Script and film a short business video on your phone

1. 01Done

   Pick one question and talk your answer out

   Pick a question customers ask you every week, the one you already answer on the phone without thinking: how long it takes, what happens on the first visit, whether you do a certain job. Your inbox and your call notes are where to find it. One question makes one video.

   Start dictation in the Claude or ChatGPT app on your phone and answer the question out loud, the way you would to a customer standing in front of you. Both apps turn what you say into text. In ChatGPT the text lands in the message box, so copy it into a note before you send it. In Claude, send it, then copy your message from the chat. Don't tidy it: your phrasing is what the script keeps.

   On audio: Anthropic says Claude deletes the recording once it's turned into text. OpenAI says it may train on dictation audio from consumer users who chose to share audio, which you can turn off with the "Include your audio recordings" control in ChatGPT's data controls.

   Then write the facts sheet for this answer: the prices, times and inclusions it touches, and the one thing a viewer should do next.

   Checkpoint

   One customer question, your spoken answer as text, and a facts sheet.

   Copy step as prompt

   ---

2. 02Done

   Turn it into a script and shot list

   the step that pays off

   Paste the prompt below into a fresh chat in Claude or ChatGPT, with the question, your spoken answer and the facts sheet filled in.

   The facts sheet rule is the one doing the most work. The usual failure in a scripted video is a line the model added to make it sound better: a promise, a "same day" you don't offer, a price rounded to look tidy. On camera, that line is something you said.

   The shot list is limited to what one person can film with one phone, so every shot on it is one you can get alone.

   Write the script and shot list from your spoken answer

   Copy

   Write a short video script I will read off a teleprompter on my phone,
   plus a shot list I can film alone with that phone.
   Rules for the script:
   - Use my words. The rough answer below is how I talk. Keep my
     phrases, my examples and my plain way of saying things. Cut repetition
     and filler. Do not make it sound like an advert.
   - Every fact in the script must come from the facts sheet below. Prices,
     times, what is included, guarantees: if it is not in the sheet, you do
     not know it. Where the script needs a fact the sheet does not have,
     write [ASK: the question] instead of guessing.
   - Do not add a promise, a discount or a claim about results that is not
     in the sheet.
   - Length: 110 to 150 words of spoken script. I will time it read aloud.
   - First line: the customer's question, said the way a customer would ask
     it. No greeting and no introduction of me before it.
   - Last line: one next step for the viewer, taken from the sheet (call,
     book, visit, reply). Only one.
   - Short sentences I can say in one breath. No word I would not say to a
     customer on the phone.
   Rules for the shot list:
   - Five to eight shots, numbered, each saying which script lines it covers.
   - For each shot: what is on screen (me talking to the camera, my hands
     doing the work, the product, the place), front or back camera, and
     where to stand or put the phone.
   - Only shots one person can film with one phone. No second camera, no
     crew, no actors.
   Then, under the heading FACTS SAID ON CAMERA, list every price, time,
   number, guarantee and promise the script says, one per line, each with
   the line of the facts sheet it came from.
   The customer question:
   """
   {{CUSTOMER_QUESTION}}
   """
   How I answer it when someone asks me (rough, as I said it):
   """
   {{YOUR_SPOKEN_ANSWER}}
   """
   Facts sheet:
   """
   {{FACTS_SHEET}}
   """

   Checkpoint

   A script of 110 to 150 words, five to eight shots, and a list of every fact the script says.

   Copy step as prompt

   ---

3. 03Done

   Read it aloud and fix the lines you trip on

   Read the script out loud once with your phone's timer running. Aim for 45 to 60 seconds. Mark every line you stumble on at your desk, because those are the lines you'll stumble on in front of the camera.

   Paste the script, the marked lines and the time into the prompt below. Read the new version aloud once more and time it again.

   Fix the lines you tripped on

   Copy

   I read the script below out loud and tripped on some lines. Rewrite only
   the lines I list, so each one is easy to say in one breath.
   Rules:
   - Keep the meaning of each line. Keep every fact, price and number
     exactly as it is.
   - Use the plainer word wherever there is one.
   - Do not change any line I did not list.
   Return the full script with the rewritten lines in place. Then list each
   changed line as a pair: the old version, then the new one.
   If the script ran over 60 seconds, also name the one line I could cut
   with the least loss, and say why in one sentence.
   Script:
   """
   {{SCRIPT_FROM_STEP_2}}
   """
   Lines I tripped on:
   """
   {{LINES_YOU_TRIPPED_ON}}
   """
   How long it ran read aloud: {{SECONDS_IT_RAN}}

   Checkpoint

   A script you can read through in 45 to 60 seconds without tripping.

   Copy step as prompt

   ---

4. 04Done

   Check every fact you'll say on camera

   This step stays yours, and it comes after the rewrite because the rewrite may have moved words around. Read the final script against the FACTS SAID ON CAMERA list, then check each line on that list against your own price list, terms and calendar.

   • Prices. A video keeps playing long after a price changes. If a price moves more than once a year, don't say it: say where to find it.
   • Promises. Anything that sounds like a guarantee ("same day", "or your money back") is a promise to every viewer. Keep only the ones you'd honour for a stranger next year.
   • [ASK: ...] notes. Answer each one or cut the line. None go on camera. (In the margin: answer or cut.)

   Checkpoint

   A final script where every price, time and promise is one you'd stand behind.

   Copy step as prompt

   ---

5. 05Done

   Film in short takes off the teleprompter

   Use the CapCut app on your phone. Its teleprompter is in the mobile app only, not in CapCut Desktop or the web editor. CapCut's teleprompter page shows where to find it. Open it and paste the script. Before you record, set the scroll speed and a font size you can read at arm's length, and drag the text window up next to the camera lens so your eyes stay close to it. The script editor also has AI buttons (Improve, Expand, Shorten). Don't tap them: they rewrite the script you just checked.

   Set the record mode to Multi-clips and film one shot from the list at a time. A short take you can redo is easier than a full minute you restart near the end. For shots of your hands, the product or the place, flip to the back camera: the script keeps scrolling. Keep customers out of shot, and ask staff before they appear in one.

   When you stop recording, CapCut opens the editor. Trim the takes, then add auto captions and read every caption line before you export. CapCut's own help says background noise and fast speech cause wrong words, and a misheard price in a caption is still a wrong price.

   Pro tip

   Film somewhere quiet. CapCut's help names background noise as a cause of caption mistakes, and a quiet room is easier to listen to as well.

   Checkpoint

   A captioned video of 45 to 60 seconds, every caption read against the script.

   Copy step as prompt

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