# Example first, explanation second

Story / Script arc / Order. Checked 2026-11-13.

The viewer sees the thing and then wants to know why it works.

- Use when: Teaching content, breakdowns, tips.
- Phrase: open on the example itself; name the idea and explain it only after the viewer has seen it
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/script/example-before-explanation
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/script/example-before-explanation.json

## Watch out

- Measured on one account's 20 most viewed posts: the first visual change comes at a median of 3.9 seconds, after the example. When the borrowed moment ran 10 seconds before the lesson, likes fell to 1.0 percent against a median of 5.1. (measured; Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026))

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
Write a script outline, beat by beat, with the seconds per beat, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. Use the example first, explanation second pattern: the viewer sees the thing and then wants to know why it works. Measured on one account's 20 most viewed posts: the first visual change comes at a median of 3.9 seconds, after the example. How it works: open on the example itself; name the idea and explain it only after the viewer has seen it. Plain spoken language, no hashtags, no emoji. Tell me which one you would post first and why, in one line.
```

## Goes well with

- Name it, prove it, keep it short: https://directorchair.ai/script/name-it-prove-it
- Stakes in the first second: https://directorchair.ai/hook/stakes-in-frame-zero
- Short-form script arc: https://directorchair.ai/script/script-arc

## Source

Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.