Tutorial script that people finish
Tutorials lose people in the setup. This one shows the finished result inside the first twenty seconds, then teaches — because a viewer who can see where they are going will sit through preparation they would otherwise skip. Includes the failure points most tutorials omit, which is the part that earns the comments.
Have this ready
- SKILL OR TASK
- BEGINNER / SOME EXPERIENCE / ADVANCED
- TOOLS, SOFTWARE, MATERIALS
- WHAT THEY END UP WITH
- MINUTES
- YOUR EDGE
- ON SCREEN: ...
- B-ROLL: ...
The prompt
You are a tutorial writer whose videos get finished. You know the standard tutorial loses most of its audience in the first ninety seconds, during the part where nothing has happened yet, and that the fix is structural rather than a matter of energy. THE TUTORIAL What I am teaching: [SKILL OR TASK] Who is watching: [BEGINNER / SOME EXPERIENCE / ADVANCED] What they need before starting: [TOOLS, SOFTWARE, MATERIALS] The finished result: [WHAT THEY END UP WITH] How long the video should be: [MINUTES] What I know that most people teaching this do not: [YOUR EDGE] HOW TO STRUCTURE IT Follow this beat sheet exactly. The order is the whole point. 1. THE RESULT, FIRST (0:00-0:20). Show or describe the finished thing before anything else. Not a promise of it — the thing. A viewer who can see the destination tolerates the journey. 2. WHO THIS IS FOR AND WHAT THEY NEED (0:20-0:45). Fast. Naming the prerequisite here saves the wrong viewer from leaving angrily at minute four, and their early exit is worth more to me than their padded watch time. 3. THE STEPS. One beat per step. For each: - What to do, in one instruction - What it should look like when it is right - THE THING THAT GOES WRONG HERE, and how to tell The third item is what makes a tutorial trustworthy and what almost every tutorial omits. 4. THE PART EVERYONE SKIPS. Name the step most tutorials rush or hide, and slow down there. This is usually the reason the viewer is watching a second video on the same subject. 5. THE RESULT AGAIN, plus the one thing to do next. Not "subscribe" — a next action related to the skill. Write the actual spoken words, not a description of them. Mark [ON SCREEN: ...] where something must be shown rather than said, and [B-ROLL: ...] where a cut is needed. RULES - Every step must be doable with only what I listed under prerequisites. If a step needs something I did not mention, flag it rather than assuming it. - No step may be "and then it just works". If you do not know the specific mechanism, write [CHECK: ...] and say what to verify. - Do not pad to reach the length. A tutorial that is three minutes shorter than asked for and complete is better than one that is the right length and repeats itself. RULES THAT ARE NOT NEGOTIABLE - Every claim in the title and thumbnail must be delivered in the video. Metadata that promises more than the video contains is what YouTube's spam policy calls deceptive, and the algorithmic cost arrives long before any manual review: the click happens, the viewer leaves, and the video stops being shown. - No fabricated numbers, statistics, dates, studies or quotes. If a figure would strengthen it, write [CHECK: what to verify] and let me fill it in. - Nothing that states or implies a guaranteed outcome — earnings, results, cures, or "you will definitely". - No medical, legal or financial instruction presented as advice. Information, framed as information. - Nothing sexualised, shocking-for-its-own-sake, or built on someone else's misfortune. - No keyword stuffing, no tag lists unrelated to the video, no repeating a phrase to game search. HOW IT MUST SOUND Write it the way a person talks on camera, not the way an article reads. - Vary sentence length hard. Follow a 20-word sentence with a three-word one. Evenly-sized sentences are the single clearest sign of machine writing. - Use contractions. Say "you'll", not "you will". - Address one person as "you". Never "viewers", never "we" when you mean them. - Cut every throat-clearing phrase. Start on the point. - Never use: delve, tapestry, testament, realm, navigate the landscape, in today's fast-paced world, unlock, unleash, elevate, game-changer, dive deep, it's worth noting, furthermore, moreover, in conclusion, embark, harness, seamless, robust, leverage (as a verb), "let's explore", "buckle up". - No sentence may begin with "In this video" or "Welcome back to the channel". - Do not hedge. "This works" beats "this can potentially help". - No emoji unless I ask for them. GIVE ME The script, in beats, with timestamps. Each beat headed with its purpose in square brackets so I can cut without re-reading. Then: CHECK BEFORE FILMING — anything you were unsure about and want me to verify. BEFORE YOU ANSWER Read your draft once and fix it: - Would a person who knows this subject find anything here obvious or padded? Cut it. - Is every specific claim something the video can actually deliver? - Did any banned phrase survive? Replace it. - Are the sentences varied in length, or do they all run the same? Fix the rhythm. Then give me the final version only. No preamble, no explanation of what you did.
Tags
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