The Five Line Plan: A Video Script Template Framework

If you make videos by feel, some turn out clear and some wander, and you cannot say why. A framework turns that into a routine. This post gives you one for your video script template, called the Five Line Plan. It has five lines to fill in, three passes to run, and one review to do after publishing. Once learned, it takes the same short sequence every week.

The idea comes straight from Lesson 3.5, which opens with planning a video in five lines before you write a word. You can follow along with the lesson here: Video scripts that hold attention.

The Five Line Plan is: Who, Promise, Proof, Steps, Next; then write, cut, and review one dip.

The five lines of the video script template

Each line is one sentence. If a line needs two sentences, the idea is not clear yet.

1. WhoThe specific person this is for. "A first time buyer who has never used a mortgage broker" beats "people".
2. PromiseWhat they will have or know by the end. One outcome, stated plainly.
3. ProofWhy they should believe you. A real example from your work, a real photo, a real before and after you may show. If you have none, leave this line blank and say less.
4. StepsThe two to five points that deliver the promise, in order.
5. NextThe single thing they should do after watching.

Write them in a notes app. They are the skeleton for the whole script, and also useful as a caption, a title and a description later.

The three passes

After the five lines, run three passes in this order.

Pass 1: Draft the body. Turn each step line into spoken sentences. One idea per sentence, written how you talk. Do not write the opening yet.

Pass 2: Write the opening. Now you know what the video delivers, so promise exactly that in a sentence or two. The first lines should tell the viewer who it is for and what they will get. YouTube's help page on retention describes the Intro figure, the share of viewers still watching after 30 seconds, and says a high figure can mean the opening matched what the title and thumbnail promised. That is a good test for your opening: does it match the promise on the cover?

Pass 3: Cut. Read the whole script aloud and remove any line the viewer would not miss.

The weekly rhythm

A framework is useful when it fits into a week. Here is one way to place it. Adjust days to your schedule.

• Early in the week: Write five lines for each video you plan to make. Five minutes each.
• Mid week: Run the three passes and record.
• After publishing: Check one thing in the retention graph.

If you batch, write all the five line plans in one sitting, then draft all the bodies together. Batching keeps you in the same thinking mode and keeps the plans consistent with each other.

The review

After a video has had a few days, open YouTube Studio, then Content, then pick the video's Analytics and find the Audience retention report. YouTube notes the data can take one to two days to process, and the key moments feature needs a video of at least 60 seconds with at least 100 views.

Look for one thing only: the biggest dip. YouTube describes dips as moments where viewers skipped or stopped watching. Go to that point in the script and ask which of three things happened. Was it a slow stretch, a repeated point, or a mismatch with the opening promise? Write one sentence about it and put that sentence at the top of your next plan. This is the part that makes the framework improve over time.

Making the framework yours

Keep the five lines fixed, since that is what makes it repeatable. You can change the extras:

• Add a "Hook options" line if you find openings hard. Write three possible first sentences and choose one.
• Add "Sections" for longer videos. On YouTube, you can turn section titles into chapters by listing timestamps in the description. The first must be 00:00, you need at least three, and each chapter must be at least 10 seconds.
• Add a "Sound off" check. The W3C accessibility planning guidance recommends planning for accessibility from the start of a project rather than fixing afterwards, so decide your captions before you record, and write lines that read well as text.

A worked example

This is an illustrative example, not a real client. Say you run a small accounting practice and want a video for freelancers.

• Who: Freelancers who keep receipts in a shoebox.
• Promise: A simple folder system that takes a few minutes a week.
• Proof: A screenshot of your own folder layout, with figures hidden.
• Steps: Three folders; one monthly habit; what to keep.
• Next: Download the one page checklist.

From these lines the script almost writes itself: an opening about the shoebox, three short sections, and an ending that points to the checklist. Notice that none of this needs a claim about how much time anyone will save, and the script does not make one.

Using an AI assistant inside the framework

An assistant can help with pass 1 and pass 3, but not with the five lines. Those need facts only you have: who your customers are, what you have really done, what you want them to do. Give the assistant your five lines, ask for a spoken draft in your style, and tell it not to add claims, numbers or examples you did not supply. Then read the result aloud and cut it. Anything it added that you cannot back up, delete.

Common ways to get this wrong

• Skipping Who. Without a clear person the opening turns generic.
• Two promises in one video. Split the video.
• Skipping the review. Without it you repeat the same dips.
• Treating the five lines as optional for short videos. Even a short video benefits from two minutes of plan.

Questions people ask

Do I write the five lines for every single video?

Yes, but for short videos each line can be a few words. The habit matters more than the length.

Can I use this for videos that are not on YouTube?

The five lines are platform neutral. The review step uses YouTube's report as an example; use the equivalent analytics on your platform.

What if I have no proof yet?

Leave the line empty and keep the promise modest. Do not make something up.

Where to go next

Write five lines for your next video today, then run the three passes. For the guided version with examples, follow Lesson 3.5: Video scripts that hold attention. If you want a blank frame to paste into your notes, use the free template post.