Script Writing Mastery, Day 3
Introductions
Objective:
Learn how to craft introductions that will, without fail, captivate and draw in viewers from the very beginning of your video.
What you need to have ready before you begin:
* Identify the problem that you are going to solve later on in the video
* Establish what tone best compliments your message
* Grab any snack or drink that will make you feel the most creative and alert!
Quick, Snappy, Interesting Introduction?
No… Not quite! In the above example you can clearly see what NOT to do in terms of crafting your introduction. This particular example may be a bit of an over exaggeration, but it illustrates our point nonetheless.
Point 1) By changing around the opening sentence from “Hi, my name is…” to “Is shopping retail actually therapy? Well, anyone who knows me by name, Mrs. Jones, knows that no only do I believe in retail therapy, but I can actually prove that it works…”, you present the same information, but in a fun, creative, and captivating way. I would certainly want to stick around to see if there is a way to actually justify the amount of shopping I do!
Point 2) In this section Mrs. Jones presents what could be interesting information, however, she does so in a very dull, boring way. In reality, the fact that the author woke up to the sound of waves everyday as a child is fairly interesting, and should maybe be phrased like: “As a child I woke up to the sound of waves everyday…”
Point 3) Do not craft any part of your introduction with mundane, uninteresting language. Think of a fun, intriguing, or catching introduction instead. Take a look at our re-write of point 3, and decide for yourselves which you think would go over better with an audience. “Some might think that since I am left handed I’m into fancy schmancy, artsy, right-brained driven things… Well…”
So now that you know what NOT to do, let’s go over some tips that will lead you to write a catchy, captivating introduction.
Guidelines for Introductions
1) Keep it simple
2) Make it clear
3) Create intrigue
4) Use catchy language
Here are some techniques to help:
Start with a Question
In the above video, you can see that the script intro is very simple, clear, and follows all of the guidelines listed above through the usage of the simple, yet effective, “questions” approach.
Listen to the introduction again and note how the questions are strategically written to intrigue the viewer. It is very cleverly done.
Here are some examples of how to begin your script with a question. Try to begin using one of the following words:
Why?
Which?
Who Else?
If?
Does?
Start with an interesting fact
In this TED Talk, the speaker opens by highlighting a very interesting fact about paper towel usage in America. The fact that he took time to research this definitely creates a captivating intrigue that will ensure viewers remain with him for the entirety of his talk.
Storytelling Introduction​
If your video script doesn’t suit the “facts” or “questions” method of introductions previously discussed, then you can lead directly into your story, and have the platform unfold naturally as the story unravels. This video brilliantly uses storytelling to introduce the topic that convoluted emails are not acceptable!
Now you are ready to dive into the meat of your script. We will be examining “catch phrases” on day 4 of this course.
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