How to write an animated video script that people finish

In an animated video, the script is everything. The visuals illustrate it, the voice performs it, and the timing is calculated from it. A strong script with simple visuals beats a weak script with beautiful ones every time. Here is how to write one, with templates you can paste straight into the animated video maker.

How many words do you need?

Spoken English runs at about 140–160 words per minute. AI voices at normal speed land in the same range. Use this as your budget:

• 15 seconds: 35–40 words
• 30 seconds: 70–80 words
• 60 seconds: 140–160 words
• 90 seconds: 210–230 words
• 3 minutes: 420–460 words

If your draft is over budget, cut ideas, not words. Removing a whole point makes a video tighter; squeezing every point into fewer words makes it breathless.

Write in scenes

Each paragraph becomes a scene. Keep paragraphs to one or two sentences and one idea. If you find yourself wanting two pictures for a paragraph, split it. Put a short title on the line above when you want a specific on-screen headline; otherwise one is generated from the first sentence.

Write for the ear

• Short sentences. Ten to fifteen words. Listeners can't re-read.
• Active voice. “The app sends a reminder,” not “A reminder is sent.”
• Everyday words. “Use,” not “utilise.” “Help,” not “facilitate.”
• Second person. Talk to “you.” It's a conversation, not a brochure.
• Signposts. “First… next… finally…” help people follow without visuals.

Template 1: The explainer (60–90 seconds)

The *problem*
Every week you lose an hour to back-and-forth emails about meeting times.

It adds up
That's fifty hours a year — more than a full working week — spent on scheduling.

Meet *Slotly*
Slotly finds a time that works for everyone, automatically.

1. Share your link
Send one link instead of five emails.

2. They pick a time
Your guests see only the times you're free and choose one in a click.

3. It's *booked*
The meeting lands in everyone's calendar, with reminders.

Try it free
Get your first link in under a minute at slotly dot com.

Template 2: The lesson (2–4 minutes)

Why does it *rain*?
Today we'll follow a single drop of water on its journey around the planet.

1. *Evaporation*
The sun warms the ocean, and water rises into the air as invisible vapour.

2. *Condensation*
High up, the air is cold. The vapour cools and gathers into clouds.

3. *Precipitation*
When the droplets get heavy enough, they fall as rain, snow or hail.

4. *Collection*
Rivers, lakes and soil collect the water, and much of it flows back to the sea.

Quick recap
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection — and then it starts again.

Your turn
Can you name a place where the water cycle happens near your home?

Template 3: The social promo (20–30 seconds)

Stop *scrolling*
This takes thirty seconds and saves you hours.

One *tiny* change
Turn off notifications for every app except messages.

Why it works
Every ping costs you twenty minutes of focus.

*Follow* for more
Try it today, and follow for one productivity tip a day.

Template 4: The story (1–3 minutes)

Stories follow a shape older than writing: a character wants something, faces an obstacle, and changes. One scene per beat:

Once upon a *time*…
A tiny seed dreamed of touching the sun.

The *problem*
But it was buried deep in the dark, cold ground.

A little *help*
Then the rain came, and the seed drank every drop.

It *grew*!
Little by little, it pushed up through the soil, toward the light.

The end
And one morning, it opened its leaves and said hello to the sun.

Openings that work

• The problem: “You've been told to drink eight glasses of water a day. That's a myth.”
• The number: “Ninety percent of startups fail. Here's what the other ten do differently.”
• The question: “Why do cats always land on their feet?”
• The promise: “In sixty seconds you'll know how to read any nutrition label.”

Openings that don't work: your company name, “Hi everyone, welcome back,” and any sentence starting with “In today's fast-paced world.”

Polish for the AI voice

Read the script aloud once, then listen to the AI version once. Fix three things: names the voice mispronounces (spell them phonetically), numbers (write them as words if the reading is odd), and sentences that run out of breath (split them). Commas create small pauses; full stops create longer ones. More in choosing and directing AI voices.

Paste any template above into the Script tab of the animated video maker and press Animate my video to see it come to life.