4 Whiteboard Explainer Video Examples and a 30-Second Script
Watch how four whiteboard explainers teach an idea, introduce software or explain a service. Follow the timed drawing notes and adapt a 30-second script.
Of these four whiteboard animation video examples, the 20-second GPS clip is the quickest to study. A time delay becomes a distance you can see on a map. For other uses, watch how RSA builds an argument about education, Rapid Dox introduces software, and FUJIFILM shows a customer getting help with a printer.
20 seconds · Silent excerpt with on-screen text · From the Whiteboard film in the Lemo Opuscar project .
1. Lemo Opuscar makes a GPS signal visible
Pause the clip at about 10 seconds. The satellite has sent a time signal and the receiver hears it a little later. At about 14 seconds, the marker finishes writing the relationship between the two times and the distance the signal traveled. That delay is the idea to borrow. Give an invisible quantity a place on the board before asking the viewer to use it.
| Time in clip | What appears | What the viewer can infer |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 s | A clock inside a satellite | The signal has a source and a departure time. |
| 3–7 s | Radio waves and a broadcast time | The time is part of the message. |
| 7–12 s | A dashed path to a receiver and a later time | Travel takes time, even at the speed of light. |
| 12–16 s | Delay × speed of light = distance | The difference between the times tells us how far the signal traveled. |
| 16–20 s | A circle on a map | In this flat diagram, several positions can be the same distance away. One distance leaves the location open. |
2. RSA builds an argument on a single board
In Changing Education Paradigms, Sir Ken Robinson talks about schools organized along factory lines. Watch how the illustrator adds people and machinery to the same picture as the comparison develops. You can look back at an earlier drawing while listening to the next part of the argument. Try this when the second half of your explanation depends on something the viewer learned in the first half. Watch RSA’s film.
- Rapid Dox gives a software problem a physical shape
Look for the seated character beside a stack of documents. Even if you've never used the software, you can read the workload in the figure's posture and the height of the pile. The final frame trades that busy scene for the Rapid Dox name and a download address. For your own product introduction, draw the job the customer is struggling with, then reserve the last frame for one action. Watch Rapid Dox from Chickymonkey Studio.
4. FUJIFILM shows what a service call looks like
In this wide-format printer service film, a split frame puts the caller and the person answering side by side. Later, the printer itself fills the space between the customer and the person working on it. Those two drawings answer the questions a printer owner is likely to ask. Who picks up the phone, and who comes to the machine? A service explainer can use the same sequence to show where responsibility changes hands. Watch the printer service film from Smart Source LLC. See both business examples in the VideoScribe showcase.
A 30-second whiteboard script and storyboard
Here is an original practice script for a different subject. Imagine a new gardener asking, “How does rain from my roof reach the flowers?” Keep the blue drop on the board throughout. By the end, the viewer should be able to trace its whole journey with a finger.
| Time | Spoken line | Drawing and label |
|---|---|---|
| 0–6 s | Rain lands on the roof. Follow one drop to see where it goes. | Draw a roofline and a single blue drop. |
| 6–14 s | The roof slopes toward a gutter. Water follows it to the downspout and into the barrel. | Trace the drop through the gutter and draw a downward arrow. Label it “Collect”. |
| 14–23 s | The barrel holds the rain until the garden needs water. A tap near the bottom lets it out. | Draw the barrel around the arrow, raise the waterline, then add a tap. Label it “Store”. |
| 23–30 s | Fill a watering can at the tap and carry the rain to your plants. | Draw a can under the tap, then a garden. Label it “Water”. |
To adapt it, pick something else the viewer can follow through four steps, such as a parcel moving from order to doorstep. Read your lines aloud with a timer. If the drawing finishes long before the line, cut the extra explanation or give that sentence a more specific drawing.
How to make a whiteboard video from this script
Copy the brief below or open it in the Whiteboard preset. The preset starts at 30 seconds, 16:9, with music. For spoken lines, select voiceover if available or attach your recorded narration. Review the text, sound and credit budget in the generator before starting. If your browser opens the standard rain-barrel prompt, paste the copy below to bring in the timed version.
Make a 30-second, 16:9 whiteboard explainer for a first-time gardener. Keep one diagram on the board. Use black marker lines and blue for the water. Use the spoken lines as timing cues for the drawings. 0–6 s — Draw a roofline and a single blue drop. Spoken line: “Rain lands on the roof. Follow one drop to see where it goes.” 6–14 s — Trace the drop through the gutter and draw a downward arrow. Label it “Collect”. Spoken line: “The roof slopes toward a gutter. Water follows it to the downspout and into the barrel.” 14–23 s — Draw the barrel around the arrow, raise the waterline, then add a tap. Label it “Store”. Spoken line: “The barrel holds the rain until the garden needs water. A tap near the bottom lets it out.” 23–30 s — Draw a can under the tap, then a garden. Label it “Water”. Spoken line: “Fill a watering can at the tap and carry the rain to your plants.” Hold the final diagram long enough to trace the path from roof to garden.
A written brief works well when you can describe the drawing and its order in words. If you already have finished artwork and need each stroke to follow the original paths, use a timeline tool with drawing-order controls. For a lesson about exactly which button to click in a product, record the screen so viewers see the actual interface. VideoScribe’s whiteboard production guide.
Two questions to ask before you draw
Does a whiteboard explainer need a visible hand?
A drawing can carry the explanation on its own. In the GPS clip, what matters is seeing the signal leave before it arrives. Cover the marker tip during playback and check whether you can still follow that sequence.
How do I time the drawing to the narration?
Choose the word that completes the idea and aim to finish the drawing on that word. In the rain-barrel script, start tracing the arrow at “gutter” and let it reach the barrel at “barrel.” Leave the finished arrow visible while the next line explains storage.