How to Write a Voiceover Script (Template + Examples)

Write for the ear, not the eye

The first thing to understand about how to write a voiceover script is that you are not writing to be read. You are writing to be heard. A sentence that looks elegant on the page can tie a narrator's tongue in knots the moment they say it out loud.

So the whole job is different. Short sentences. One idea per line. Familiar words over fancy ones. Contractions, because that is how people actually talk. If you would not say it to a friend across a table, cut it.

Here is the fast test: read every line aloud before you keep it. If you run out of breath, stumble, or hear yourself sounding like a brochure, rewrite it. Your ear is the editor that matters.

Start with a brief, not a blank page

Before you write a single line, pin down four things. They shape every word that follows.

• Audience. Who is listening, and what do they already know? You write differently for kids than for a boardroom.
• Goal. What should the listener think, feel, or do by the end? One goal per script.
• Length. How many seconds or minutes do you have? This decides your word budget (more on that below).
• Tone. Name the feel in concrete terms: "warm and conversational," "authoritative and clinical," "playful and fast." Skip vague words like "nice" — they tell a narrator nothing.

Write these at the top of your document. They double as the brief for whoever performs the read, human or AI.

How many words per minute for voiceover?

Word count is not a guess. Speech has a fairly predictable rhythm, so you can size a script to a runtime before anyone records a thing.

The rule of thumb: about 150 words per minute for a natural, conversational read. That matches everyday speech rate, which typically lands between 120 and 150 words per minute.

Adjust for the format:

• Commercials run tight and energetic, closer to 180 words per minute.
• Explainers and corporate video sit around 150 to 160.
• Documentary and audiobook narration slow down to about 140, so listeners can absorb the story.
• Dense or technical copy — long compound words, acronyms, numbers — needs even more room. Budget slower.

Quick math: a 30-second spot is about 75 words. A 60-second explainer is about 150. A five-minute narration is around 700 to 750. Time your draft with a stopwatch and trim until it fits.

A voice over script template you can copy

A good voice over script template separates what the narrator says from how they say it. Here is a simple structure that works for almost any project.

Header block

• Project: [name]
• Runtime: [seconds or minutes]
• Audience: [who]
• Goal: [the one thing]
• Tone: [two or three concrete words]

Body

Lay out the spoken lines one idea at a time. Put performance directions in brackets before the line, and spell out any tricky pronunciation right where it appears.

• [warm, unhurried] Meet Ada. She runs a bakery — and until last month, she ran it alone.
• [pick up energy] Then she found a way to clone herself. Sort of.
• Pronounce "Ada" as AY-duh. "SKU" as "skew."

Notes

A short block at the bottom for anything global: overall pacing, words to always stress, music or sound cues, and where to breathe.

Keep the directions few and specific. A narrator who sees a bracket on every line stops trusting any of them.

A narration script example, annotated

Here is a short narration script example for a 30-second product intro, written to be spoken in about 75 words.

• [confident, friendly] You have a story to tell. You just don't have a film crew.
• [slight smile in the voice] That's fine. Neither did we.
• [steady, building] Describe your scene. Design your characters. Watch them come to life, one shot at a time.
• [land it] No camera. No editing suite. Just you, and an idea worth watching.
• [soft, inviting] Your first film is one conversation away.

Notice the moves: sentence fragments for rhythm, a direct "you" throughout, a turn at the midpoint, and a clear closing line that sets up a call to action. That is how to write a voiceover script that carries a listener instead of informing them.

Voiceover script tips that sharpen every read

A few voiceover script tips separate a draft that works from one that just exists.

• Open with a hook. The first line decides whether anyone hears the second. Lead with a question, a claim, or a small surprise.
• Cut ruthlessly. If a word does not add meaning or momentum, delete it. Voiceover rewards the lean draft.
• Mark your stresses. Bold or underline the exact words you want emphasized. "You can do THIS" reads differently than "YOU can do this."
• Spell out numbers and acronyms. Write "twenty-twenty-six," not "2026," if that is how it should sound.
• Read it cold. Hand the script to someone who has never seen it. Where they trip is where you rewrite.
• Time it, then trim. Almost every first draft is too long. Cutting ten percent usually makes it better.

Good delivery leans on prosody) — the rhythm and stress of speech — so your markup is really a map of how the line should sound. If your voiceover is headed for video, the script is only half the job: the visuals have to match the beats. It helps to plan your scenes alongside the narration so the words and pictures land together.

From script to finished voiceover

Once the script reads clean and times out right, you need a voice to perform it. You can hire talent, record yourself, or generate the read.

In Scriptly, your script flows straight into the film: you can make an AI video from a script, then add voiceover to the AI video with word-synced captions and music, all from a chat with an AI director. Because the studio keeps your characters and scenes consistent, the voice and the visuals stay locked to the same story.

One habit carries over from the page: keep listening. Play the read back against the picture, and if a line feels long or flat, tighten it and regenerate. The script is a living thing until the film is done.

Ready to hear your words come to life? Start creating with Scriptly and turn your voiceover script into a finished film.

The takeaway

Writing a voiceover script comes down to three habits: write the way people talk, size the words to the clock, and read every line out loud before you trust it. Nail those, lean on a template, and your narration will sound like a person — not a page being recited.

Still shaping the bigger story? A tight logline and a solid short film script give your voiceover something worth narrating in the first place.