Do I need to write a Script for educational Video?

Should I write a script for educational video? Or Should I not write the script for the next instructional video? This question comes in every teacher’s mind who makes educational videos. I hope this article will clear your doubts. I will give you a lengthy write-up to read, but before that, I will provide you with one tip that will help you to make a quick decision.

if you are the one who will plan the content of your educational video and you are the one who will present it in the video. You do not need a word by word script.

There are five types of videos we make, 1) Talking head, 2) Table Top, 3) Slide Cast, 4) Screen Cast, and 5) Animation. Let’s now check with each type of video if this tip is useful or not.

Script for Talking head

If you are the content planner and presenter for talking head video. Don’t write a detailed script because if you write a script, you want to read it during the presentation. For that, you will either put it on the table, or you will use a prompter during the presentation.  If you put that on the table, you want to look at it, and if you use a prompter, then you will look at it. It will look as if you are looking somewhere else and not interacting with the audience.

Instead, I will suggest you plan your content correctly and make a cue card with bullet points. Once your cue card is ready, rehearse a lot and then present it in front of the camera. This is why I say that you don’t need a detailed script for talking head video.

Script for Table Top and Slide Cast

I am putting Table Top and Slide Cast in the same category as during the recording of both types of videos; you already have a cue card with you. A paper or a slide with bullets and text. If you are a subject matter expert and if you are teaching the subject for a long time than you do not need a detailed script when a cue card is available to you. This is why a detailed script is not required if the educational video you are creating is of tabletop or slide cast type.

Script for Screen Cast

ScreenCasts are generally used to teach software or to provide system training. In this case, if you are a system expert, you don’t need a script as you already know about the software or system. All you need to plan how will you chunk whole training. This means you need to be clear about the content that you are going to explain in this video. If you know what you will present in the screencast you are recording, you don’t need a script. Controlling yourself to talk only about the part you have planned will give you a better screencast compared to a detailed script.

Script for Animation

The animation is not one man’s job. It requires a team. I am expecting you, a subject matter expert, to write the content for the animation. Someone will do the voice-over based on your script. After that, an animator will make the animation based on the script and voice-over. I believe you now know the importance of script for animated videos. So, always write a detailed script if you are making an animated video. Otherwise, you have to discard everything and replan.

At last

Please remember, these suggestions are applicable to teachers who are making their courses themselves. These suggestions are not applicable to product videos, business videos, brand videos, etc. If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to write a comment. I would like to hear about your experiences.

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