A short form video script template that works for almost any talking video: a dual hook, one line of context, three beats of value, a payoff, and a single call to action. Spoken at a normal pace, that structure comes out to roughly 90 to 110 words, which lands between 30 and 45 seconds. Fill in seven lines and you have a filmable script.
I want to hand you the template itself, a worked example you can copy, and the reasoning, because a template you understand beats a template you follow.
Why 30 to 45 seconds is the unit
Short form rewards finished videos. A viewer who watches your whole video sends a stronger signal than one who bails at 60 percent, and finishing a 35 second video is a much smaller ask than finishing a 90 second one. Under 30 seconds, you usually haven't taught anything worth saving. Past 45, you're either teaching two ideas or padding one.
One idea per video is the discipline hiding inside the time limit. If your draft runs long, you almost always have two videos, and splitting them doubles your output for free. That math is what makes filming in batches work. Ten scripts at 40 seconds each is one afternoon of filming, which is the entire premise of a batch content day.
The short form video script template
Here is the full template. I think of it as the 7-line script, and each line has a word budget so the whole thing stays inside 45 seconds:
- Hook, spoken. One sentence, 12 words or fewer, that opens a question. Write it last.
- Hook, on screen. A different line: a number, a stake, or who it's for.
- Context. One sentence that tells the viewer why you'd know, or when this applies. 15 words max.
- Beat one. Your first point, with something concrete in it. Around 20 words.
- Beat two. Second point. Around 20 words.
- Beat three. Third point, ideally the one people would save the video for. Around 20 words.
- Payoff plus one CTA. One line that lands the idea, then one ask. Around 20 words total.
The three beats are the body of the video, and they should each survive on their own. A viewer who only remembers beat two should still walk away with something usable. If a beat only makes sense as setup for another beat, merge them or cut one.
If you cannot say your video's point in one payoff line, you have two videos, and that is a gift.
Two notes before you fill it in. First, the hook lines are their own discipline, and I wrote a full post on writing a hook that stops the scroll, including why line 1 gets written after everything else. Second, the context line is where beginners over-explain. "I ran finance for a 40-person agency" is context. Your life story is a different video.
A worked example you can copy
A bookkeeper I'll call Renee, a composite of creators I've coached, wants a video for small business owners. Her idea: check three numbers before you pay yourself. Here is her script in the template, 104 words spoken:
- Spoken hook: "Most owners pay themselves from vibes, and it shows in March."
- On-screen hook: "3 numbers to check first"
- Context: "I close the books for service businesses every month, and this takes ten minutes."
- Beat one: "Check cash after obligations. Subtract next month's payroll and rent from your balance before you look at what's left."
- Beat two: "Check your tax set-aside. If you haven't moved 25 to 30 percent of profit somewhere untouchable, do that first."
- Beat three: "Check your slowest client. If one invoice going late would break this month, pay yourself the smaller number."
- Payoff and CTA: "Ten minutes, three numbers, no March surprise. Save this for the first of the month."
Read it out loud with a timer. It runs about 38 seconds at a conversational pace, and every beat is specific enough to screenshot. Notice the single CTA, matched to what the video is: a reference people will want again. Choosing that ask is its own skill, and I covered the options in how to end your videos.
What should you write scripts about?
The template solves structure. It does not solve topics, and this is where most creators guess. The honest answer sits in your own analytics: the videos your audience shared and saved are votes for what they want more of, and they are more trustworthy votes than likes. Pull your export, find the winners, and run each winning idea through the template again from a different angle. This is the exact workflow Batchly automates, from analytics upload to finished 7-line scripts, but you can absolutely do a manual version in a spreadsheet this week.
A warning from experience: do not template your personality away. The structure is the skeleton. Your phrasing, your examples, and your opinions are the reason anyone follows you instead of the other seventeen people teaching the same topic. Renee's "from vibes, and it shows in March" line is doing more work than the template is.
Do this next
Pick one idea you know cold and write it into the seven lines right now, word budgets included, then read it out loud with a timer. If it runs past 45 seconds, split it into two scripts instead of trimming the good parts. When you want the topic selection and the first drafts handled for you, Batchly turns your analytics export into content pillars and writes the 7-line scripts, dual hooks included, so your job shrinks to editing and filming.