How to create video scripts from blog posts with ChatGPT

For some, creating videos for social feeds comes naturally. They point the camera, click "Record," and have a video ready for editing a few minutes later. For others—like me—it's hard to think of video ideas, let alone record them. 

Yet, as someone who's been writing long-form content online for years, I know I'm sitting on a treasure trove of potential topics. The same is true for any individual or company with a blog—it's just a matter of turning the original article into a video script. 

I fed one of my blog posts to ChatGPT with some instructions to create a video script suitable for Instagram Reels or TikTok. Once I refined the prompt, I figured out how to create a workflow in Zapier to automate this process. 

I'm going to walk you through creating a Zap—Zapier's automated workflows—to automatically look for published blog posts in my RSS feed and send them to ChatGPT to generate a video script. Zapier then sends that script to a Google Doc so it's easy to edit and keep track of finished scripts—automatically. 

Automatically create video scripts from blog posts with AI

If you don't use Google Docs or RSS by Zapier, that's not a problem. You can follow the same basic steps with whatever apps you use to create content. Zapier connects with thousands of apps, so we've compiled a few popular Zap templates with different options. 

If you'd like to start with a template, click on one below, and you'll be taken to the Zap editor. You'll need to create a Zapier account if you don't already have one. Then, follow the directions below to set up your Zap.

Step 1: Create a trigger based on a newly published blog post

Every Zap consists of a trigger step and one or more action steps. When you publish your Zap, it will run the action steps every time the trigger event occurs. 

Since I want ChatGPT to create a video script for each new blog post, I’ll set up my Zap to check for newly published posts automatically. The easiest way for me to do this is by using RSS by Zapier, which can monitor my blog's RSS feed URL and trigger actions whenever a new post is published. But you might prefer to connect directly to website builders like WordPress, Wix or wherever else you publish your posts. 

For my Zap, I'll start by searching for and selecting RSS by Zapier as my trigger app and New Item in Feed as my trigger event.

Depending on the trigger app you're using, you'll have different fields to customize but the goal is the same: to ensure the Zap triggers on live blog posts. In my case, I'll enter the URL for my blog's RSS feed in the Feed URL field. If you're using this as your trigger step, here are some tips for finding the RSS feed URL for almost any site.

Once you've finished setting up your trigger step, click Continue and test your step. Zapier will pull a sample blog post from the location you've specified to set up the rest of your Zap. Click Continue with selected record.

Step 2: Write your prompt

To make sure ChatGPT generates the best results, you'll need to write an effective prompt (a set of instructions) that tells it how to handle each blog post and turn it into a script. I recommend drafting your prompt in another tool like Google Docs before pasting it into Zapier. This is so you have an extra copy in case you ever want to make edits or repurpose it. 

Here are some things you should include to help ChatGPT understand what you want the output to be:

• Who you are and what you do: Briefly introduce yourself and your expertise. This helps ChatGPT generate content that aligns with your style and background.

• The target audience: Describe who the video is for, such as potential customers, a specific industry, or a particular age group. This gives ChatGPT a sense of tone and perspective.

• The purpose of the script: Explain exactly what you want ChatGPT to create, whether it's a video introduction, product demo, or  script for educational content.

• Style and tone samples: Include an example script from a previous video or a link to a similar style you'd like to emulate. This helps ChatGPT match the tone and structure you're aiming for.

And here are some additional things I do in my instructions:

• I have ChatGPT create three video scripts for me, so I have some options.

• I Googled the average human speaking speed. It's about 110-150 words per minute, so I instruct ChatGPT to return 100 words per script.

• I instruct ChatGPT to return only the video scripts and nothing else (so I don't get additional text like "Sure, here you go!").

Here's what my final prompt looks like: 

I am a freelance content marketer who creates resources for other freelancers. I want to start repurposing some of my articles from my blog to other platforms. 

For the Pasted Article, you will create the following:

Video Scripts:

From the article, you should create three scripts for a short-form video suitable for an Instagram Reel, TikTok, or YouTube short. 

- You can ignore the intro and conclusion

- Each script should be about 100 words

- Maintain the original voice, tone, and style of the article. The script should still sound like me

- The best script options are something that can grab the viewer's attention and teach them something about freelancing, career advice, or a how-to

Here's a script from a recent video: [example pasted]

My audience is fellow freelancers and solopreneurs. The audience works really hard, but some of them aren't comfortable running a business—even if they're good at their work. I provide practical tips and operations advice for my audience. 

Return only the scripts and nothing else.

Step 3: Connect to ChatGPT

The first action step is where you have a conversation with ChatGPT. Search for and select ChatGPT for your action app and Conversation for your action event.

In the User Message field, paste in your prompt with instructions for writing your video script. 

At the bottom of your prompt, insert the content of your article from your trigger step by clicking the + icon in the top-right corner of the User Message field and selecting it from the list of options.

In the Model field, select which ChatGPT model you'd like to use. I'm using gpt-4o—though it will be set by default to gpt-4o mini.

You can type in some additional Assistant Instructions, if you want.

You can also customize the amount of tokens you'd like to use in the Max Tokens field. I increased mine to 1000, which seems to be plenty for my video scripts. 

When you're done customizing your step, click Continue.

Step 4: Send the output to a Google Doc

For me, it's easiest to read the script from a Google Doc, so I send the ChatGPT output to a new document. But you can send the output to another app that works better for you. For example, you might want to upload scripts to a specific Google Drive folder for your video team. Or maybe you work and collaborate in apps like Trello or Airtable and you want to send them there. It's completely up to you and your workflow.

For my Zap, I'll select Google Docs for my action app and Create Document from Text for my action event.

Depending on the app you're using, you'll once again have different fields to customize. Whatever the case, you'll always want to map ChatGPT's output to this step.

In my example, I'll have to give the new Google Doc a name in the Document Name field (I use the name of the blog post) and add the Reply from ChatGPT to the Document Content field. Finally, I've selected the folder where I want to store the document.

If you're using apps like Trello or Airtable, you'd just map the ChatGPT output to the right card or entry. 

Once you've finished customizing this final action step, click Continue and test your step. Here's what ours looks like: 

Once you're happy with the results, remember to switch on your Zap!

Refine the video script prompt over time

As with anything with AI, the scripts aren't exactly what I need—but they're enough that I have an idea to work from. You can tweak the script output (in Google Docs or your project management tool) over time as you review the output from ChatGPT. I've found that the more videos I do, I don't need to take the step of writing a script word-for-word. I use the ChatGPT output, rework it in my head, and then hit "Record."

As I record more videos, I'm going to add additional script examples to my ChatGPT prompt in Zapier. The more examples I can provide, the better the output. I'll probably always tweak it (I'm not quite as chipper as ChatGPT thinks I am!), but I'll do what I can to reduce the amount of script reworking needed. 

This article was originally published in June 2024. It was most recently updated in November 2024 by Elena Alston.