The Teaching Scripts Library: Build a Cue Sheet You Can Read Aloud in Real Time
Most cue sheets fall apart for one simple reason. They were written for the teacher's eyes, not the teacher's mouth. You end up reading a sentence like "transition to tabletop with neutral spine," pausing to translate it into something a room of beginners can actually follow, and by the time you've found the words again, half the class is already wondering what's next. A teaching script flips the order: it tells you exactly what to say, in the order you say it, so your attention stays with the people on the mat.
A good script starts with a class arc, not a pose list. Before any single cue, you want the shape of the whole hour written down in two or three lines: the opening intention, the peak of class, and the way you want people to feel as they step back into their day. Every cue on the page should serve that arc. If a cue doesn't earn its place against the peak, it doesn't need to be there.
Then write the way you actually speak. Short sentences. The same words you'd use if a brand-new student asked you what to do next. "Press into your hands, send your hips back, let your knees track over your toes." That's a cue a room can act on in the moment. "Articulate through the feet while sustaining bilateral integration through the lower extremities" is a cue that teaches you to perform expertise. Pick the first version unless you're certain your audience speaks the second.
Layered cues are the part most scripts skip and most classes need. The same pose gets cued differently for a beginner in the front row, a tight hamstring in the back, and the restless mover who's been in warrior for a while. On the page, write all three versions in order, with a simple tag like [new], [tight], or [restless] so you can grab the right one without thinking. Your voice stays present because the choice has already been made for you.
Finally, leave room for the script to breathe. A breath cue between transitions, a one-line check-in after the peak, a moment of silence you don't fill. These aren't gaps in the teaching; they're the part the teaching is for. If the page is packed wall to wall with words, you won't have anywhere to put your eyes when you actually want to look at the room.
The GreenYoga Teaching Scripts Library is built around these four moves: arc first, spoken-word cues, layered cues for different bodies, and intentional breathing room. Every script is designed to be read aloud in real time, which means it works even on the days your brain arrived before your body did.
If you teach, start with one class you already know well and rewrite it as a real script this week. When you can teach from the page without losing the room, you'll know it works.