A UGC script template that holds up
Every UGC script that feels natural runs on the same four parts. The template is not the hard part — the hard part is what goes in each line, and what must not.
The template
Hook — one spoken line that opens a gap (see how to write a hook). Beats — two to five pairs of SAY and DO: what your mouth says, what your hands and the camera do. Turn — the moment the video becomes about the product, as late as you can afford. Close — one line that tells the viewer what to do next, plus the caption.
Writing SAY and DO as separate lines is the whole trick. A script that only writes dialogue leaves the visual channel to chance, and the visual channel is the one people actually watch.
A real example
Hook: “I went from failing my medical assessment to a 96% in two weeks.” Beat one — SAY: how it started, the failing grade. DO: face close to camera, talk fast and direct. Beat two — SAY: the one change. DO: hold the product to the lens, tap it twice. Turn: the product named exactly once. Close: “the link does the rest.”
Notice what is absent: no feature list, no “as someone who…”, no second product mention. UGC dies when it starts reading like the brand wrote it.
The three mistakes that make UGC read like an ad
Claiming a life you don't have. A script should only assert things that are true of the person reading it — invented credentials get found out in the comments.
Turning too early. If the product appears before the midpoint, the video is an ad with a cold open. The audience's patience is bought by the beats before the turn.
Closing twice. One call to action. A second one retroactively cheapens the first.
- The two-column script: SAY and DO side by side — the SAY and DO lines laid out as a table you can fill in.
- How to turn a brand brief into a script — reading a brief for its fixed lines before choosing a format.
Do it with lynxr
lynxr does the reading half of this for you: paste a public TikTok or Instagram link on the homepage and it extracts the format — hook, beats, turn, close — and rewrites it for the company you make content for. Free to start: 25 scripts, no card.
Keep reading: what a video format is · the parts of a script · turn a video into a script · the glossary.