How to make an explainer video that converts
Six pages of the working method behind our explainer and how-to videos for V-ZUG and Kanebo Sensai: what to decide before anyone writes a script, a script template timed to the second, the specs for every place a video ends up, and the checklist we run before the crew is booked.
What an explainer video needs before anyone turns a camera on.
It is the internal method, written down — the same one our producers argue about before a how-to shoot.
The five decisions
What has to be true before anyone writes a script — and the one small word that quietly turns your video into two.
The 90-second script
Six blocks, with the seconds and the word count we write to. Each one hides a trap; the PDF names all six.
A worked example
The same structure filled in for a real support film — hook, mechanism and action, line by line.
Specs by placement
Six places a video ends up, each with its length, its ratio and the one thing in it that is not negotiable.
How long it really takes
Brief to delivery, stage by stage — and what actually holds each stage up when it slips.
The 30-point checklist
Six columns — content, location, versions, approvals, distribution, budget. Print it, take it to the kickoff.
Seven ways to lose the room
The mistakes we still see in explainers with serious budgets behind them, and what each one costs.
The one-line brief
One sentence to fill in. If you cannot finish it, no script will save the video — and the PDF explains why.
Written for people who have to brief, approve or produce an explainer — not for a marketing blog.
How to make an explainer video that converts
Six pages: the five decisions before the script, a 90-second script template with timings, specs by placement and the 30-point checklist we run before every shoot.
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Made for the people who have to get it made.
Marketing managers
Brief an agency or an internal team with the decisions already made, and stop paying for the round of edits that follows a vague brief.
Product managers
Get a complex product explained in ninety seconds without flattening what makes it good.
Support & service leads
Turn the questions your team answers twenty times a week into films that answer them once, properly.
Founders
Doing it yourself for now? Skip the expensive lessons; the checklist alone is worth the shoot day it saves.
The guide, answered.
Is it really free?
Yes. Leave your work email and the PDF downloads immediately — a copy also arrives in your inbox so it does not get lost in a downloads folder. No cost, no call, no obligation.
What is actually in it?
Six pages: the five decisions to settle before the script, a 90-second script template with timings and word counts, a worked example, specs for six placements, a realistic timeline, a 30-point pre-production checklist and seven common mistakes.
Is this only useful with a big budget?
No. Most of it is decisions, not money. The parts that do cost money are exactly the ones the guide tells you to settle before the shoot — which is how they end up costing less.
Who wrote it?
Viven, a video production company in Zurich. It is what we run through internally before a how-to shoot: the same method behind the explainer and how-to videos for V-ZUG's Combair V600 and for Kanebo Sensai.
Will you email me from now on?
Only if you tick the box on the form. The PDF comes with no strings attached, and every email we send has one-click unsubscribe.
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