ChatGPT Prompts for Crafting Engaging Video Scripts

Table of Contents

Starting with blank prompts in ChatGPT

The first time I opened a blank ChatGPT window and tried to make it write a video script, I had no idea what to even type. I just wrote something like “make me a script about dogs” and it gave me something super formal and boring, like a narrator from a history channel documentary. It technically worked, but if I read it out loud it sounded like I was trying to win a spelling bee instead of making a YouTube video. The fix I eventually stumbled across was writing prompts the way I would text a friend: short, messy, full of side notes like “make this casual” or “add a joke about coffee here.” When I gave instructions that way, the output started looking more like something I’d actually say out loud.

So if you’re a beginner, don’t sit there trying to be professional with the prompt. A script for TikTok or YouTube is meant to sound like you. Literally copy the way you’d explain something to your cousin. For example, instead of typing “write a full video script about the impact of weather on farming practices,” I typed “I want to make a funny 2 minute rant about how the weather ruined my lettuce garden again, make it sound annoyed but dumb in a good way.” That difference completely changed the vibe. 🙂

Controlling the length without losing flow

One thing I learned the hard way is ChatGPT either writes way too much or cuts things off too early. The first time I asked for a 30 second script, it gave me this giant essay that would probably last ten minutes. I fixed this by specifying not just time length (like 30 seconds) but also something like “give me 5 quick punchy lines” or “make this 7 sentences max” so it clips its own wings.

There’s a weird trick I use: I time myself reading about 100 words out loud. For me, that takes just under a minute if I don’t speed through. So I’ll ask the bot for 60 to 80 words for a minute of talking. Then I cut or add depending on pacing. That’s way easier than telling it exactly how many seconds you want because it doesn’t really understand pacing. It just dumps text. Sometimes you’ll catch it sneak in one line that’s ten times longer than the rest, so always read back and trim.

Injecting personality into generated scripts

The thing nobody tells you is that if you just let ChatGPT write the whole script, you lose your own voice. It always defaults to sounding too polished. What I do is run a first draft through it but then literally insert my side comments in brackets like [sigh dramatically here] or [look at camera with fake confusion]. These notes don’t even need to be rewritten by the AI. They’re reminders for me when I’m actually performing, and they stop the script from reading like a lecture.

If you want the model to automatically put those in, try telling it up front: “pretend you’re writing stage directions too” or “add sarcastic asides in parentheses.” I use that especially when making list-style videos because otherwise it reads like a grocery checklist. Adding “(pretend you forgot your point midway)” makes it sound more alive.

Using ChatGPT to brainstorm video hooks

Everyone always stresses about how to start a video so people don’t scroll immediately. I tested running the prompt “give me 10 opening hook ideas for a video about surviving a Monday morning at work” and some were actually hilarious. One said, “If Monday had a face I’d throw my coffee at it.” That immediately felt usable because it matched the vibe of memes people already enjoy. 😛

I usually don’t just take the first line it gives me—I copy a batch of hook ideas into a doc, then read them out loud into my phone’s voice recorder. Hearing them played back helps me filter. The ones that sound strained when I hear them in my own voice get tossed. If you try this as a beginner, you might find the AI’s “funny” lines often sound forced when spoken, so reading aloud is the easiest filter.

Building scene ideas with quick prompts

One surprise win has been using ChatGPT to map out scene beats for short explainer videos. I’ll type something like, “give me 4 simple scenes for a video about fixing a WiFi router, keep each note under 1 sentence.” It spits things like:

1. User stares at blinking router lights
2. They unplug everything dramatically
3. Nothing works and frustration grows
4. Quick fix finally saves the day

That’s enough for me to visualize it without overplanning. If I had asked it for a scene breakdown without being strict, it would have written entire paragraphs. Being bossy with “under 1 sentence” keeps it usable. After that, it’s just me filling in the acting.

Fixing awkward pacing in generated drafts

Sometimes the script AI gives me feels robotic, like every sentence lands with the same rhythm. If I read it back, it sounds monotone, which makes me want to skip my own video. The way I patch this is by mixing sentence lengths: one line very short, the next one a rambling tangent, then back to a sharp punch. Instead of telling ChatGPT to do that, I just manually break the lines so it feels less like a textbook and more like spoken word. A table helps here:

This sort of balance makes the reading experience more roller coaster than treadmill. And honestly, beginners overlook this because we get impressed by the fact that it spits *anything* at all. But the pacing edit is where the magic happens.

When your outputs keep repeating the same phrases

A super annoying bug I hit is ChatGPT repeating the same phrasing no matter how creative I thought I was being. For example, if I tell it “write a fun skit about AI writing bad jokes,” it’ll start with “Have you ever wondered” or “In today’s world”—it defaults to those all the time. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

What fixed things for me was feeding it my own starter line. I’ll write the first sentence myself in the prompt, then say “continue this in the same tone for 60 seconds.” If I start with something ridiculous like “My WiFi is plotting against me again,” then the bot has no choice but to follow that vibe and not revert to generic talk-show host mode. That single hack improved my scripts more than all the length adjustments combined.

Final tweaks before actually recording

The last step I always do is run the whole draft to see how my mouth feels saying it. If I trip over words, I replace them with simpler ones. ChatGPT loves fancy phrases like “in essence” or “moreover,” but those sound terrible aloud. I swap them for “basically” or “also.” You’ll notice how much smoother it flows when you’re not forcing your tongue around syllables designed for essays.

If I’m still struggling with delivery, I prompt it one last time for “simplify this script for a 7th grader” and it cuts down the jargon. That’s the version I keep. Most audiences, even adults, would rather hear something simple and real than hyperpolished buzzwords.

I kept rewriting the same script three times one night because it kept spitting those over-academic words back at me, so eventually I just deleted whole lines and said them from memory instead. Honestly those ad-libbed moments ended up as the best parts on camera.