Personal-finance explainer
Chris Mensah
Independent video
Problem
Chris Mensah makes personal-finance explainers for people who are new to the topic. His scripts have started to sound generic: the same three tips, the same caution tacked on at the end, and titles he would not say out loud. He does not want Gemini to impersonate a licensed adviser or to invent statistics. He wants help finding a sharper question, a spoken outline in his voice, and a list of claims he must check before he records. Accuracy matters more than posting faster, because a wrong money video can linger.
Gemini strategy
Chris asks Gemini to interview him first: who the video is for, what he personally does, and what he will not advise. Then it drafts a spoken outline with a concrete example he supplies, a plain-language definition, and a closing that tells viewers this is education, not personal advice. The prompt requires a claim log with a blank source column he must fill. His verification step is to check every number and definition against a primary source, such as a government page or his own account rules, and to cut anything he cannot source. He records only after that pass. The model never appears as the author.
Prompts
Outline a video in my spoken voice
You are a script editor for an independent personal-finance explainer, not a financial adviser. Interview me with five questions before you draft anything. Then, using only my answers, write a spoken outline: hook, one definition, one example I provided, two common mistakes, and a close. Use short sentences I can say aloud. Do not invent statistics, tax rules, or product recommendations. Where a number would normally appear, write "SOURCE NEEDED" and leave it blank. Add a line that this is general education, not advice for the viewer's situation. Flag any sentence that sounds like a guru.
Build a claim log before I record
Read this outline and extract every factual claim, definition, and implied rule. Put each one in a table with columns: claim, why a viewer might rely on it, source I must check, and what I will say if I cannot verify it. Do not fill the source column with links you are unsure about. If a claim needs a professional, mark "not for this channel." Do not add new tips. Suggest one place the wording still sounds generic and offer a plainer alternative that does not add facts. Remind me I am responsible for the published video.
Process
- 1. Answer the model's questions with his real experience only.
- 2. Draft the spoken outline with blanks where sources belong.
- 3. Fill the claim log from primary sources and cut the rest.
- 4. Read the outline aloud and record only what he can stand behind.
Result
Chris's estimate is that scripts take a similar amount of time, but he spends more of it checking and less of it deleting filler after filming. A recent video used one example from his own first year of budgeting instead of a generic tip list, and comments asked better questions. He removed a statistic he could not source. He still adds a spoken line that he is not the viewer's adviser. Views did not jump. He considers the video safer to leave online, which is the result he wanted.
Lessons
- Specifics from your life beat a generic three-tip structure.
- A claim without a source you checked does not go in the script.
- Say clearly that an explainer is not personal financial advice.