:16there needs to be a clear through line
1:18from beginning to end that the viewer
1:20can follow to finish the story
1:22logically. This happened, then this
1:23happened, but this happened, so this
1:25happened. There needs to be a logical
1:27flow. A story flow problem is when that
1:29line connecting the plot of the story is
1:31broken because you added things in that
1:33have nothing to do with the main
1:35premise. Extra details, disconnected
1:37tangents, broken plots, distractions.
1:40There are all sorts of elements that
1:41people throw into the story that
1:43actually make it harder to understand.
1:45And this is a super common problem that
1:46trips up a lot of people. So, pay close
1:48attention to this. I'm going to explain
1:50exactly how to assess when you're making
1:51this story flow mistake and the tactical
1:54solves to fix it. And by the way, when I
1:56talk about this stuff, I use the words
1:57script writing and storytelling a bit
1:59interchangeably. In this case, they mean
2:01the same thing. Script writing is just
2:03writing down the words that you
2:04ultimately tell for your story. Okay, so
2:07so far we walked through what the story
2:09flow problem actually is. It's when you
2:11throw a bunch of extra junk that makes
2:12it harder for the viewer to get through
2:14from beginning to end. Let me give you a
2:16practical example of this in real time
2:18so you can understand what I'm talking
2:20about when I say story flow. Imagine
2:21that I was telling you a story that went
2:23like this. One day there was a prince
2:25walking through the forest. He was on
2:26his way to find a house in the woods so
2:28he could visit the sorceress. With him
2:30he had his trusty steed, a horse, and
2:33several other woods animals that became
2:35his friends. The fox, the goat, and the
2:37raccoon. You see, when he was raised, he
2:39was taught to love animals. He spent a
2:42lot of time in the stables and in the
2:43woods training them and learning to
2:45communicate. His favorites were always
2:47the horses because they were so strong
2:48and powerful, and that's why he walked
2:50with one. Now, he had been walking in
2:52the forest for several hours when he and
2:54his group of animals wandered upon a
2:56strange looking tree. All right, you see
2:58what happened there? You were on a clear
3:00path. The prince walking to a house in
3:02the forest with animals. Clear path. But
3:05then I veered you off that path to throw
3:07in all these unnecessary details about
3:09the prince's background and loving
3:11animals and working at the stables.
3:13These are unnecessary details that
3:14didn't need to be there based on the
3:16purpose of this plot. And what this does
3:18in practice is that it caused your brain
3:20to hop storylines. We went from the
3:23journey in the forest to his background
3:25in a flashback. Simply put, a percentage
3:27of people listening lost connectivity to
3:29the original thread. And the problem
3:31with that is that it makes it much
3:32harder for me to get everybody else back
3:35to that original plotline because now
3:37you have to remember the details that I
3:38said a while ago. Great storytelling is
3:41like hypnosis. You want the viewer or
3:43listener to forget where they are and
3:45get fully immersed in the one single
3:47plot you're focused on. The more red
3:49herrings or unnecessary details you
3:51throw in, the more fragile and surface
3:53level that hypnosis becomes. And the
3:55more that hypnosis breaks, the more
3:57people that churn out of your video
3:58because of confusion and the worse it
4:00does. Now, you might be thinking
4:01something like this. Listen, crazy guy
4:03that waves his hands around. I'm a tax
4:05accountant. I sell tax services to small
4:08business owners. What does this have
4:09anything to do with me getting more
4:11small business owners to pay for my tax
4:13services? And that's a great question.
4:15The answer is that you also are
4:17struggling with this story flow problem
4:19in your content without even knowing it.
4:21Because when you make a piece of content
4:22and you're writing a script, your job is
4:24to get your potential buyer into that
4:27hypnotic state. If you are able to hook
4:29them and get them to start going down
4:31the rabbit hole of whatever you're
4:32saying, the worst thing you can possibly
4:34do is throw some detail in that breaks
4:36them from the hypnosis. Because when you
4:38throw extra details in, that creates a
4:41story flow problem. Now, the reason
4:42people make this mistake and throw in
4:44all these extra details, makes a lot of
4:46sense when you think about it. When you
4:47start talking about a topic you're
4:49excited about, especially when you know
4:50a lot about it, people tend to get over
4:53excited and share more than necessary
4:55because they want to prove that they
4:56know stuff. Most people think more is
4:59always better, but that's actually not
5:00the case when it comes to script writing
5:02and storytelling. Because the problem is
5:04adding extra unnecessary details is kind
5:06of like throwing barrels at someone
5:08that's trying to walk down the sidewalk.
5:09It forces them to look, jump, react, and
5:12distracts them from the walk that
5:13they're actually on. Okay, so the big
5:15question is, how do we fix this problem
5:16and improve your story flow? The good
5:19news is the tactics for this are
5:20actually very simple. After you write
5:22your script, I want you to read back
5:24through line by line. The common advice
5:26is that after you read the first line,
5:27you want to gut check if you're curious
5:29enough to want to go to the second line.
5:31And that's super helpful for
5:32comprehension. But I want you to add one
5:34more question to yourself on top. I want
5:36you to read every single line and ask
5:38yourself this. Is this line a necessary
5:41piece of context or an intentional step
5:43in the logic flow I'm trying to make to
5:46get someone's understanding of the story
5:48to go up? Or is it a distraction and an
5:51unnecessary detail? If you're talking
5:53about tax strategies for saving money,
5:55don't also go on a super long tangent
5:57about some new tax bill and the politics
6:00that got it enacted. Save that for
6:02another video. See, storytelling and
6:04script writing is a lot like taking a
6:06test when you were a kid. When you were
6:07younger, they would give you a word
6:09bank, but intentionally put a bunch of
6:11extra words that you weren't supposed to
6:13use. It's the same thing here. Your job
6:15as a script writer or storyteller is not
6:17to use every word or fact at your
6:19disposal. You're only supposed to use
6:21the ones that are necessary to maximize
6:23comprehension. That whole process I just
6:25described is called improving your story
6:27flow. And I guarantee if you add that as
6:29a layer towards the end of your script
6:31writing, your retention will go way up.
6:33All right, the second major script
6:34writing mistake is called the
6:36comprehension problem. And for this one,
6:38I'm going to share a ton of tactical
6:39improvements to your scripts that will
6:41help you immediately. Here's the
6:42reality. If the viewer does not
6:44understand the words you're saying in
6:45the script, they're never going to get
6:47immersed in the story. They have to
6:50understand what you're saying. So, your
6:51job as the storyteller is to communicate
6:54your points in a way that retains 100%
6:57of the meaning behind the words that
6:59you're saying. See, most people think,
7:01especially with educational content, the
7:02goal is to demonstrate how much more you
7:05know than the person that's watching.
7:07And the logic is because when they
7:08realize how big of a deficiency they
7:10have, they'll pay you to try to close
7:12it. But this is actually the wrong
7:13approach. People do not feel good when
7:16they feel dumb. Your job with content is
7:18to make them feel smart. So the truth is
7:20the goal is not to demonstrate how much
7:22more than them you know. The goal is to
7:24demonstrate how big of a gap you can
7:26help them close on that piece of content
7:29as a demonstration for how you're going
7:31to help them. And that's all about them
7:32actually understanding what you're
7:34saying. This is why so many people like
7:36this channel. I spend an enormous amount
7:38of time compressing my complex ideas
7:41into the simplest form so that everyone
7:43can understand them. I call this process
7:45atomic messaging. If you want your
7:46scripts to perform better and people to
7:48actually watch, follow, subscribe, and
7:50buy, you need to learn how to do the
7:52same thing. Compress your words for
7:54maximum comprehension. Okay, so the
7:56question is tactically, what does that
7:58actually look like? I'm going to give
7:59you five super tactical, quick hit ways
8:02to increase the comprehension of your
8:04scripts. The first is to use simpler
8:06words. Big words are only valuable to
8:09the people that know them. To solve for
8:10this, you should just write with simpler
8:12words. You want to target a sixth grade
8:15vocabulary, nothing more. Again, people
8:17are not buying you because you know
8:19words they don't know. They're buying
8:20from you because they're trusting that
8:22they will understand the words you do
8:24say and that that will help them close
8:26the gap on a painoint. Now, the easiest
8:27way to simplify your words to a sixth
8:29grade reading level is to actually be in
8:31sixth grade. That was a joke. The second
8:33easiest way is to just put your script
8:35in Claude and tell it to rewrite the
8:37whole thing in a sixth grade reading
8:39level without removing the meaning or
8:41examples you used. Now, the second way
8:43to increase comprehension is to use
8:45fewer words. And by this, I mean shorter
8:47sentences. Most people have weak
8:49attention spans and below average brain
8:51function. That's just the truth. The
8:53more words you say per sentence, the
8:55more they have to store, remember, and
8:57then think back to connect with the rest
8:59of what you say. It's just more load on
9:01the brain. Make this easier for them by
9:03using shorter, punchier sentences. You
9:05wouldn't speak in a run-on sentence, so
9:07don't write in a run-on sentence. Quick,
9:09short, punchy staccato. That's what you
9:11want. Now, the third way to increase
9:13comprehension is to use simpler and
9:15clearer phrasing. You want to use active
9:17voice. The dog jumped instead of passive
9:19voice. The jumping was done by the dog.
9:22Again, Chad GBT or Claude will solve
9:24this for you in one click. It really is
9:25a cheat code for writing. The fourth way
9:27to increase comprehension is to restate
9:29things twice. The second time saying it
9:31in the most rudimentary or simple way
9:34possible. See right there, I went to use
9:36the word rudimentary, but not everybody
9:38knows that word. So, I added or simple
9:40after to make sure everybody could
9:42understand. This is how you should
9:43approach writing scripts. It's not that
9:44I have the world's biggest vocabulary. I
9:46have to actively reduce it down to the
9:49simplest, lowest common denominator to
9:51make sure everybody can understand
9:53everything I'm saying. The truth is,
9:54making content is actually pretty hard
9:56for smart people with big vocabularies
9:58because they struggle to dumb themselves
10:00down. It's a muscle they've never used
10:01before. The juice in making content is
10:04the ability to do this on demand. It's
10:06called distillation. Lastly, the fifth
10:08tip that seems to help comprehension is
10:10by naming things. You'll notice I do
10:12this a lot. Atomic messaging, story
10:14flow. These are terms that I just made
10:16up, but I wanted to put a stake in the
10:18ground around my frameworks and concepts
10:20so it's easier for people to understand.
10:22People can relate to a single word name
10:24more than a long definition. So, try to
10:26name your frameworks and concepts, and I
10:27guarantee the recall will go up. All
10:29right. Now, before I go on to the last
10:30script writing mistake, and this is a
10:32huge one that almost everyone struggles
10:33with. If you're watching this video and
10:34you're a business owner trying to get
10:36better with content, I built a free
10:38community designed to help you
10:40specifically. It's called Wavy World. We
10:42have over 27,000 other entrepreneurs all
10:44helping each other try to get better at
10:46content. We've got tutorials, guides,
10:48frameworks, all types of stuff. I just
10:50made it because I wanted people to get
10:51better. If you want to join, it's
10:53completely free. There's a link below in
10:54the description. All right, the third
10:56and final big script writing mistake
10:57that people are making is the speed to
10:59value problem. And the name on this one
11:01kind of gives it away. Most people that
11:03make content are not getting to the
11:04value or the mention of value quick
11:06enough before the viewer bounces. Now,
11:08the obvious tactical solve here is to
11:10get to value quicker. But let me explain
11:12what getting to value actually means.
11:14The truth is people are watching videos
11:16for value. Either they want
11:18entertainment value or they want
11:20educational value. But either way, they
11:21want to walk away knowing their time was
11:23well spent and they got something out of
11:25it. The biggest difference between
11:27traditional story formats like books and
11:29movies and all the ones online on social
11:31media is the amount of time you have to
11:34communicate that there is value. The
11:35traditional story follows a basic story
11:38arc. Some beginning where some context
11:40is set, some middle where conflict
11:42occurs, and then some end where a
11:43resolution happens. And this is because
11:45with books and movies, they are made
11:47assuming they have you captive for the
11:49entire duration. You bought the book,
11:52you bought the movie, so they can afford
11:53to be long and drawn out and really
11:55stitch the full story following that
11:57arc. But on social media and online
11:58content, this is not the case. You got a
12:01lucky slot machine pool for your video
12:03to show up in front of someone for free,
12:05and you have to earn the right for them
12:07to keep watching. Because of this, you
12:09need to demonstrate value or incoming
12:11value as soon as possible. Content is
12:13basically a race to see if you can
12:15signal value before they lose interest.
12:17Now, it turns out there is a much better
12:19script writing formula or approach to
12:21making sure you have high speed to value
12:23before they bounce. I'm going to walk
12:25through exactly what that is right now.
12:27All right, so the first piece is the
12:28hook. And we all know the hook, but the
12:29important part is that you want to do
12:31two things. Establish context and then
12:33aggravate the pain point or tease the
12:36benefit in the first two to three
12:38seconds. The best scripts are both clear
12:40on the topic and tease the value
12:42incoming allin one. And if you want the
12:44full deep dive on all the mistakes and
12:46ways to actually do the hook, I've made
12:47a ton of double clicks on that, so you
12:49can find those in the description. All
12:50right. Now, after the hook, the next
12:51section is the body. We'll call this the
12:53first body. And once you establish the
12:55context and the incoming value, you want
12:57to follow that story flow process that
13:00we talked about as the first point in
13:01this video, layering on the additional
13:03details, context, facts, and examples,
13:05but only using ones that are absolutely
13:07critical to create that smooth, clear
13:10through line. Okay, so we've got hook
13:11and then we have the first body. Now we
13:13have the rehook. And this happens about
13:1520 to 25 seconds into a short form video
13:18and maybe 2 to 3 minutes into a YouTube
13:20video. A rehook is the reagravation of
13:22the painoint originally triggered in the
13:24hook by showing that there's a better
13:26solution still out there. Your goal with
13:28the rehook is essentially to trigger
13:29this in the viewer's brain. Hey, what I
13:31said is good, but what's coming next is
13:33great. This rehook opens a new loop and
13:35then rehooks them. So, so far we have
13:37the hook, we have the first body, and we
13:39have the rehook. The next section is the
13:41second body. And the second body is
13:43repeating the same approach as the first
13:45body. Clear story flow. Distilled
13:47details, context, examples, anything
13:49that's important to say so that they
13:51have a clear flow through the story. And
13:54you repeat this back and forth flow.
13:56Rehook body. Rehook body. As long as you
13:59have valuable context to say. For a
14:01YouTube video, you might rehook four or
14:03five times. For a short form video,
14:04probably two rehooks at the most over a
14:0760 to 90 second video. At the end, you
14:09add the outro. And the outro is either
14:11you summarizing the value stated or
14:13extending the value ramp. You triggered
14:15a painoint through the video. You didn't
14:17quite have enough runway to get through
14:18the full value, so you lead them to a
14:20lead magnet or some dock where you can
14:22give them more value off platform. This
14:24is the general script writing flow for
14:26maximizing speed to value. It's hook
14:28where you say the value in the first 3
14:29seconds. First body, clear story flow,
14:32rehook, second body, etc. Outro. If you
14:35follow that rough schematic broadly,
14:37obviously there's a ton of nuance inside
14:39there, that will make sure you're
14:40triggering the value early, reminding
14:42people of the value in the middle,
14:43continuing to hit that until the end.
14:45All right, guys, that's all I've got for
14:46this video. We covered the three really
14:48biggest script writing and storytelling
14:50mistakes that are probably holding back
14:52your content from performing better.
14:54Now, as a summary, these were the three
14:55mistakes we went through and the
14:56tactical fixes for how to solve each
14:58one. The first mistake or problem was
15:00the story flow problem. And
15:02specifically, this refers to when people
15:04add too many additional details and the
15:06through line of the story is broken or
15:08jumpy. It's just not clear for the
15:10viewer to be able to go from beginning
15:11to end. The way to solve this is to
15:13audit every line of your script after
15:15you've written it. And really ask the
15:16question, is this line adding a detail,
15:19clarity, or direction that we want to go
15:21in, or is it a tangent, confusing, and
15:23distraction that we don't? Keep the
15:25clear ones, delete the distractions, and
15:26you'll be better off. Now, the second
15:28mistake, which is a huge one, is the
15:30comprehension problem. And this is
15:31really the viewer not understanding the
15:33word you're saying. They're confused and
15:35then they bounce. Now, in this section,
15:37if you go back and listen, I broke down
15:38five specific tactics for how to
15:40approach increasing the comprehension.
15:42And lastly, the third mistake we covered
15:43was the speedtovalue problem. And with
15:45this one, the viewer is just not getting
15:47a hit of the value or what the value is
15:50going to be quick enough before they
15:51bounce. To solve for this, you want to
15:53follow the rough story outlined
15:55approach. I don't even want to call it a
15:57format because there are plenty of other
15:58story formats that are more granular
16:00that differ depending on the type of
16:01video you're making. What I described is
16:03more a layer, an approach, an
16:06architecture for how you should think
16:07about speed to value. Hook, mention the
16:10value. Body, make it clear. Rehook,
16:12re-trigger the value. Second body, make
16:14it clear. Outro, summarize or extend the
16:16value. That's more of an architecture
16:18for how many times you should infuse
16:20value into the story. Now, as always
16:23guys, the reason I made this channel is
16:24because I'm trying to make it easier for
16:26business owners to make better content,
16:29get more leads, and grow their business.
16:31That's all I'm doing. I give away all
16:32the game for free on this channel
16:33because I really want to see more people
16:35win that are small business owners. If
16:37that's you and you think you would
16:38benefit from being able to make better
16:40content and get more leads for free,
16:41make sure to subscribe, but also join
16:43Wavy World. It's the best place to
16:44aggregate all entrepreneurs that help
16:46each other with content. It's free and
16:48there's a ton of helpful stuff in there.
16:50All right, that is all we've got for
16:51this one. We will see you on the next
16:52one.

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