video-scriptlisted

# Video Script Retention is the product. Every structural choice answers one question: why would the viewer still be here at second 30, minute 2, minute 8? ## Long-form structure 1. **Cold open (0–15s)** — start with the result, the conflict, or the boldest claim. Never a greeting, channel intro, or "in this video we'll…". The title/thumbnail made a promise; the first 15 seconds must confirm it. 2. **Roadmap (15–30s)** — one sentence: what they'll walk away with, and the one thing that makes it worth the wait. 3. **Body** — chapters of 60–120s each, each opening with its own mini-hook and closing with a mini-payoff. Plant **retention checkpoints**: open loops ("the third one is where it breaks"), payoffs spaced ≤ 90s apart, pattern interrupts (demo, cutaway, prop) every ~30s of talking head. 4. **Climax** — the payoff the title promised, delivered before the wind-down. 5. **CTA — exactly one.** Two CTAs halve both. ## Shorts script (≤ 60s target) Hook (1 sentence, first 2s) → lead (what & why it matters, ≤ 5s) → body (one idea, one proof) → payoff → loop ending (cut so the end feeds the hook — replays count double). ## Hook formulas (pick by content type) Number/contrarian ("90% get X wrong") · question the viewer already has · result-first ("this took 4 hours → 4 minutes") · stakes ("if you do X, you'll lose Y") · demonstration opening mid-action · named enemy ("stop doing X") · curiosity gap with a concrete noun. Ban list: greetings, channel intros, "before we start", h