The fundamental rule: write for the ear, not the eye
When you read text silently, your brain automatically fills in rhythm, pacing, and emphasis. When you read it aloud, you have to provide all of that yourself — and most written text doesn't give you the cues to do it.
Text written for the eye: - Uses complete, grammatically correct sentences - Avoids repetition - Uses precise, formal vocabulary - Expects the reader to re-read difficult passages
Text written for the ear: - Uses sentence fragments for emphasis - Repeats key phrases to aid comprehension - Uses the speaker's natural vocabulary - Never assumes the listener can go back
Every technique in this guide flows from that distinction. Your job is to write the way you talk — not the way you'd want to be quoted.
Sentence length: the 12-word rule
Keep most sentences to 12 words or fewer. Count the words. If a sentence runs longer than 12 words, find the natural break and split it.
Too long: 'In this presentation I want to walk you through the three key findings from our research into customer acquisition over the past fiscal year.'
Better: 'Three findings. From a full year of customer acquisition research. Let me walk you through each one.'
Shorter sentences give you natural places to breathe. They also force you to front-load the important information — you can't bury the point at the end of a long clause.
The exception: deliberately use one longer sentence occasionally when you want to create a sense of momentum or build to a point. Contrast between short and long sentences adds rhythm.
Use contractions everywhere
This is the most common script-writing mistake and the easiest fix. Never write:
- 'I am' → 'I'm' - 'We are' → 'We're' - 'It is' → 'It's' - 'You will' → 'You'll' - 'Do not' → 'Don't' - 'Cannot' → 'Can't'
When you read 'I am excited about this opportunity', you will sound like you're reciting text. When you read 'I'm excited about this', you sound like a person.
Read your script aloud and every time you naturally want to use a contraction — write it. Contractions are the clearest signal that a script was written for speaking rather than writing.
Mark your pauses and emphasis explicitly
Natural speech has structure that written text doesn't show. Mark it in.
Pauses: Use '...' for a short beat, '[pause]' for a full stop. 'We achieved 40% growth last year. [pause] Nobody expected that.'
Emphasis: Use ALL CAPS for a word that carries strong stress. 'This is the MOST important thing I'll tell you today.'
Slow down: Use a dash — for a moment where you want to pull back. 'And then — everything changed.'
Questions: Write rhetorical questions where you'd naturally ask them. The inflection you use reading a question is different from a statement and breaks the delivery monotony. 'Why does this matter? Because [answer].'
When you add these markers, the script starts to feel like a performance guide, not text to be recited. A good broadcast script looks almost like a musical score — full of tempo and dynamics directions.
The opening and closing are where most scripts fail
The opening: Most scripts start with too much setup — who you are, what you're about to talk about, why it matters. All of that happens before the audience has any reason to keep listening.
Start instead with the thing that would make someone lean forward. A provocative question. A surprising fact. An unexpected statement. You can do your housekeeping — who you are, your agenda — in the second paragraph, after you've earned the listener's attention.
The closing: Most scripts trail off. The last thing said is usually a weak version of the main point, repeated. Or worse, it ends on 'thanks' — putting the burden on the audience to applaud.
A strong close restates the most important idea in a memorable way, then lands with a call to action or a question. It should feel like a period at the end of a sentence — clear, complete, deliberate. Memorise your last two sentences and deliver them looking directly at the camera, without reading.
The read-aloud test
Before you put a script into a teleprompter, read it aloud, standing up, as if you're delivering it for real.
Mark every place where: - You stumbled over the phrasing - You wanted to add a word that wasn't there - A sentence felt too long - The vocabulary felt formal in your mouth - The transition between paragraphs felt abrupt
Rewrite every marked section. Then read it aloud again. Repeat until you can read the entire script without hesitation.
If any sentence feels difficult to say, it will sound difficult. Rewrite it until it's easy. Easy sentences delivered with conviction always outperform eloquent sentences delivered with hesitation.