convert-vsl

# Convert VSL - The 18-Minute Video Sales Letter Script

> *"A VSL isn't a sales page read aloud. It's a doctor's visit. Big idea. Big claim. Big proof. Big offer. The reader is your patient - you diagnose, prescribe, and remove the friction in their head one objection at a time."* - Wayland VSL extension to The Donahoe Method (the Method's spoken-cadence application; the doctor's-visit framing is part of broader direct-response canon, not a Method-spec quote)

This skill emits a complete 18-minute VSL script with timestamps, presenter cues, and the Donahoe Method primitives compressed to the rhythm of speech.

## When to Use

Trigger phrases: `write me a vsl`, `vsl script`, `video sales letter`, `18 minute vsl`, `donahoe vsl`, `/convert vsl <product>`.

Use when the user has a product/offer and needs a full script for a recorded VSL. Output is paste-ready into a teleprompter.

## When NOT to Use

- **Hosting page for the video** → `/convert vsl-page`.
- **Written long-form** → `/convert sales-page`.
- **Webinar (45–90 minutes, multi-segment)** → `/funnel conviction-webinar`.
- **Auditing existing VSL transcript** → `/convert audit`.
- **Rewriting existing script** → `/convert rewrite`.

## Inputs

Required:
1. **Product description** - what's being sold?
2. **The one person** - name, situation, last failure (One Person Rule).
3. **The Nerve** - specific raw pain.
4. **Offer** - price, components, guarantee.
5. **Presenter voice notes** - energy level, signature phrases, profanity tolerance.

Optional:
- **Existing proof clips** - testimonials on video, screen-share receipts, before/after assets.
- **Visual aid notes** - slides, B-roll, screen recordings the presenter wants to anchor.
- **Temperature override.**
- **`out_path`** - defaults via `build_report_path("business-conversion", instruction)`.

## Workflow - All Eight Method Phases (Compressed for Speech)

Speech is faster than reading. A reader can re-read; a viewer cannot rewind without friction. Every Method framework applies, but the cadence is compressed.

### Phase 0 - Four Questions (call `convert-four-questions`)

Same diagnostic. Spoken answers must be quotable in one breath.

### Phase 1 - Temperature (call `convert-temperature`)

VSL length scales with temperature:
- **Ice Cold** → 22–28 minutes (more education).
- **Cool** → 18–22 minutes (the canonical length).
- **Warm** → 12–18 minutes.
- **Hot** → 6–12 minutes.
- **Boiling** → 3–6 minutes (almost a reminder).

The 18-minute structure below assumes **Cool/Warm**, the most common VSL temperature. Adjust segment durations proportionally.

### Phase 2 - Four-Layer Open (call `convert-open`)

The first 60 seconds. All four layers must hit before the viewer's thumb moves.

- **0:00–0:10 Nerve Strike** - first line, on camera, no logo intro, no "hey guys."
- **0:10–0:25 Side Door** - casual entry, sometimes "I'm going to show you something I noticed last week..."
- **0:25–0:45 Skin in the Game** - first-person origin in 1–2 sentences.
- **0:45–1:00 Fingerprint** - opinion or contrarian take that earns the next 17 minutes.

### Phase 3 - Three Locks Architecture (call `convert-three-locks`)

The VSL maps the locks to time:

- **Want** → minutes 1–6.
- **Trust** → minutes 6–12.
- **Excuse** → minutes 12–18.

### Phase 4 - Bullets (call `convert-bullets`)

The "what you'll discover" segment around minute 14. Spoken bullets are shorter than written - 6–10 bullets, mixed types, each a single breath.

### Phase 5 - Proof Throughout (call `convert-proof`)

Proof in a VSL hits harder visually:
- **Anecdote** spoken with eye contact.
- **Receipt** - show the screenshot on screen.
- **Drive-By** - credentials in passing.
- **Namecheck** - show the actual email/DM if possible.
- **Because** - the mechanism, drawn on a whiteboard or slide.

### Phase 6 - Cascade Close (call `convert-close`)

Minutes 14–18 are the close. Same five layers - Stack, Vision, Math, Safety Net, Door. Plus a closing reclose at the very end (the spoken P.S.).

### Phase 7 - Greased Chute (call `convert-chute`)

In speech, chute discipline = pacing:
- **Open loops** every 90 seconds.
- **Variable rhythm** - short sentence, breath, longer sentence, breath, short sentence.
- **No "um, so, basically"** filler - read aloud and cut every place a presenter would naturally pause.

### Phase 8 - Voice + Bullshit Filter (call `convert-voice` + `convert-bullshit-filter`)

Spoken voice is even less forgiving of marketing-speak. Read every line aloud. If it sounds like marketing, the viewer's gut detects it - and they leave.

## The 18-Minute VSL Map (Doctor-Visit Pattern)

| Segment | Time | Content | Method primitive |
|---------|------|---------|------------------|
| 1. Cold open | 0:00–1:00 | Four-Layer Open compressed | convert-open |
| 2. Stakes | 1:00–3:00 | What's at stake / cost of inaction | Lock 1 setup |
| 3. The Want | 3:00–6:00 | Paint the desired state vividly | Lock 1 |
| 4. The Big Idea | 6:00–9:00 | The mechanism / why this works differently | Lock 2 setup |
| 5. The Big Claim | 9:00–10:30 | Boldest specific promise | Lock 2 climax |
| 6. The Big Proof | 10:30–13:00 | Conversational Proof rhythm | convert-proof |
| 7. The Big Offer | 13:00–14:30 | Stack + price framing | Lock 3 setup, Cascade Stack |
| 8. The Bullet Block | 14:30–15:30 | What you'll get / discover | convert-bullets |
| 9. The Excuse | 15:30–16:00 | Math justification | Lock 3 |
| 10. The Cascade Close | 16:00–17:30 | Vision → Math → Safety Net → Door | convert-close |
| 11. Reclose | 17:30–18:00 | The spoken P.S. | Cascade reclose |

### Segment-by-segment cues for the script

**Segment 1 - Cold Open (0:00–1:00).**
On camera. No intro card. No music sting. Hit the Nerve. Slide through the Side Door. Drop Skin in the Game. End with the Fingerprint. The audience has decided whether to keep watching by 0:30.

**Segment 2 - Stakes (1:00–3:00).**
*"Here's what's actually happening right now if you're [the reader's situation]..."* Specific cos