How to Script a Compelling Explainer Video: A Video Storyteller’s Guide

Have you ever sat through an explainer video that felt less like a helping hand and more like a dusty 9am lecture?

We’ve all been there - eyes drifting to the progress bar, waiting for a “point” that never quite arrives. As a video storyteller, I’ve often wondered why so many explainer videos feel like content when they should feel like stories.

If you’re searching for how to script a compelling explainer video, the answer isn’t found in flashy templates or corporate jargon. It lives in something far more human.

A compelling explainer video script is anchored in real life — in the messy, emotional, wonderfully imperfect truths that help an idea land in someone’s world. It goes beyond a rigid Problem–Solution framework and asks a more meaningful question:

Who is the soul on the other side of this screen and how do they need to be spoken to?

Whether you’re translating complex science into reassurance for an NHS patient or crafting a playful hook that turns a learner into an explorer, the magic isn’t in the technology.It’s in the connection.

Why Most Explainer Videos Fail to Connect

Most explainer videos don’t fail because the information is wrong. They fail because they forget the human.

Too often, scripts rush to explain how something works before acknowledging why the viewer should care. The result feels like a lecture rather than a conversation — informative, perhaps, but emotionally distant.

When viewers don’t feel seen or grounded, they disengage. Connection isn’t a “nice to have” in explainer video storytelling — it’s the foundation everything else rests on.

What Makes a Compelling Explainer Video Script

A compelling explainer video script doesn’t try to impress. It tries to connect.

At its heart, good explainer video storytelling does three things well:

• It meets the audience where they are

• It respects their time and intelligence

• It guides them gently toward understanding

This kind of script doesn’t overwhelm. It reassures. It invites curiosity rather than demanding attention.

Why Connection Must Come Before Explanation

In my previous career as an education practitioner, I learned a vital truth: you can’t build a house on sand.

When you script an explainer video, you must give the audience something solid to stand on before asking them to understand a complex new idea. In education, this is known as anchoring.

Anchoring means beginning with something familiar — a feeling, a situation, a question — that allows the viewer to locate themselves in the story. Rather than launching straight into the “how-to,” I often start with a scenario that quietly says:

I see you. I know where this fits into your life.

When we provide context first, we’re not just delivering information. We’re giving the audience the why before the what, allowing understanding to grow naturally.

Anchoring Your Explainer Video Script in Real Life

Anchoring is about relevance.

It’s the difference between saying, “Here is how this system works,” and saying, “Have you ever felt confused or overwhelmed by this moment?”

By tying an idea to real life, we invite the viewer to build meaning themselves. They’re no longer being talked at — they’re being guided.

This is where explainer videos shift from instructional to memorable.

Understanding Your Audience Beyond a Target Demographic

If an explainer video feels flat, it’s often because the storyteller is talking to a “target” instead of a person.

Audiences aren’t generic. Age, culture, identity, lived experience, and emotional context all shape how someone listens and learns. A compelling explainer video script subtly communicates:

I know you. I understand your world.

This way of working sits at the heart of what it means to be a video storyteller — not just explaining information, but shaping it around the lived reality of the viewer.

Think of Sesame Street, which revolutionised educational television by using the language of TV advertising to engage children in more deprived, economically poor communities — connecting with them through their intertextual understanding of TV adverts.

Or the BBC’s Horrible Histories, which transformed “boring” facts into joyful learning by weaving in pop-culture references, humour, and familiar formats children already loved.

Great explainer video storytelling always begins with curiosity about the audience.

What Great Educational Storytelling Can Teach Explainer Videos

Educational storytelling works best when it respects the learner.

The most effective explainer videos borrow from education by:

• Building on what the viewer already knows

• Using humour and surprise to sustain attention

• Allowing space for understanding to land

When storytelling honours how people actually learn, information stops feeling heavy — and starts feeling usable.

Structuring an Explainer Video Script for Clarity and Flow

There’s a belief that creativity means breaking structure. In explainer videos, the opposite is often true.

Clear structure is what allows creativity to shine.

The classic Problem – Solution – How It Works model mirrors how humans naturally process information. It creates a sense of safety and progression, helping viewers stay oriented as new ideas unfold.

This same principle sits behind how to create a promotional video that actually works — clarity first, creativity second, always in service of the viewer.

The artistry lies not in abandoning the structure, but in how you present it.

Why the Problem–Solution–How It Works Model Still Works

This structure endures because it respects the viewer’s time and attention.

When the problem feels relatable, the solution feels earned, and the explanation is clear, the audience feels guided — not rushed or patronised.

Like the work of Mark Rober or Horrible Histories, the hook is playful and human, but the learning is carefully scaffolded underneath.

Case Study: Explaining Radiotherapy With Care and Clarity

Sometimes, the most human thing a storyteller can do is step out of the way.

I developed an explainer video for Mid and South Essex NHS Hospital Trust to demystify the radiotherapy treatment process for patients about to begin care. The original script was scientifically accurate — but dense with clinical language.

I stripped it back to its essentials, replacing jargon with clear, compassionate wording that any adult could understand. This wasn’t about simplifying the truth; it was about opening it up.

By storyboarding carefully, the visuals and narration worked together to create something reassuring and meaningful. That video is still used in consultations today and has been adopted by hospitals across the UK — proof that clarity and care endure.

How Brand Purpose Shapes Explainer Video Storytelling

When I begin scripting an explainer video, I don’t start with features.

I start with two questions:

• Why does this brand exist?

• What changes for the viewer once they understand this?

Understanding a brand’s purpose shapes the tone, atmosphere, and emotional weight of the story. This is also why tools and automation can only take a project so far — a question explored further in whether AI can genuinely create meaningful video.

A video storyteller’s role isn’t just to explain — it’s to create a feeling that supports meaning.

Human-Centred Explainer Videos Create Lasting Impact

Knowing how to script a compelling explainer video isn’t about following a formula. It’s about finding the human truth inside the information.

When you anchor ideas in real experiences and choose clarity over jargon, you create more than content. You create a video story that honours the viewer and supports meaningful learning.

So next time you open a blank page, ask yourself:

How can I connect first — and let understanding follow?

That’s where the most impactful work begins.