Tutorial / How-To Script Template

Use for step-by-step instructional content: software tutorials, creative walkthroughs, DIY projects, skill-building guides, and configuration walkthroughs.

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Creator Archetypes

Network Chuck

Chuck assumes zero prior knowledge while writing to someone who could become an expert. His tutorials never condescend ("even if you know nothing about computers") but they start from true zero and never assume prior knowledge the target viewer might not have. The balance — respecting viewers while starting from scratch — is difficult and most tutorial creators get it wrong in one direction. His enthusiasm is structural rather than performative: his genuine reactions to demonstrated outcomes signal to first-time viewers what's significant. A viewer who has never configured a server doesn't know what's impressive about what they're watching; Chuck's reaction tells them.

Fireship

Fireship shows the outcome before the setup. Every tutorial opens with a working demo of the finished product — not a description of what you'll build, but the actual thing running. This creates immediate Outcome Debt (I need to understand how to build that) and functions as a self-selection mechanism (viewers can assess immediately whether the end state is what they need). His narration skips the reasoning for common-knowledge steps and goes deep on the steps where most tutorials fail. He's built a mental model of where his audience gets stuck and allocates time accordingly — which means his tutorials feel paced by difficulty, not by sequence.

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Written Example: OBS Setup for YouTube

This section is written out in full — no brackets. This covers the hook, prerequisites, result preview, and first two steps of an OBS setup tutorial.

By the end of this video, you'll have OBS configured, your audio tested, and your first scene set up and ready to record. Not "installed and opened" — actually configured to a level where you could record a video right now.

Before we start, here's what you need: a computer running Windows, Mac, or Linux, and a microphone — either a USB microphone or an XLR microphone connected to an audio interface. If you're using your laptop's built-in mic, I'd hold off on this tutorial until you have an external one, because OBS will work, but what you record won't be good enough to publish. The microphone is the single most important piece of gear for YouTube, more than camera and lighting combined. Get that sorted first.

Here's what the finished setup looks like: [show OBS open, a scene configured, audio meters moving, everything green-lit]. This is what you're building. Every step is pointing at this result.

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Step 1: Download and install OBS

Go to obsproject.com and download the version for your operating system. The site will detect your OS automatically. Run the installer — there are no configuration choices to make here, just next through the defaults.

When OBS opens for the first time, it will ask if you want to run the auto-configuration wizard. Do this. It runs a test to determine your computer's capabilities and sets the encoding settings accordingly. You can override everything manually later, but the auto-configuration gives you a working starting point. Let it run.

If OBS crashes on first open and you're on Mac, you may need to grant screen recording permission in System Preferences → Privacy → Screen Recording. Add OBS, then restart it.

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Step 2: Set up your audio — this is the step most people get wrong

Before you create any scenes or add any sources, configure your audio correctly. I'm emphasizing this because every tutorial I've seen does audio last, which means viewers spend 20 minutes building a scene and then discover the audio doesn't work and have to start over.

In OBS, go to Settings → Audio. Under Global Audio Devices, set your microphone as "Mic/Auxiliary Audio." Do not select "default" — select your specific microphone by name. "Default" follows whatever your operating system selects as the default input, which can change unexpectedly and will cause your audio to silently stop recording without any warning.

Set your Desktop Audio to "default" if you want to capture system audio (for gaming or reaction content), or to "disabled" if you're recording tutorials where you only want your voice. For most YouTube tutorials, you want your mic on and desktop audio off.

Back in the main OBS window, you should now see two audio meters in the mixer at the bottom — one for your mic and one for desktop audio. Speak into your microphone. You should see the mic meter move. If it doesn't, your microphone selection is wrong. Go back to Settings → Audio and select the correct input.

The target level for spoken audio is -12 to -6 dB on the meter — loud enough to be clear, quiet enough to leave headroom before distortion. If your mic meter is consistently near 0 dB (clipping), reduce the gain in the mixer or in your microphone's system settings.

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The Template

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Hook (0:00–0:30)

The direct promise hook:

"In the next [X] minutes, you'll have [specific, working outcome]. Not an introduction to [topic] — a functioning [result] you could use today."

The problem-fix hook:

"If you've tried to [outcome] and hit [specific problem], this is the fix. I'm going to walk you through the method that actually works, including the step where most tutorials send people in the wrong direction."

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What You'll Need (0:30–1:00)

State prerequisites clearly and early. Viewers who discover they're missing something 12 minutes in don't finish the tutorial.

"Before we start: you need [list of what's required]. If you don't have [item], here's a specific alternative that works: [alternative]. If you're missing [critical thing], hold off on this tutorial until you have it — here's why: [brief explanation of why it matters]."

Be specific about versions, hardware, and configurations that affect the tutorial.

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Result Preview (1:00–1:30)

Show the finished result before explaining how to build it.

"Here's what we're building by the end of this. [Show or describe the specific finished state.] Every step points at this result."

This creates goal visualization and functions as a self-selection mechanism: viewers can assess immediately whether this is the outcome they need.

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Step 1: [Descriptive Name]

Structure every step the same way:

1. Name the step with a description, not just a number
2. Explain what it does — not just what to click, but why this step produces the outcome it produces
3. Show it, with the camera angle that makes the action clear
4. Name the most common error and what it looks like: "If you see [error], it usually means [cause] — here's the fix"

"Step 1: [Name]. The reason this comes first is [explanation of why the sequence matters]. Here's what to do: [instruction]. Watch out for [common error]: if you see [symptom], it means [cause], and the fix is [specific action]."

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[Repeat for Steps 2–N]

Pacing note: Tutorial viewers are doing the tutorial while watching. Write with implicit pauses — "once that's done, we're ready for the next part" gives viewers time to complete before moving on. Don't rush from step to step.

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The Critical Step

Every tutorial has one step where most viewers fail. Give this section extra time.

"This next step is where most people get stuck. I'm going to slow down here. [Instruction with more detail than the other steps.] I want to make sure this is clear: [restate the key action in different words]. If this step doesn't work, it's almost always because [the two most common causes]."

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The Finish Line (Final 90 Seconds)

Show the completed result and confirm what success looks like.

"That's it — you've built [finished outcome]. Here's what success looks like: [specific, visual check]. If yours matches this, you're done. If it looks like [problem symptom], jump back to [step] and [specific fix]."

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What's Next

Tutorials that point forward perform better with both viewers and the algorithm.

"Now that you have [basic setup], the next step most people want to tackle is [natural next thing]. I've got that covered in [this video]. Or if you want to [related skill], that walkthrough is [here]."

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What Kills This Format

1. Showing what to do without explaining why. "Click this button" is an instruction. "Click this button — you're telling OBS to treat your microphone as a separate channel so you can control its level independently in editing" is a tutorial. Viewers who understand the mechanism can troubleshoot when something goes wrong. Viewers who know only the action are helpless when the interface looks slightly different, when the step fails, or when a later version changes the location of the button. The why is not optional decoration; it's the thing that makes the instruction durable.

2. Assuming the viewer's configuration matches yours. Your operating system version, your hardware, your previous software installs — none of these should be assumed to match the viewer's. Name your setup explicitly in the first minute and address the most common alternative configurations by name. "If you're on Mac, this step looks slightly different" keeps Mac viewers from abandoning at minute seven. "If you're using an XLR microphone rather than USB, here's the difference" keeps half your potential audience from concluding the tutorial doesn't apply to them.

3. Not filming the failure state. The highest-retention sections of most tutorials are not the successful steps — they're the "if you see this error, here's the fix" moments. Viewers who are following along because they're stuck don't need you to walk through steps they already completed correctly. They need you to name the thing that went wrong and give them a specific fix. Film yourself deliberately encountering the most common errors and recovering from them. Those sections will be the most-rewatched parts of your tutorial and the ones that generate the most "this saved me hours" comments.

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Quick Reference

• Tutorials have the longest content shelf life on YouTube — a well-made tutorial on a stable process can rank in search for years
• Write your chapter titles to match search queries: "Step 2: Configure Audio in OBS" is more searchable than "Getting Your Sound Right"
• Record your screen at the highest resolution available — viewers pause and zoom on tutorial content, and low resolution is immediately obvious when they do