Youtube Script

YouTube Script (in Ryan's voice)

Produce a complete, ready-to-record production document whose spoken lines sound like Ryan actually talking. Two concerns, kept separate: the format comes from references/format-template.md; the voice of the spoken (VO) lines comes from references/style-card.md. The goal that overrides all others: the VO must sound like him, not like AI.

Step 0 — Load voice + format (REQUIRED, every time)

Before writing a single line:

1. Read references/style-card.md in full (the voice).
2. Read references/format-template.md (the document structure) — for write mode, and for audit mode if the script needs reshaping into the production format.
3. Read references/voice-samples/excerpts.md — curated verbatim excerpts (opens, type-and-narrate explanations, reactions, humor, closes) — to re-anchor on his rhythm. These are real, so mirror them. Do not read the full .txt transcripts in that folder to write a script (each is 15–20k tokens); they are source material for curating more excerpts. If the excerpts feel thin for a topic, say so in your hand-off so Ryan can add some.

Do not skip this even if the request seems small. The voice lives in the examples.

Step 0.5 — Pick the mode

• Write mode — Ryan gives a topic/outline and wants a new script → follow Steps 1–4.
• Audit mode — Ryan pastes/points at an existing script (his from another tool, or one he was handed) and wants it checked/reworked for his voice → jump to Audit mode below.

If it's ambiguous which he wants, ask one quick question before proceeding.

Step 1 — Get what you need

Confirm (ask only for what's missing — don't interrogate):

• Topic / what the video teaches or announces.
• Key points or rough outline, if Ryan has one. If not, propose a beat list first and get a thumbs-up before writing the full script.
• Approx length / depth (e.g. "quick 4-min tip" vs "15-min deep dive").
• Open style: standard "Hey everybody, how's it going?" or a cold open into the problem.
• Any demos / code he'll be showing, so the script can narrate them.
• Series / content plan (standard intake — always ask): before writing the CTA, end screen, or factual header fields, ask Ryan to point you at the relevant cadence/plan entry or paste the row (next video, target keyword, tier/type, footage source). His plan lives in his Obsidian "YouTube Growth" folder, which this skill can't read on its own — so ask every time rather than assume. If he says there's no plan or to keep it generic, use a generic CTA ("more coming — subscribe"). Never invent a "next week we'll cover X" tease, an end-screen target, or metadata — a fabricated next-video promise is a correctness bug, not a style choice.

Step 2 — Write the full production document

Two separate concerns — keep them straight:

• FORMAT / STRUCTURE → references/format-template.md. Produce the full document in that shape: metadata header, ## 🎥 SCRIPT with named (never timed) beats carrying [SCREEN]/[OST]/VO lanes and > 🎯 / ✅ / ⚠️ notes, then 📦 PACKAGING, 📝 YOUTUBE DESCRIPTION, ✅ Pre-record checklist, 🔀 Alt hooks.
• VOICE → style-card.md. Only the VO (spoken) lines are written in Ryan's voice. Director notes, [SCREEN], [OST], and packaging are crisp and functional, not "in character."

Default output = the full document with ‹TODO: …› placeholders for anything only Ryan/his tools supply (keyword volume + competition, viDIQ scores, thumbnail reference images, publish date, tier, vault [[links]]). Reuse the standing My Stuff / Connect footers from the template verbatim.

Writing the VO lines (this is the voice-governed part):

• Open — usually a cold open straight into the hook/problem for an edited video (the "Hey everybody, how's it going?" greeting is the stream style; edited videos run tighter). Hook fast; never "in this video we're going to…".
• Body — teach/announce in his voice: analogies, type-it-and-narrate ("so the way this works…", "let's see what this does…"), short punchy sentences, fragments, rhetorical questions, woven-in humor and the odd self-deprecating aside.
• Close — quick recap then his standard sign-off: "Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one." (Older variants "See you then, friends." / "Hope it helps. See you next time." still read as him, but default to the "next one" sign-off.)

Housekeeping:

• NEVER put timestamps on beats. Name and order them; don't time them. Any number is a guess that won't survive the recording or the edit, and a wrong one lies about pacing. If a beat runs long, say that in words in a > 🎯 note instead of implying a budget with a clock.
• Chapters in the description reuse the SCRIPT beat labels in order, with ‹M:SS› placeholders — Ryan times them off the FINAL edit. First chapter stays 0:00.
• Put any checkable claim in a > ✅ fact + source note and anything to verify in > ⚠️ CONFIRM:.

Step 3 — Anti-AI pass (REQUIRED before showing him)

Re-read every VO line against the "Anti-AI tells" and "Hard bans" sections of the style card and rewrite anything that trips them. Specifically hunt for and kill:

• "dive in / delve / unleash / supercharge / without further ado / let's get started"
• "real talk", "let's get real"
• press-release sentences, forced enthusiasm, over-signposting, relentless parallelism, tidy symmetrical lists. If a line wouldn't survive him reading it out loud, fix it.

Step 4 — Deliver + refine

• Hand over the script. Briefly note any spots you're unsure about or that need his demo.
• When he corrects a line because it doesn't sound like him, add the rule to the relevant section of references/style-card.md and append a dated bullet to references/refinement-log.md so the voice sharpens over time. This feedback loop is the point — use it.

Audit mode (review an existing script)

REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: use sounds-like-me — it owns the audit workflow (findings → approval → fix in place → script/teleprompter sync → refinement-log routing). Do not run a separate audit process here; invoke that skill and follow it.

The only youtube-script-specific addition: if the doc isn't already in the production format, note that it could be reshaped per references/format-template.md, and offer to do so after the voice pass.

Quick reference (the non-negotiables)

• Format from format-template.md; voice (VO lines only) from style-card.md. Keep them separate.
• Audience = developers, treated as friends. Warm, informal, never talks down.
• Funny, heavily self-deprecating, sarcastic only in good fun and never at the viewer.
• Edited videos usually cold-open; default sign-off is "Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one." The "Hey everybody, how's it going?" greeting is the stream style.
• Strip AI tells and the cringe phrases (esp. "real talk"). When unsure, sound MORE like the excerpts.