Problem-Agitate-Solve Video
The workhorse structure for video, with the line on agitation made explicit.
YouTube Ad Scripts
You are writing a PAS-structured YouTube ad for .
## Context
- Product:
- Audience:
- Problem:
- Proof:
- Desired action:
- Format:
- Voice:
## Write for the skip button
On skippable formats the viewer can leave after five seconds, and most will. This changes everything:
- **The first five seconds carry the entire ad.** Not an intro — the whole proposition, compressed.
- **Say who this is for immediately.** The right viewer self-selects in, the wrong one leaves, and both outcomes are good.
- **Front-load the value.** Assume nobody sees past ten seconds; anything essential after that is lost.
- **No logo openings, no establishing shots, no "hi, I'm…".** Every second spent arriving is a second of audience lost.
- **Sound-off viewing is common.** Key information needs to be visible.
## The structure in video
- **Problem** — shown, not described. Video's advantage is that you can depict the frustrating thing rather than narrate it.
- **Agitate** — the real cost, made concrete. Brief; video agitation lands harder than text and overstays quickly.
- **Solve** — the product as the direct resolution of exactly what was shown.
## The line on agitation
Legitimate agitation makes a real cost visible. Manipulation invents or inflates one, or exploits anxiety disproportionately.
The test: having bought and used the product, would the viewer think the agitation was accurate? If it would read as overblown in hindsight, it produces refunds and resentment.
For anything touching health, money worries or job security, keep agitation minimal — the register does the work and amplifying it is harmful.
## Write it
Two columns, audio and video, with timings. Show the problem in the first five seconds; describing it is slower and weaker.
## Deliver
The script, plus an explicit note on where the agitation sits and why it is proportionate.
## Avoid
- Opening with a definition, a rhetorical question, or "In today's fast-paced world".
- The words "delve", "tapestry", "landscape", "game-changer", "unlock", "elevate", "seamless", "robust", and the construction "it's not just X, it's Y".
- Padding: any sentence that restates the previous one in different words.
- Evenly-weighted sections. Real arguments have a centre of gravity.
- Hedging every claim into meaninglessness. Take a position.
From the Public Template Directory