scripted vs unscripted video

Scripted VS unscripted video – what’s better? That’s the question I got a couple days ago, so wanted to share my answer with you. 

How should you record every video? Do you need to script every video? Do you take notes before you record a video? Or you just freestyle?

All of those are very common questions. And I used to ask that myself, because for a non-native speaker recording a video is challenging. I couldn’t get over the fear of camera, and particularly forgetting words or missing the core ideas that I wanted to share in a video. Has any of that happened to you?

Here’s the thing about scripting your video – whenever you do that, you’re just trying to record a perfect video. Videos will never be perfect. There will always be some flaws or something that you dislike about it. And it’s fine. I tried being perfect on videos too, and it used to take me HOURS to produce one single video. You don’t wanna spend that much time on it. 

Should you take notes before recording a video? Yes, you can! That’s what I do every once in a while, so that I know what I need to cover in that video. Especially if you have a “numbers’ post” where you share several tips or secrets about a certain topic. That way you don’t miss a thing. And in the video below I share a ninja secret that will allow you to NEVER forget any point that you want to cover in your video. This helped me a LOT. 

A lot of the times people are so uncomfortable doing videos, that they go and buy all the fancy-schmancy video equipment that they can find. Is that really necessary? Again, this says a lot about trying to make your videos perfect… Nowadays, you can record a pretty good video using just your mobile phone. That’s it. No need to spend thousands of dollars on setting your video recording studio. 

But here’s the problem when you record videos that look like “studio produced”.. You have an audience that listen to you. And what would happen if they see you use all of the equipment that you have? Most likely people will think that they will never be able to do that. You don’t want your audience to have that thought. You wanna share with people that what you’re doing is possible for everybody! That’s why I’m not a big fan of all professionally shoot videos. The simpler – the better. 

Another really good tip that helped me with recording videos in the beginning is talk about the subject that you know a lot about. Whenever you talk about something you’re really good at, it’s easy! What did I do in the beginning? I was very active on Instagram, so I started doing videos and blog posts about Instagram marketing. It was a good practice too. Fore more tips on recording scripted or unscripted video, watch the video below

Scripted VS Unscripted Video

Jelena Ostrovska

Email: jelena@jelenaostrovska.com

“I help entrepreneurs create a successful brand online using social media & blogging.”

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24 Responses

  1. Awesome training Jelena, I believe that a video should mostly be unscripted and free flowing, you are right that perfection is something that stops a lot of people from producing. In some sense a video should be scripted in a way that you know what you are going to cover, the main points and how it’ll flow and what your call to action is going to be! Thanks for sharing Jelena!

    1. I totally agree with you Vitaliy. Most of my audience is new to video marketing and even a lil scared to dip their toes in so I make my videos as natural and unscripted as I can, I leave the mistakes in and all for now anyway. I have fancy schmancy equipment but I don’t use it as I want my audience to relate.
      So Yes Jelena I love this post. Unscripted Video all the way unless you are creating an info product in which case go scripted as much as you can!

  2. Right on the spot there Jelena. Duplication is the key of this business and if it looks too fancy or too pro, people are rejected with the thought they can’t do this as well.

  3. great post Jelena… in the beginning when I first started shooting videos I was just talking and speaking from the heart…then I decided to do some more vlogging videos and I usually do write some things out as you say that help you focus on what you want to cover and say… so I do both… but as you say it’s just important to get in front of the camera… but I only use my phone camera or my computer camera no fancy equipment…so it depends on if I want to talk very very special I just jot some notes but not follow a script but most times I just shoot the video… great post thanks for sharing

  4. Jelena excellent post. In videos we all have to be natural. Sometimes it is not easy special for non native english speakers. I will use these tips for sure. Thank you for sharing!

  5. Sometimes I can just “go with the flow”… sometimes I have to take notes about all the points I want to make… I would prefer to just not use notes…looks more natural…thanks for this post…

  6. Excellent post! I love when people are just being real and showing their emotion! I also got some notes or more of “Points” to hit in my videos. Great post as always!

  7. Thanks for this information, I have yet to do and share a video and your honesty is a great help 😀

  8. I love it! Great to hear someone that’s not native in English just like me giving this kind of advice. I have done videos in the past but have not been doing them for a while now. Confidence issues. But I will start doing them again.

    Once again!
    Love this message

  9. I truly enjoy reading your post, and getting some tips on how to produce free-flowing videos. I have always suspected that scripting can make your presentation sound tedious and heavy going. A point that you are not eager to dispute! Yet like you said, being familiar with your subject is a big plus. A point that you made which struck is that you can make good videos with your mobile phones, instead of investing so much on expensive equipment, at first!