How to Brief a Technical Explainer Video Without Writing the Script Yourself

Most teams put off commissioning an explainer video because they think they need a script first. They don’t. A script is one of the things the production process creates. What the people producing it need from you is a clear picture of who the video is for, what they should understand by the end, and where the technical truth lives.

This guide covers what belongs in a brief, what you can leave out, and the questions that tend to prevent the most rework later.

Key Takeaways

• A brief describes the audience, the single idea they must leave with, and the source material. The script comes later.
• “Who is watching and what do they already know?” is the question that shapes every other decision.
• Name the person who will review technical accuracy before production starts, not after the first cut.
• Share messy source material. Specifications, slide decks and recorded calls are more useful than a polished summary.
• Decide where the video will live, because a trade-show loop, a sales call and a help page need different lengths and pacing.

Start With the Viewer, Not the Product

The most common weak brief begins with a product description. The most useful one begins with a person: a procurement engineer comparing two instruments, a new technician on their first week, a clinician who has to explain a result to a patient.

For that viewer, write down three things:

1. What they already know. Do they understand the underlying physics or process, or do they only know the problem they are trying to solve?
2. What they need to do afterwards. Request a demo, set the device up correctly, trust the measurement, explain it to someone else.
3. What usually confuses them. Your support and sales teams know this better than anyone. The recurring questions they answer are often the backbone of the script.

Pick One Idea the Video Must Land

A three-minute video can carry one core idea well and perhaps two supporting points. Trying to fit the full feature list in is the fastest way to make an explanation nobody remembers.

A useful exercise is to finish this sentence: “After watching, the viewer understands that…” If it takes more than one sentence, the subject probably wants a short series rather than a single video.

Share the Source Material, Even If It’s Rough

Good technical animation is built from accurate sources. Helpful material includes:

• Specifications, application notes and datasheets
• Internal training decks, even outdated ones
• CAD views, schematics or photographs of the real hardware
• Recordings of sales or support calls (with permission)
• Approved terminology and the words you avoid

None of these needs to be tidy. The production team’s job is to turn them into a clear sequence. What matters is that they are the real sources, so the explanation stays faithful to how the product actually works.

Agree Who Reviews Technical Accuracy

Decide up front who signs off on technical claims, and at which stages. A typical pattern is a review of the outline, a review of the script or storyboard, and a final check of the finished animation.

Bringing the subject-matter expert in at the storyboard stage is far cheaper than catching a misleading diagram in a near-final render. It also makes the review faster, because the expert is reacting to a sequence of frames rather than reading a dense document.

Say Where the Video Will Be Used

The same explanation behaves differently in different places:

Where it plays	What changes
Sales calls and demos	Can assume a guide; supports pauses and questions
Website or product page	Must work silently with captions; shorter is better
Trade-show screen	Loops without sound; strong visuals, minimal text
Training or onboarding	Can be longer; benefits from chapters and recap points
Help centre	Task-focused; viewers arrive with a specific problem

Knowing the destination early shapes the length, the pacing and whether you need captions or several cut-downs.

What Can Wait

You do not need to decide the visual style, the voice-over artist, the music, or the exact running time before the first conversation. Those choices are easier once the outline exists, and the production team will usually propose options.

A Short Brief Template

If you want a starting point, answer these in a few sentences each:

1. Who is the viewer, and what do they already know?
2. What should they understand or do after watching?
3. What do they usually get wrong or ask about?
4. What source material can you share?
5. Who reviews technical accuracy, and when are they available?
6. Where will the video be used?

That is enough to start a productive first conversation, and it is a better foundation than a script written before anyone has asked these questions.