00:00listen to this clip and in doing so he
00:02sidestepped an absolutely massive
00:04Financial Risk that not many full-time
00:07YouTubers ever think about but I'm gonna
00:09come back to that so why is Thomas Frank
00:10pretty much stopped posting on his main
00:12Channel and why has that allowed him to
00:14make even more money than ever did you
00:16see what he did there
00:18essentially the audience needs to know
00:20pretty much at all times what it is
00:21they're waiting around for next we're
00:23solving the ultimate question how does
00:24he make so much money that's what we're
00:25waiting around for but not losing sight
00:27of the fact that you need to have these
00:29minute payoffs kind of throughout the
00:30video that serve as building blocks to
00:32that ultimate thing that's George
00:35Blackman a YouTube scriptwriter who's
00:36been hired by YouTubers like Ali abdall
00:39Mike shake and Ed from film Booth to
00:41write videos for them like the one you
00:43just saw scripting is one of the most
00:45important parts in the video making
00:46process that you are overlooking George
00:49says that it can make or break your
00:51video if you want that full creative
00:53control as I say you you need to know
00:55what all the beats are that you're going
00:56to hit unless your audience knows why am
00:58I giving this guy or girl my time for
01:00the next minute it's very easy for them
01:02to just say I can't be bothered to wait
01:04another 10 minutes to get to the end of
01:05this so in this episode you'll learn how
01:07a great video starts the four hat
01:10writing process to make better videos
01:11tips for finding and hiring a
01:14scriptwriter and how to craft the
01:15perfect call to action to end your
01:20where does a great video Start how do we
01:23how do we get this thing started so that
01:25we're giving ourselves a good chance for
01:26this video working so the idea
01:29generation is obviously a big one and I
01:30know you've spoken about that with Paddy
01:32Galloway and that's like the big thing
01:34that kind of comes up a lot of the time
01:35is is the idea generation I'm usually
01:38less involved in that phase my role
01:40tends to come in as like how do we once
01:43we've got that idea how do we frame it
01:45and that that's a huge one and I think
01:46something creators often think is like
01:48oh I'm excited to talk about this topic
01:50and I know roughly what I would want to
01:52say about it maybe it comes from a
01:54conversation you've had with somebody uh
01:56at a cafe or at a pub or something and
01:58it feels like this is something I could
02:00intuitively just talk really
02:02compellingly about for a while but in my
02:04experience and what I find with the the
02:06one-to-one calls that I do with creators
02:07is that your first idea is often not
02:09going to be the best uh the best one so
02:12I take an example I was speaking to
02:13somebody recently who they wanted to
02:15talk about Hollywood reboots right which
02:18is obviously a trend at the moment has
02:19been a trend for a little while now the
02:20the kind of incessant rebooting of
02:22basically everything we know and love
02:24from our childhood and they came to me
02:26saying like I want I want to talk about
02:27this and but they weren't fully sure
02:30like how to approach it and their first
02:33instinct was like why don't we just talk
02:34about you know the pros and the cons of
02:36doing Hollywood reboots like yeah why
02:38it's good why it's bad which is like
02:39cool like you could you could do that
02:41but by itself that feels again like a
02:44conversation you might have with
02:45somebody down the pub a second angle
02:48that we talked about and that they came
02:49to me with was oh why don't we talk
02:50about why Hollywood keeps doing it right
02:53like why when they have the option to
02:54make new and fresh and interesting
02:55things do they continue to reboot stuff
02:57but again that seemed like a question
02:59that you can answer immediately either
03:01intuitively or you can Google it but the
03:02answer is money because it makes money
03:04that's not an interesting thing and if
03:06you're going to try and delay revealing
03:08that answer to your audience for 10 15
03:1120 minutes or like for hours if it's a
03:13video essay potentially that's not
03:14something that is going to convince many
03:16people to stick around because it's
03:17quite intuitive but then we landed on
03:19the idea of oh what if we talk about why
03:22do we keep going to see it why is it
03:24something that I know I'm not going to
03:27enjoy in all likelihood balance of
03:29probability I've seen enough reboots
03:30I've been frustrated enough times going
03:33that I'm not going to enjoy seeing this
03:35but why is it that I keep giving
03:37Hollywood my money so we answer that
03:39question easily it makes the money who
03:41makes them that money me but what so
03:43like it's almost like an invasive look
03:44into like my own behavior like the sort
03:46of thing I think I will have it will
03:49have crossed my mind as an audience
03:50member in the past but having that
03:52presented in front of you it's like why
03:53I can't remember the title we came up
03:55with but presenting it framing it as a
03:57look into like you and your behavior
03:59again that's quite a specific example
04:00but I think that's that's basically the
04:02kind of the checklist that we you want
04:04for how you frame your video it's got to
04:05be something that's interesting for you
04:07it's got to be something that's deeply
04:08interesting for your audience uh it's
04:10got to evoke some kind of emotion like
04:12the kind of emotional response I was
04:13having just then the like kind of
04:14frustration or or whatever it is and
04:17then it's got to open multiple curiosity
04:19apps it's got to be the kind of thing
04:21you couldn't just Google and find out
04:22very very quickly because again we're
04:24trying to convince people to give us
04:26a significant amount of their time when
04:28at the click of a button they've got
04:30thousands of other choices so hitting on
04:32that right framing of the idea is uh is
04:34is Paramount well I think I'm hearing
04:36and tell me if I'm hearing this
04:37incorrectly yeah but uh I'm thinking out
04:41ideas are not the same as topics like
04:43you can have a topic that you want to
04:45explore that is not inherently the idea
04:48for the video the idea is almost like a
04:50Russian nesting doll inside of the topic
04:53to say how do I how do I frame and and
04:56almost like carve out
04:59how I'm going to address this topic yeah
05:02that's exactly right going to put it
05:04better that's the 16th answer for what I
05:07so what are some of the trends you see
05:10as to what that behavior is or what what
05:13mistakes people are making early on and
05:15throughout the beginning portion of a
05:16video that causes people to lose
05:19interest in tune out it usually comes
05:21down to the idea of payoff as it's
05:24umbrella kind of term essentially the
05:26audience needs to know pretty much at
05:27all times what it is they're waiting
05:28around for next which sounds pretty
05:30obvious but it can be very easy I think
05:33when you are in the process of making a
05:3410 minute video to forget to signpost
05:37those things frequently throughout
05:39throughout the video so although
05:41you might be doing a tutorial video
05:43where you're showing them by the end of
05:44the video You're Gonna know how to do
05:45this or it might be for example I wrote
05:48a a breakdown of how Thomas Frank makes
05:50however many hundreds of thousands of
05:52dollars he makes a month we're solving
05:54the ultimate question how does he make
05:55so much money that's what we're waiting
05:56around for but in the kind of you know
05:59the seven eight minutes before that what
06:01are the things that we are the little
06:02kind of aha moments the little tidbits
06:04that we are excited to find out about in
06:06the next minute or 30 seconds even and
06:09so I think it's about figuring out first
06:11of all what that big the grand payoff is
06:13and I've actually written about this the
06:15newsletter that I've written that's
06:16going out today is is about identifying
06:18that grand payoff but not losing sight
06:20of the fact that you need to have these
06:22minute payoffs kind of throughout the
06:24video that serve as building blocks to
06:26that ultimate thing and unless you're
06:27signposting that unless your audience
06:29knows why am I giving this guy or a girl
06:31my time for the next minute it's very
06:33easy for them to just sing I can't be
06:35bothered to wait another 10 minutes to
06:37get to the end of this these types of
06:38signposts and planning for
06:41how and when the payoffs happen
06:45throughout the video it sounds like
06:46something that's difficult to do without
06:49thought or intention yes like it seems
06:52like I'm probably not going to walk in
06:53hit record and just do these things
06:55really well you're right yeah this is
06:57actually funnily enough uh earlier this
06:58this week or last week maybe I did
07:00Justin's Creator debates podcast and we
07:02were talking uh about script writing and
07:04whether you should script or whether you
07:06should just wing it and there's of
07:07course a place for just winging it and
07:08especially I think the conclusion we
07:10came to is when you're maybe first
07:11getting started in all of this it feels
07:13like a lot to learn how to be a
07:15videographer and a sound mixer and also
07:17a scriptwriter and a Storyteller and all
07:19this stuff maybe it is okay to just get
07:21some bullet points and just get used to
07:23speaking to camera but I think if you
07:24want Total creative control over the
07:26package that you're putting out there
07:28has to be some thought when you sit down
07:30uh you you want to have it mapped out as
07:32as much as you possibly can and it's
07:34okay it's not like you have to stick
07:36word for word to what you've written if
07:38you feel like you need to skip over a
07:40little bit or you feel the urge to just
07:42like rephrase something in the moment
07:43totally fine but if you want that full
07:46creative control as I say you you need
07:48to know what all the beats are that
07:49you're going to hit because if you're
07:50going to sit down and just start talking
07:51it's very easy to forget what did I say
07:53a couple of minutes ago have I teed this
07:55up properly have I probably foreshadowed
07:57what's coming next does this make sense
07:59as a step by step for my audience to
08:01reach that grand payoff it's harder to
08:03tell if you haven't got a plan I love
08:05that you you call out the fact that you
08:07don't have to have the entire process
08:10dialed to a 10 in all the steps within
08:12it when you get started because I think
08:13that's really important for a lot of
08:14people listening to hear which is like
08:16yeah we're laying out how people at the
08:19top level are approaching this and you
08:20can have that in your uh windshield I
08:25guess it's not your rear view mirror you
08:26can have that in front of you and no
08:27that's what you're working towards but
08:28you don't have to be there right now
08:31after a quick break George and I dive
08:33into the specifics of writing an
08:34effective script so stick around we'll
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08:43the core of my business and I believe
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08:46audience is one of the most sustainable
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09:42and let them know that Jay sent you so
09:44we have an idea that hits those check
09:47boxes and we feel good about it now what
09:49happens to get this thing written the
09:52key thing and it feels like a real
09:54annoyance for a lot of people and I know
09:56as soon as you hear the words come out
09:57my mouth it's gonna feel like oh an
10:00immediate stomach drop but drafting up
10:02an audience Avatar so you can be laser
10:04focused on basically everything the
10:06language you're using how you're
10:07constructing your scripts the topics you
10:09choose all of that you you just you need
10:12to know who you're talking to and it's
10:13the same in marketing it's the same in
10:15everything like this is basically
10:16Marketing in this in this idea of an
10:19audience Avatar are you suggesting that
10:20that's something I do for my channel and
10:23each video is a uh addressing that
10:26audience or are you saying each video we
10:29need to create this Avatar it depends
10:31usually I mean have one for your channel
10:33is definitely what you would need
10:34overall but there will be some times
10:36where maybe you're looking to reach an
10:38audience that is not part of your usual
10:40cover and you're actually looking to
10:41grow the channel in a different
10:42direction in which case and I know this
10:44is a bit of a stressful annoying thing
10:46to do you could consider doing that I
10:48think it will make your life down the
10:50line when you're actually coming to
10:51write it much easier because it actually
10:53cuts off the number of choices you have
10:55at a given point for how you structure
10:58it the language you use again we can
10:59come more onto that uh in a moment but
11:02um it's certainly an option you have but
11:03you should definitely have one for your
11:05channel as a whole yeah and when you're
11:07doing this what level of depth are you
11:10thinking are you naming this person are
11:12you talking about their demographic
11:14information like when is the Avatar
11:18um I I think it depends I've I well when
11:21I worked with Ali I saw for a course
11:22that he was launching uh somebody was
11:25doing the whole like they have a name
11:26they have an exact occupation like all
11:28of that stuff I've never tended to go
11:30that deep and that may be an error on my
11:32part for me it's like just using all the
11:35opportunities you have to speak to your
11:37audience and constructing an image as
11:39best you can just from the responses
11:40they they give it's then Gathering all
11:43of that information into a notion table
11:45or a document or something like that and
11:47kind of just piecing together from that
11:50who it is that you're talking to I've
11:52never gone as far down the road as
11:53naming them but that is something that
11:55some people prefer to do I just that
11:57that to me feels like one step
11:59Beyond uh what I need to do I'd rather
12:02go on with writing all right so we've
12:03got the Avatar dialed in once you have
12:05that what's the next step then it's kind
12:07of a free-for-all uh in terms of the
12:09ideas that you're getting down on the
12:11page and this is um the kind of process
12:13I follow when I'm writing basically any
12:15script it's like a four hat structure
12:17and the first hat is what I call the
12:20artists where it's free-flowing you're
12:22just getting ideas down on the page you
12:24don't have to think about the structure
12:25you don't have to think about how one
12:27thing is going to lead to the next all
12:29you really need from all of that is to
12:30have figured out what that grand payoff
12:33is what the big moment uh that we're
12:35going to focus on at the end is what the
12:36audience is sticking around for but
12:38beyond that it's just what do you
12:41instinctively think this video should
12:43contain and you just go for it and you
12:45don't think that's my favorite how to
12:46wear so four hat structure number one
12:48artist what's number two the second hat
12:50is the architect hat is that a hard hat
12:53would they would they wear a hard hat
12:54walking around I think so I think that
12:56well I don't know that's that's a score
12:57of like a construction hat more of a
12:59construction hat okay well you know what
13:00maybe that works the architect the
13:02Constructor however you like to phrase
13:03it and that is where you start to flesh
13:05out that structure right and that's
13:06where from all these ideas that you've
13:08got you start to eliminate the ones that
13:10you realize aren't going to be super
13:11interesting and you figure out the the
13:13necessary steps that will build up
13:15towards that final payoff and this is a
13:18key Point especially when working with
13:19clients where you need to basically get
13:21that okayed with them because again
13:23they'll have had this idea with you
13:25you'll have kind of figured out what the
13:27framing is going to be but now you need
13:28to clarify with them whether or not this
13:31is the order of events they want to talk
13:32about this is how they had kind of
13:34foreseen it in their in their mind so
13:36getting that structure dialed in is is
13:37part two let's keep going part three the
13:40third hat is the writer's hat I don't
13:44know what kind of hat a writer wears I
13:45I'm not much of a hat wearer myself
13:47maybe I need to like commission my own
13:49hat I don't know so that's where again
13:51you're now starting to expand the bit in
13:53between this kind of list that you have
13:55right where you've got all the key
13:56points that you're going to hit now
13:58you're connecting the dots essentially
13:59then needs to be something
14:01progressing regressing or changing at
14:05any point in your script and it can be
14:06hard to see this before you sit down and
14:09start to really write it out in full and
14:11something that I've learned from one of
14:13is that at the top of the scripts now
14:15I'm writing a couple of sentences about
14:17what is the goal so the goal either of
14:20if it's an entertainment video of the
14:21person who's in it doing the thing or if
14:24it's something educational what is the
14:26goal of the person watching like what do
14:27they want and what does success look
14:29like then what does failure look like so
14:31again entertainment video what does it
14:34what is it they do that is bad and takes
14:36them away from the goal um sees them
14:39regress away from the goal or again if
14:41it's the the viewer we're talking about
14:42in an educational video it's what other
14:44kind of uh obstacles to their success
14:46what are the things that they're worried
14:47about the objections they might have and
14:49then the final the third thing is
14:51emotion what emotions might they feel as
14:54a result of either the successes or the
14:56failures just having that at the top of
14:58my script is something I then refer back
14:59to constantly so when you're writing the
15:02scripts you want to be thinking is
15:04anything happening here in this kind of
15:05paragraph or this segment of the video
15:07are we progressing towards something are
15:09we failing away from something or is
15:12there some kind of change of emotion
15:14going on and again what you're trying to
15:16avoid when you're doing all of this is
15:18too much task switching so it's kind of
15:21again like almost another free-flowing
15:23point where you're not thinking too much
15:24about retention at this point you're
15:25just thinking can I get from A to B to C
15:27in a way that makes sense maybe you're
15:30thinking of a kind of half form b-roll
15:32ideas and visual cues and things that
15:34you might want to be be putting in with
15:35all of this but again the key thing here
15:37is making sure that by the end of your
15:39time as the writer you've got the thing
15:41that gets you from the start to the
15:43finish and that brings you on to the
15:46Wizards hat and this is where you now
15:48start thinking about the retention stuff
15:50and there's I guess a lot of stuff we
15:51could talk about here but particularly
15:53when it comes to payoffs it's thinking
15:55and this is something I do sometimes it
15:56is literally going through the video and
15:58highlighting every time I think there is
16:00a moment where the audience is going to
16:02go oh or they feel like they've learned
16:04something that they didn't know before
16:05going through and highlighting that
16:07stuff makes it incredibly visually
16:09evident if you have huge sways of the
16:13script where the audience isn't learning
16:15anything where they necessarily don't
16:17know what's coming up next and that's
16:18when you can really start to play around
16:20with that structure and think okay where
16:21are these kind of reveals that I want to
16:23put into the script where are these
16:24these big moments of emotional release
16:26or whatever it is it's hard to be too
16:29specific when we could be talking about
16:30a tutorial or an entertainment video or
16:32whatever it is I really swear by
16:35highlighting whatever is payoffs or it
16:37could be something else but it helps you
16:39get a sense of the visual structure of
16:40the script and that's where you can
16:41start to rearrange things I think the
16:44tendency that I have when I get into
16:45script writing is being very literal and
16:49maybe too economical you know it's it's
16:52very utilitarian especially in the first
16:54draft where it's like all right I want
16:55to explain this thing to you and if I'm
16:58not careful I end up with like uh two
17:01minute video because I've just like said
17:03everything in the most efficient way
17:05possible but I realize it's not actually
17:07necessarily helping the viewer because
17:10saying something efficiently doesn't
17:12mean that it's then heard understood so
17:16talk to me about when I'm wearing my
17:17writer's hat which I think is
17:19where a lot of your specialty comes in
17:22and The Wizard as you're saying but I
17:25think the writer is where a lot of
17:26people are probably struggling
17:28the most obviously how does that process
17:31look and feel you know I want to
17:34understand more about how this looks
17:35when you're actually digging in and
17:37writing the script yeah so I really like
17:39what you said there about
17:41um efficiency won't necessarily equal
17:43something learned and remembered
17:45essentially something really cool that I
17:47picked up from somebody that I was doing
17:49a one-to-one with uh actually I think I
17:51was doing this I was reviewing one of
17:52one of their scripts and I actually saw
17:54in their notes they had this uh this
17:57kind of thing and like uh bold starred
18:00uh text it was uh make the audience feel
18:03smart and that really stuck with me and
18:05that's something that I think about a
18:07lot now so with the example you just
18:09gave right where you're super efficient
18:11and you talk through the video and
18:12you're done in two minutes they've got
18:13the information that's all well and good
18:16but it's not memorable and they haven't
18:18had to engage particularly hard to
18:21receive that information so something I
18:23uh that I see all the time with scripts
18:26that need a little work and it's such a
18:30giving those payoffs a little bit too
18:32early and then feeling like to pad the
18:34runtime you then have to talk about it
18:36more after you've kind of given away
18:38what the answer is and that might seem
18:40like something you think well I wouldn't
18:41do that if I've given away the the
18:43answer why would I keep talking about it
18:44but you see all the time like listicles
18:45are a real Bandit for this where you're
18:47like okay 10 things that I can't uh go
18:51without when I leave the house and it's
18:54like number one my house keys
18:57and immediately I'm watching that
18:59thinking well I know why your house keys
19:00because you need to get back in the
19:01house it's easy but then with this sort
19:04of lit school you'll see them then say I
19:06always have my house keys with me and I
19:07always keep them in my pocket because I
19:09need to remember where I've kept them so
19:10that when I get back to the house later
19:11I'm like I I get it I got it like I
19:13figured this out 10 minutes ago again
19:15not making the audience feel smart you
19:17give that payoff a little later and this
19:19is again I know you spoke with that
19:20about this and this is his real kind of
19:22uh zone of Genius is doing something
19:26gives the audience a clue as to what's
19:29coming up but without revealing what it
19:30is we're going to talk about so he's
19:31like the king of YouTube metaphors right
19:34um and that was something that was
19:35really fun when I was working with him
19:36it was was getting to uh come up with
19:39really interesting metaphorical ways of
19:41explaining things and so as I say the
19:43tendency to pad things out there's no
19:45point doing it if you've already given
19:47the payoff you need to come up with a
19:48metaphor uh or give them a kind of
19:50interesting route in to the point that
19:52you're about to make before making the
19:54point and again you can do this really
19:56easily literally just switch the order
19:58they come in the script ah this is good
20:00this reminds me of a video we did on the
20:02channel about uh my revenue streams from
20:05last year and it's like here the the
20:07revenue streams that I put in place
20:09those videos a lot of people watching
20:10that are probably like just tell me the
20:12seven things and I I felt I felt like I
20:16needed to have context in between but it
20:19was a struggle for like what you're
20:21saying context set is
20:23additive and useful versus me just
20:26trying to pad the runtime that's a good
20:28way to think about it this is why I hate
20:29reading any article that's written for
20:31SEO because they're all this way but why
20:33when I think about some of my best work
20:34or some of the work that's been received
20:36the best it's when I kind of presume
20:38Intelligence on the part of the audience
20:40and it's having a high level
20:42conversation without having to dumb it
20:45down much and assuming that people keep
20:47up with it you're right in fact I had to
20:49the the boxer who was training Michelle
20:52karre in that recent video she did and
20:55if you've seen this incredible video
20:58um that she she made a couple of months
20:59ago the the I think it was the the
21:01bronze British Olympic boxer from 2008
21:05or whatever was it was the guy who was
21:06training her in that video and he
21:07actually came to me for a video uh
21:10review which I put in my newsletter and
21:12I think this is one of the most simple
21:13examples of showing how you can like
21:14easily switch these things over is he
21:16was doing a video about uh like boxing
21:19techniques uh if you're a short person
21:21fighting a taller person and every time
21:24he would be like the technique is this
21:26I'm gonna move much closer very quickly
21:28and that means I can get a punch in
21:30before they even see me and then he
21:32would demonstrate it and my suggestion
21:34to him was like how how simple is this
21:36like you this is a perfect opportunity
21:38to show something visually and literally
21:41ask the audience like can you see what
21:43I'm doing here before then explaining it
21:45because that's what we talk about it
21:46engages the brain it becomes like a
21:48puzzle immediately they're now watching
21:49it thinking oh I think is he doing the
21:52thing where he moves really quickly so
21:53that they can't get a punch in and then
21:54he reveals it and you get this little
21:56dopamine hit because you're like oh I
21:58worked that out I wasn't just giving it
22:00on a plate I wasn't told it I had to
22:01engage and figure it out and that's just
22:03a way more satisfying experience for the
22:05viewer this works cross-platform too I
22:07realize this is what makes some of Paddy
22:09Galloway's threads really good on
22:11Twitter is he'll give a little bit of
22:13information he'll give like a views or
22:16Impressions chart and say why do we
22:18think this happened and replies just
22:21fill up with people making guesses
22:23really really useful to engage the
22:26viewer with the content that's that's a
22:29really good way of thinking about it
22:30yeah is there something you believe to
22:32be true it could be related to script
22:34writing it could be related to YouTube
22:36it could be related related to anything
22:37as a Creator something you believe to be
22:39true but you do not yet have the data to
22:42support I think this is uh something
22:45which I would say because my livelihood
22:48depends on it but I believe that a lot
22:52of channels would benefit from hiring a
22:53scriptwriter but I think it's something
22:55that hasn't caught on yet as much as
22:59getting an editor or a thumbnail
23:00designer right most channels that move
23:02Beyond a certain point that they're
23:04taking themselves seriously they'll end
23:06up with an editor or a thumbnail
23:07designer pretty soon but a scriptwriter
23:10is something that I think the ROI isn't
23:12always completely clear and I think it
23:14is something that is maybe harder to
23:17onboard someone into that role because
23:19it's so much about uh voice which is not
23:23easy thing to pick up editing style and
23:25I'm not an editor so I wouldn't want to
23:27get hundreds of angry editors uh coming
23:30after me in the night but I feel like
23:32you've got such a a clear visual
23:34reference for the style that you're
23:35trying to to mimic that's something you
23:37can start to pick up writing is is a lot
23:40more about you have to just spend so
23:41much time kind of listening speaking out
23:43loud and I literally will sit here and
23:46read out loud in the voice of the person
23:48I'm trying to write for the script that
23:50I've written for them but it's a
23:51difficult thing to onboard however the
23:53ROI of a writer I think overall is huge
23:55whether that is just in a research
23:57capacity to save you that upfront time
23:59but in having somebody on the team who
24:01is specifically devoted to thinking
24:03about the nuts and bolts structure of
24:05all the stuff in the way that we've
24:06spoken about today it it takes a lot of
24:09time to sit down and really think
24:11through all of this stuff
24:13um and I think a lot of teams would
24:15benefit from having a writer I think it
24:17just comes down to having the patience
24:18to onboard somebody and even find
24:20somebody because I get this all the time
24:22I get asked for recommendations all the
24:24time and I don't know who to recommend
24:26um because there just aren't that many
24:28people that have come out the woodwork
24:29yet I got two or three people that I
24:33I don't know that many people so well
24:35that's gonna be my next question is how
24:36do we find these people and if if the
24:38answer is well it still says a nascent
24:42medium or like practice for writers to
24:45be YouTube script writers for creators
24:48I'm wondering if you have any thoughts
24:49around how to find somebody who you
24:52could have the potential to learn this
24:54hey real quick before they respond I
24:56want to let you know that there are
24:58bonus Audio Only episodes of Creator
25:00science that air every Tuesday when we
25:02don't publish a video episodes like
25:04number 156 where I talk with my editor
25:06Connor about our first year on YouTube
25:08or number 37 with Ollie abdall if that's
25:11interesting just search for Creator
25:12science wherever you listen to podcasts
25:15alright back to the show one thing I've
25:17recommended in the past is getting
25:19somebody in as a researcher in the first
25:22place where they don't have yet the
25:25responsibilities of thinking critically
25:27in the way that we've been speaking
25:28about today about how the video is going
25:30to come together but they are thinking
25:32about the kind of information that will
25:33go into that sort of video and gradually
25:37if you uh keep them around for a certain
25:39length of time they will just naturally
25:42through osmosis start to pick up a
25:45little more about how the videos come
25:46together in the end so that's it's
25:48almost like an apprenticeship I suppose
25:49you kind of got them in uh at an earlier
25:51level and you you let them learn as they
25:53go in terms of places to find I mean
25:55YouTube jobs.com is the only kind of Hub
25:58that I'm aware of other than Twitter but
26:00it is hard it is very hard and all I can
26:03say in terms of people that have asked
26:05about this for editors is that getting
26:07an Editor to share opportunities on
26:09their Instagram story or something like
26:12that means you're more likely to get a
26:14swarm of the right kind of people uh
26:17coming to the call but it's it's hard
26:20for writers at the moment it is to try
26:22and find them we have an unfair
26:23advantage of as creators of
26:26having distribution or having an
26:28audience of people who already know our
26:29work it strikes me that it's probably
26:31helpful to look within your audience
26:34first for people that might be high
26:35potential because they'll already have
26:37some level of baked in
26:39knowledge of your voice and familiarity
26:41with it of course if you're trying to do
26:43something new and kind of expand beyond
26:46what you're doing that might actually be
26:47a hindrance but if you're like you know
26:50what I want to keep doing what we're
26:51doing this is working we have kind of a
26:55pattern then probably finding someone
26:58who's already familiar with their work
26:59is is helpful no you're right and
27:02actually I've got somebody who is
27:03helping me with my script writing course
27:07at the moment who is somebody that was
27:08reading my newsletter for uh you know
27:11six months or so uh who is also a
27:13YouTube script writer as it turned out
27:15um and she's proven to be invaluable in
27:17all of this and all basically what she
27:19asked was like hey I'll I'll help you
27:21write this this thing um if you're happy
27:23for me to just keep it at the end
27:25essentially and keep learning from you
27:26along the way and that's something
27:28that's like super super useful and
27:30immediately that's someone who I'm more
27:32likely to want to pass on because I'm
27:33already getting a sense of of her
27:35capabilities so um yeah I think you make
27:37a really good point what haven't we
27:38covered here in the process so far
27:40George I've got the four hat structure
27:42we've talked about writing this in a way
27:44that engages the viewer and adding some
27:47signposts along the way for moving
27:50towards a payoff what haven't we touched
27:52on here that you think is really
27:53important for somebody who's approaching
27:54writing their next video script the call
27:57to action is is a big one a thread of
27:59mine has kind of been doing the rounds
28:00again more more recently with the kind
28:02of the closest thing to a hack I've ever
28:06found for YouTube and obviously
28:08carry out that with the fact there are
28:10none but there's just a little change in
28:12the way that I've started doing my uh
28:14call to actions at the end
28:16um and I'm talking specifically about
28:17trying to get somebody to watch another
28:19video that just blasts the channel
28:22average uh click through at the end way
28:25out the water like pretty much without
28:27fail and I've started getting people
28:28dming me now with their results using
28:30this this exact same thing this feels
28:33already exactly like the kind of spam ad
28:35you get on uh like a dodgy website where
28:38the edge of my seat I'm leaning in what
28:42a lot of people do is either they'll
28:45spend a lot of the time uh you know
28:47thanking the video for watching and all
28:48like you want to still be a pleasant
28:49human being that's all good I'm not
28:50saying we have to dispense with the
28:51pleasantries completely but the the
28:54sense we give and again this is
28:56something that Ed has talked about is
28:57that we want to give people the
28:58impression the video that there's more
29:00to learn but the simple way that I found
29:02it breaking this down is a three-step
29:04thing so first link and I'm not talking
29:07about the URL to a video until looking a
29:09link back to something that you've been
29:11discussing in this video so that it
29:13could seem that you're naturalistically
29:15now just building on to another Point
29:17based on what you've already been
29:18talking about and what the viewer is
29:19already there watching the next thing is
29:21uh curiosity Gap so you're going to
29:23relate something you've already spoken
29:25about in this video you're going to open
29:26a curiosity Gap based on that thing so
29:29the classic is like although you may
29:30have understood or you may have enjoyed
29:33learning about X you won't be able to
29:35properly apply it until you know why and
29:38then the final point is the call to
29:40action promise so the call to action
29:42being so watch this video so that and
29:45then you add the promise so that you can
29:47achieve whatever it is that they want to
29:49achieve so again you're trying to root
29:51the emotion in something that they're
29:52clearly already interested in because
29:53they've watched this video from start to
29:55finish this obviously relies on you
29:57again picking a video to send them to
29:59that is going to be super super relevant
30:00but if you can make them feel like
30:02something they've watched in this video
30:03is incomplete you really widen that
30:06Curiosity Gap and get them desperate to
30:08know is you have to have to tell them so
30:11link curiosity Gap and then the promise
30:14slash call to action at the end so you
30:16and I were just talking about how to
30:18engage the viewer in the video and what
30:21you're sharing with them that's actually
30:23something that we talked a lot about
30:24with Ed on the recent video that we had
30:27here so if you're watching this and
30:29you're interested in learning more about
30:30how to make your videos more interesting
30:31and to engage the viewer and
30:33storytelling you should watch this video
30:36where I interview Ed from filmbooth
30:38right here dude that was killer you're a
