A screencast voice-over script is basically a script that you prepare before you begin recording a screencast. This is designed to help you plan what you will say, what you will show as you are speaking, etc. This is not necessarily a requirement if you are aiming to simply speak over a presentation you are familiar with, but it is never a bad idea to have a set of guidelines for yourself if recording a screencast.
The Dept of TEL has prepared a template which staff can use, and/ or edit for their own purposes, to help create a voiceover script, available here.
Some elements to consider when developing a screencast voiceover script:
- Remember that screencasts should be relatively short and granular. So this should ideally not involve overly-long on-screen activities. It is better to have 2 concise and to-the-point screencasts than 1 longer screencast which is harder to follow/ keep the viewer’s attention.
- Try to keep recordings direct, short and simple. A series of focused step-by-step recordings is preferable to a single long recording.
- A 2 minute recording will contain around 400 words – the equivalent of one A4 sheet of writing. Keep this word-count in mind when you are writing your voice-over script. If you want the recording to be a certain length, work towards this word count.
- That said, don’t feel like you have to fill pages and pages of script. If you are adding additional unnecessary information to the voice-over script, it will be very boring for the viewer and you will lose their attention. Keep the script as “lean” as possible.
- Consider the process similar to a conversation - introduce yourself, outline what you will cover, thank people for watching at the end, etc.