Hints for Script Preparation

You will probably be using a script with some of your recordings. Here are some hints to make the process move easier.

Although many audio information products are produced from interviews and live presentations, there are instances when the recording will be scripted. I find it easiest to begin a script by starting with the essential four or five points that I must communicate to the listener. Then, I develop an outline around these points, and write the script from there.

Perfect English is for academia. Write a script that has some life. Vary your sentence length. Use sentence fragments if appropriate. Unless you are producing for an audience of English teachers, keep it conversational. Use commas, hyphens, italics, underlining and other punctuation to help the narrator read it with the emphasis you had in mind.

Check the script for accuracy and have someone not familiar with it do a reading to find the glaring errors that are invisible to you. Errors always become very apparent after the narrator has left the studio.

Script Format Hints

Here are some helpful hints for the format of scripts that I have gleaned over the years. These will make your reading and editing go much easier.

First of all, scripts should always be typed. Hand written scripts are very difficult to read. Use a readable font like Times Roman -- this is not the place to get artsy with type styles. Use 12 point or larger type. Use upper and lower case type – a script written in all capitals is very difficult to read. (I have no idea why some clients still insist on doing this.)

Use double spacing and wide margins to make the script more readable and allow room for hand written revisions and other notes that may occur during the recording.

If there are difficult to pronounce words or names, check the pronunciation before the recording session and spell them out phonetically in the script. This is especially important if you have someone else reading your script. Also double check any numbers and other data that must be accurate.

Don’t break a sentence across two pages. Adjust your spacing so that each sentence ends on the same page that it began on. Changing pages in the middle of a sentence is awkward and usually produces audible paper noise.

As a rule of thumb, a full page script, with 1.25 inch margins and 12 point double-spaced type translates to about two minutes of program material.

Finally, make enough copies of the script for everyone involved in the recording including the recording engineer.