Explainer video script template: 4 fill-in structures with examples

An explainer video script template is a fixed sequence of beats (hook, problem, explanation, payoff, call to action) with a word budget for each. Below are four templates for the most common explainer types, each with blanks to fill in and a complete example you can read out loud. Pick the one that matches your question, fill it in, then trim it to length.

Before you fill in a template

Answer three questions in one line each. The template only works if these are clear:

1. The question: what exactly will the viewer understand at the end?
2. The audience: who are they, and what do they already know?
3. The action: what is the one thing you want them to do next?

Then choose a length. The word budgets below assume a natural narration pace of about 2.45 words per second. You can check any draft with words to minutes.

Template 1: the product explainer

Use it to explain what a product or feature does, for someone who has never heard of it. It works for landing pages, sales follow-ups and pinned posts. The SaaS explainer template applies the same structure.

Fill-in version

1. Hook: “[A frustrating situation your buyer recognizes], [the consequence they hate].”
2. Setup: “That’s because [the real cause of the problem]. [Why the usual fix doesn’t work].”
3. Core: “[Product] [does one thing] in three steps. First, [step 1]. Then, [step 2]. Finally, [step 3].”
4. Payoff: “So instead of [old situation], you get [new situation].”
5. Close: “[Product name]. [One action: try it, book a demo, read the docs].”

Example (about 140 words)

“Five people answer support emails, and two of them just replied to the same customer. Sound familiar? That happens because a shared inbox has no owner per message: everyone sees everything, nobody knows who’s on it. A shared inbox tool fixes that in three steps. First, every email becomes a ticket, with a status. Then, each ticket gets one owner, and everyone else sees the name. Finally, when the customer writes back, the reply lands in the same ticket, not in a new thread. So instead of guessing who answered, you see it at a glance, and nobody replies twice. Try it with your own inbox this week.”

Template 2: how it works

Use it for a mechanism: a technology, a natural phenomenon, a financial concept. The trick is one metaphor that carries the whole explanation. See also the how it works template and the science question template.

Fill-in version

1. Hook: “[Everyday thing] [does something surprising]. Here’s how.”
2. Setup: “To understand it, picture [a familiar metaphor].”
3. Core: “[Step 1 of the mechanism, through the metaphor]. [Step 2]. [Step 3].”
4. Payoff: “That’s why [the surprising consequence or key number].”
5. Close: “So next time you [everyday action], remember: [one-line recap]. Follow for [next topic].”

Example (about 145 words)

“The second time you open a website, it loads faster. It’s not your imagination. To understand why, picture a library that keeps copies of popular books in every neighborhood. The original website lives on one server, maybe on another continent. A content delivery network, or CDN, copies its images and files to servers close to you. The first visitor in your area waits for the trip to the original. The copy is then kept nearby. Every visitor after that gets it from around the corner, and your own browser keeps a copy too. That’s why the second visit is faster: the files travel a few miles instead of thousands. So next time a page loads instantly, remember: it came from a copy next door, not from the source. Follow for how browsers decide what to keep.”

Template 3: myth vs fact

Use it when your audience believes something wrong. It hooks well because it challenges what people think they know, but it needs sources: a myth video with a factual error defeats its own purpose. The myth vs fact template gives you a ready brief.

Fill-in version

1. Hook: “You’ve probably heard that [myth]. It’s not true.”
2. Setup: “The idea comes from [where the myth started], and it sounds right because [why it’s believable].”
3. Core: “In reality, [fact 1]. [Evidence or simple demonstration]. [Fact 2, if needed].”
4. Payoff: “The part that is true: [the grain of truth, if any].”
5. Close: “So: [myth] — false. [Correct version] — true. Which myth should we check next?”

Example (about 125 words)

“You’ve probably heard that we only use ten percent of our brain. It’s not true. The idea has been repeated for a century in self-help books and movies, and it sounds plausible because most of us feel we could think harder. In reality, brain scans show activity across the whole brain over the course of a day, just not all at once. Different areas handle different tasks: moving, seeing, speaking, remembering. Even during sleep, many areas stay busy. And a small injury almost anywhere in the brain can have visible effects, which wouldn’t happen if ninety percent were idle. The part that is true: you can train skills and get better at them. So: ten percent of your brain — false. All of it, in turns — true.”

Template 4: the how-to

Use it for a process the viewer will repeat: a feature walkthrough, a setup, a recipe-style method. Numbered steps are easy to animate and easy to remember. For product onboarding, the onboarding template follows this pattern.

Fill-in version

1. Hook: “[Result] in [number] steps, [time or effort it takes].”
2. Setup: “You need [prerequisite]. That’s it.”
3. Core: “Step one: [action + where]. Step two: [action]. Step three: [action + what you should see].”
4. Payoff: “The step people skip: [common mistake and how to avoid it].”
5. Close: “Done: [result]. Next, try [related task].”

Example (about 120 words)

“A strong password you’ll never forget, in three steps, in under a minute. You need a password manager. That’s it. Step one: open it and create a vault with one long passphrase, four or five random words you can picture together. Step two: turn on two-factor authentication for the vault, with an app on your phone. Step three: for every site, let the manager generate the password, and save it. You’ll never type it, so it can be long and random. The step people skip: changing the old reused passwords. Start with your email, because it can reset everything else. Done: one passphrase to remember, unique passwords everywhere. Next, check which of your accounts support passkeys.”

How to adapt a template to your length

• Going shorter: keep the hook and the payoff, cut the setup to one sentence and the core to two steps.
• Going longer: don’t add steps, add an example. A worked example inside the core is what makes a 2–3 minute explainer feel complete.
• Splitting: if the core needs more than four steps, it’s two videos. Publish them as a series with the same hook pattern.

Choosing the right template

For the last case, summarizing a document, the report summary template is a good starting point, and you can quote only what the document actually says. If your source is a PDF, see how to turn a PDF into a video.

Writing the hook and the close

The hook and the close are the two lines people remember, so they deserve more drafts than the rest. For the hook, write five versions and pick the one that works with no context at all. Good patterns: a question the viewer has already asked themselves, a surprising consequence, a common belief you’re about to correct, or a concrete result (“in three steps”). Avoid greetings, your name, and “in this video”.

For the close, pair a one-line recap with a single call to action. The recap should sound like the answer to the hook: if the hook asks “why does it load faster?”, the recap says “because it comes from a copy next door”. The action should be small and specific: follow for part two, try it on your own inbox, read the docs page.

Rules that apply to every template

• One idea per sentence, 8 to 15 words on average.
• Every sentence must be drawable. If you can’t picture the visual, the storyboard will expose it.
• No stage directions in the script. Write only what the voiceover will say.
• Numbers only if sourced, and rounded.
• One call to action, at the very end.

For the line-by-line craft of a 60-second short, see how to write a 60-second short script. For the first three seconds specifically, see how to write a hook for short videos.

Templates are a starting point, not a cage. Once a structure works for your audience, keep it: a recognizable format makes a series easier to write and easier to follow. Browse more ready-made briefs in the templates library.