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Don't know your pace? Read 100 words of your script aloud at your normal speed and time it: 100 ÷ seconds × 60 = words per minute.
Your script stays in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
The checker splits your intro into spoken words and [visual notes], times every word at your speaking pace, and runs the 30-second scorecard from The Retention Editing Playbook. The structure it checks for is Promise, Proof, Path:
| Beat | When | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Promise | 0 to 8 s | State the specific outcome the viewer gets. It must match the title and thumbnail. |
| Proof | 8 to 20 s | Show evidence the promise is real: a result, chart, screenshot or quick demo. |
| Path | 20 to 30 s | One sentence on how you'll get there, ending on an open loop. Then start. |
It also checks the cold open (no warm-up line), the seven intro killers (logo, "hey guys", "in today's video", subscribe asks and so on), filler and setup lines, the hook type of your first sentence, and whether the thumbnail's subject shows up within 10 seconds. Each check has a weight; the score is the share of points you earn.
Limits: it reads text, so it can't see your edit. It can't judge delivery, energy or whether the claim is true, and keyword matching can miss clever phrasing. Treat it as a checklist, then watch your first 30 seconds with the sound on. Your real answer is in YouTube Studio's audience retention report.
This tool puts a few of the named techniques from The Retention Editing Playbook to work. Each line says how it relates to the tool.
See every technique in The Retention Editing Playbook →
Get to real content by 0:30 at the latest; 0:20 is better. YouTube Studio's key moments report treats the first 30 seconds as the intro and shows how many viewers are still watching at 0:30, so that's the window to engineer: promise by 0:08, proof by 0:20, path and an open loop by 0:30.
A question the video has raised and not answered yet, like "the third one is the one almost everyone gets wrong, and I'll show you why". A viewer with an open loop keeps watching to close it. The skill is timing: close one loop and open the next in the same breath, so one is always open until the last 10% of the video.
A logo or animated intro, "hey guys" or "welcome back", the channel name, "in today's video", a subscribe or like request, music before you speak, a static wide shot with no text for more than 3 seconds, and a promise vaguer than the title.
Five that work: the specific number ("this stock paid me £412 last month"), the contradiction ("everyone says X; for most people that's wrong"), the mistake ("I lost money because of one setting"), the reveal in progress (open mid-action), and the exact question your audience already typed into search. Rotate them so your intros don't become predictable.
It divides your word count by your speaking pace. The default is 150 words per minute; set your own by reading 100 words aloud and timing it. Text in [square brackets] is treated as visuals, not speech.
Free tool by Asendify. It scores a text script against a checklist; it does not predict views or guarantee any result.