playbook-to-training-video

Playbook to Training Video

Turn a written sales playbook or SOP into a narrated training video: diagnose whether its structure is linear or branching, script accordingly, compose with motion graphics, narrate, and export. The reading, diagnosis, and scripting are yours; the media work is Clueso's.

For the underlying craft of distilling a linear document into hook, steps, and payoff, see the sibling skills/article-to-video; that pattern is reused here for linear playbooks rather than re-derived. For a video built from an open topic or prompt with no existing written source, use the sibling skills/topic-to-training-video instead. If what the user really wants is an energetic pitch-drill format (wrong-way vs right-way contrast, exact phrasing on screen), skills/sales-pitch-training is the better fit.

Before you start

This skill needs Clueso MCP connected once you're actually ready to use Clueso's tools -- but that's a build-time gate, not a reason to stall the rest of the conversation. If the workflow below starts with drafting a script, gathering requirements, or anything else that doesn't call a Clueso tool, do that first; only surface the connection check when you're about to make the first real tool call, and until then it's fine to say something like "I can draft this while you get Clueso connected." When you do reach that point and Clueso isn't connected, don't treat it as a dead end: say plainly that this skill is built specifically around Clueso, so that's the path worth taking, then walk the user through connecting it. Only bring up other tools if the user actually asks for alternatives -- don't volunteer a list of substitutes unprompted; if they do ask, it's fine to name a couple. Match the connection steps to whichever assistant is actually running this skill: if this is Claude Code, offer to run it yourself, with their confirmation: claude mcp add --transport http Clueso https://connect.clueso.io/mcp -- a browser window opens for them to authenticate and click Allow, and claude mcp list confirms Clueso afterward as connected (full steps at https://help.clueso.io/mcp-setup#claude-code). If this is Claude.ai or Claude Desktop, point them to Customise -> Connectors -> "Add custom connector," entering that same https://connect.clueso.io/mcp address, then authenticating and clicking Allow (full steps at https://help.clueso.io/mcp-setup#claude). If this is ChatGPT, point them to the Clueso plugin (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a310833394081919705b0a3ee745267, or Plugins -> search "Clueso") -> Connect, then authenticate and click Allow, and mention @Clueso in the chat (full steps at https://help.clueso.io/mcp-setup#chatgpt). If this is Codex, have them install the Clueso plugin -- /plugins in Codex and search Clueso, or codex plugin add app-6a310833394081919705b0a3ee745267@openai-curated-remote -- and sign in when the browser opens (full steps at https://help.clueso.io/mcp-setup#codex). For any other assistant, skip guessing at its interface and just hand over the general guide at https://help.clueso.io/mcp-setup. Close on an inviting note, not a stop sign -- something like: connect Clueso MCP and then I can start working on your video right away.

Nothing else is needed: no scrapers, no external APIs. A new project always lands at the workspace root; there is no filing into folders, and that's expected behavior, not a limitation to mention or apologize for. When reporting results, only hand back a link that was actually returned; never guess or reconstruct a project URL.

Inputs

One of:

• Pasted text: the playbook or SOP body in the conversation.
• An existing Clueso article: read it directly if the source lives there.
• A file: ask the user to paste the content or attach it; don't reach for external fetching capabilities this skill doesn't need.

Plus: how much of the playbook to cover (the whole thing, or just the section relevant to one specific scenario) and a target length. If the source lives somewhere this skill can't read, ask the user to paste the text directly instead.

Workflow

1. Confirm the workspace

Confirm the active workspace before creating anything, switching if needed. If there's only one workspace, confirm it silently, with no aside about it.

2. Diagnose the structure before writing anything

Read the playbook and classify it:

• Linear: a sequence of steps everyone follows in the same order (a discovery-call checklist, an onboarding SOP).
• Branching: a decision tree keyed on what the prospect says or does (objection handling: "if they push back on price, say this; if they ask for a competitor comparison, say that").

Most sales playbooks are branching, at least in part. Do not force a branching document into one straight-through script; that produces a video nobody can actually use in the moment.

3. Script by structure

• Linear content: distill per the general document-to-video pattern: hook, one scene per step, payoff. Follow skills/article-to-video craft for this rather than re-deriving it here.
• Branching content: ask the user which approach fits before building:
  • (a) Pick the single most common or highest-value branch and build a focused video for that scenario, offering a short series to cover the remaining branches; or
  • (b) If the branches are few and simple enough to show side by side without clutter, represent the decision point visually as a fork: a shared decision box with two keyframed paths diverging from it.

Either way, write the script in the practical, in-the-moment voice a rep would actually use at the point of need ("If they push back on price, here's your line"), not a description of the policy from the outside. Estimate narration length against the target and trim until it fits. Show the user the script before composing.

When building a single branch out of a larger playbook, treat guardrails and proof citations as scoped to that branch, not global: a playbook's overall guardrails section (compliance caveats, unrelated disclaimers, proof points for objections you didn't pick) doesn't all need to make it into one focused script just because it's nearby in the source document. Only carry forward what's actually relevant to the branch being built. Never invent lines, proof points, or thresholds the playbook doesn't contain; ask instead.

4. Pick the visual direction: palette is a confirmation gate, template sourcing isn't

Search the template library for a matching starting point, and judge fit from what each result's own description and relevance reasoning actually say about it, not from its name or look alone. A template only counts as a genuine match if its actual structure fits this playbook (linear or branching, single-scenario or forked), not just because it looks minimal or motion-heavy. If one genuinely fits end to end, adopt it as the base, silently. Most of the time nothing will, especially for branching content; that's fine and expected: work out which individual pieces are actually usable across whatever came back (a pacing pattern from one, a transition from another, a fork layout from a third) and build this playbook's structure from design guidance, drawing on those pieces as needed. Keep all of this reasoning to yourself: don't tell the user which templates were checked, that none matched, or why the close ones don't fit; just move ahead using whatever's actually useful.

Settle the palette in the same pass. Ask whether the workspace has brand colors or guidelines to use; if it does, pull them and use them. If it doesn't, don't just pick something on your own: offer two or three concrete, named palette directions suited to the playbook's content and let the user choose, defaulting to your own pick only if they say they don't care.

The palette choice is the one thing from this step that's a real confirmation gate: show the user the options and don't move to step 5 until they've actually picked a direction (or confirmed a workspace brand), especially when a decision fork is riding on the chosen layout. Do this every time, not just on the runs where it happens to come up naturally. The template decision above doesn't get its own confirmation or mention; it's an internal build choice.

Whatever structural base you end up with, treat it as a starting point only, never shipped unmodified. Populate it with this playbook's real content (its actual script, the confirmed palette) and add at least one layer of genuine customization: a generated detail for a concept that needs it, a bespoke keyframed touch at the decision fork, something tied to this specific playbook, so the result reads as authored for this request, not a generic template with the words swapped in.

5. Build the project

Start a new project, then add clips: one per scene (or per branch, if forking), durations from the script. Look up what the relevant visual element types actually support before the first placement.

Default to motion graphics, not screenshots; playbooks describe conversations and judgment calls, not UI steps:

• Spoken steps, and checklist or sequence items alike: real kinetic typography, not a flat appear-and-disappear cut or a static bullet wall dropped in all at once. Give each step's or item's words an actual entry and exit animation (a word- or line-level slide, pop, or masked reveal for a punchy beat, typewriter for a line worth reading in real time) keyed to that beat's own narration start time, so it builds in and clears out in rhythm with the voice. One idea on screen at a time, cleared or de-emphasized before the next builds in, rather than left sitting there or hard-cut away.
• The decision fork: a shared box or line splitting into two keyframed paths, each labeled with the trigger ("says X" / "says Z") and its response, animated diverging at the moment the narration names the branch. This is the visual signature of a branching playbook; give it real care.
• A concept that needs more than shapes and type: the clearest case for a generated animation, reached for deliberately because that beat's concept needs it, not applied across the board as a style. Feed it that beat's script line so its motion paces to what's actually being said, keep it boxed within the frame rather than full-canvas when the scene also carries text, and since it renders asynchronously, check back and verify a mid-render frame before trusting it in the cut.

Treat the above as a floor, not a ceiling, once the whole beat list is planned: a playbook video like this should land at least one genuine authored visual moment somewhere in the build (a real generated animation, or a stock or generated image brought to life with motion), not just kinetic type and keyframed rectangles start to finish. Don't decide this beat-by-beat and stop at the first pass-fail check; look at the full beat list together, pick whichever beat's concept would genuinely read better as an authored visual (usually the decision fork or the most concrete step), and think through what it should actually look like against that beat's real script line, iterating the idea rather than shipping the first version. Before placing it, check where it sits relative to the text, labels, and shapes already in that scene so nothing overlaps, crowds, or fights for the same space. Most beats will still resolve fine as plain keyframed shapes; this is only about making sure at least one doesn't.

The same floor applies to imagery: if a beat references something concrete a viewer would actually picture (the actual product, screen, or object a step or objection is about, not an abstract judgment call) and no real screenshot exists for it, search stock images or video for it first rather than defaulting straight to abstract shapes. If a good stock match turns up, bring it in with a real entry and exit animation like everything else in the cut; never drop a still photo or clip in flat. If nothing suitable turns up in stock, generate an image instead and animate that the same way. Only fall back to fully abstract keyframed shapes or typography for that beat once both of those have genuinely come up empty, not as the first instinct.

No background music or sound effects: the narration carries the audio.

6. Narrate and sync

Choose a narration voice (ask if the user has a preference), then generate narration for all scenes in a single pass; this resets clip durations to match the spoken length. Confirm each clip actually has audio afterward, not just script text. Auto-align visuals to the narration, then fine-tune sync points by hand. This matters most at the decision-fork moment, where the visual split must land exactly on the narration naming the trigger, not before or after it, and at each text beat, where the kinetic-typography entry should key to that line's own start time rather than drift in late or early.

7. Verify, review with the user, then export

Render a still preview at a mid-scene moment for each clip, and specifically at any decision-fork moment, to check it visually: legible at video scale, palette consistent, the fork readable at a glance, text actually animating in and out rather than cutting flat, nothing static for more than a beat, and every element positioned coherently against its neighbors: nothing overlapping unintentionally, nothing crowding the frame edge, a generated or sourced visual sharing the frame with text and labels without colliding. Fix, then share the review link with the user and get their nod before exporting the final video.

If the source was an existing Clueso article and the user wants the video attached alongside it, offer to do that.

Fallbacks

• Too many branches for one video, or too many for a clean fork visual: pick the highest-value one or two branches, build those, and tell the user plainly which branches were left out rather than cramming all of them in.
• User wants the whole playbook covered exhaustively: propose a short series, one video per major branch or section, rather than one overloaded video.
• Playbook is vague or assumes tribal knowledge that isn't written down: ask the user to fill the specific gap (the actual objection-handling line, the real escalation threshold) rather than guessing at sales process specifics.
• Source lives somewhere this skill can't read: ask the user to paste the text directly.
• Playbook turns out to be purely linear: treat it as a linear document and follow the skills/article-to-video pattern rather than inventing branches that aren't there.
• No written playbook at all, just a request to cover a topic: hand off to skills/topic-to-training-video instead of forcing this workflow onto a source that doesn't exist.

Sharing the finished video

When the work is done, always give the user the link to the video in Clueso. Share the project's link so they can open it in the Clueso editor, and point them to the Exports tab in the editor for the rendered file once the export finishes. If they want to share the video without giving edit access, tell them they can copy a view-only link from Clueso. Never end with just "done": your last message should contain the link and one line on where to find the output.