Speaker 1: By now, you have analyzed learners, developed learning objectives, selected appropriate media, created a design document, and even built a prototype for your course. Now it is time to write a voiceover script for the eLearning course. Even for experienced writers, voiceover scripting can be difficult as writing for audio differs from other types of writing and requires a unique set of skills. In this lesson, you will learn the basics of script writing. You will also learn some of the plain language principles. At the end, we will talk about the style guide and how to create one for your eLearning needs. So let's get started. To write a great script that will truly bring all the points across, you must understand the content. Most instructional designers are assigned projects they know very little about. Conducting additional research and communicating with subject matter experts, or SMEs, is the essential first step in making sense out of the information in your eLearning course. Even though clients oftentimes believe that only SMEs can create scripts, this is not true. In fact, not being an SME can be an advantage, primarily because most SMEs know so much about the content that they often leave the important information out, forget to mention crucial steps in the process, or provide unnecessary content that confuses learners. Instructional designers unfamiliar with the material will ask questions and clarify statements to get all the information needed for creating a clear and effective script. Alternatively, if instructional designers appear to be experts in the topic, finding a non-expert who can review the script and provide feedback is highly recommended. Remember, as you seek clarification and answers to questions, you prevent learners from having the same questions and concerns about the content. Here is my recommendation, though. Be sure to create your storyboard before writing audio scripts. That will provide you a strong foundation for high-quality audio delivery to follow. One of the most important rules in script writing is informality. Scripts are written to be heard, not read, therefore the writing style should be conversational. Logical organization is the key to effective script writing. To turn the content into the chronological, well-written script, it is essential to have at least basic understanding of the content, and this is another reason why working with SMEs is important. Consider the plain language principles as you write your scripts. Let's look at some of these principles. To add a conversational tone to the script, consider using contractions. For example, use isn't instead of is not. Also, consider using pronouns to make the e-learning content more personal. For example, use you instead of learner. Use active voice over passive voice. For example, instead of saying, the letter to the boss was written by Amy, consider saying, Amy wrote the letter to her boss. Avoid run-on sentences. For example, instead of, Amy is a great writer, she writes well, try splitting it into two sentences, Amy is a great writer, she writes well. Avoid sentences that express more than one idea. For example, instead of saying, Amy likes writing letters and editing audio narration, say Amy loves writing letters, she also enjoys editing audio narration. Avoid misplaced modifiers. For example, instead of saying, if you only have time to write one letter, do it professionally, say, if you have time to write only one letter, do it professionally. Avoid double negatives. For example, instead of saying, if Amy does not write a letter, she cannot send it to her boss, consider saying, Amy can send a letter to her boss, if she writes it. Keep subject and objects close to the verb. For example, don't say, Amy, anticipating salary increase, wrote a letter to her boss. Instead, say, anticipating salary increase, Amy wrote a letter to her boss. If in a script, you use word combinations difficult to pronounce together, the talent may have a difficult time reading them, and as a result, learners may have problems understanding what they hear. One way to avoid this is to re-read the script multiple times and make relevant changes to wording and grammar. Also, when writing audio scripts, make sure you provide pronunciation guidelines to the narrator. In this lesson, I've included a link to the pronunciation guide that you can use every time you are unsure about how to pronounce a word or phrase. When writing audio scripts, some instructional designers like to pull images of expressions or emotions from the Internet. This helps the talent know what emotions are expected from them when narrating a script for the character. Remember, e-learning courses should address multiple learning styles and meet accessibility requirements. When your learners hear the audio recording, they should be able to tell when the topic is changing without having to see the screen. To achieve this goal, you should always check your script for appropriate transitions. Another good practice for script writing dictates that pauses should be incorporated into the script to indicate where the talent should stop to give learners a chance to absorb the information. Also, using 12-point font and double-spacing the script will help the talent go through it more easily. Double-spaced scripts provide enough room for narrators to make notes when necessary. If the talent will be reading from a hard copy, it is best to use a serif font, such as Times New Roman. Alternatively, using a sans serif font, such as Arial, is preferred when reading from a computer screen. You will help your talent tremendously if you spell out all URLs, as well as acronyms that are difficult to pronounce. The same rule applies to dollar amounts and dates. Now, I'd like to get into some of the best practices of script writing. So, before you record your audio, always provide the client with a final version of the copy for approval. It'll save you a lot of time and money in reworks if the client does not like what you created. It takes more than just writing audio scripts to create high-class audio for e-learning courses. However, extensive does not always mean better results. If you're on a budget, try Yeti Blue USB microphones. And while you have a range of digital audio recording software available to choose from, costing anywhere between $150 to $1,000, you may also try free open-source tools like Audacity, which is available for both Mac and Windows. As you create audio for your courses, the most important thing is to make everyone sound consistent. Now, sometimes you may have to do your recordings in different rooms, or even in different parts of the country, so you may have to piece everything together. Whether you use open-source or spend $100 or $1,000 on your audio production tools, if you don't know how to get the best out of them, the price really won't matter. Furthermore, you could spend months writing audio scripts for your course, but unless you know your tools, all that effort could result in a poor outcome. So be sure to really learn your tools. Once you set things up, don't just immediately start recording. Do a sound quality test and audio check to make sure everything sounds good. Use the opportunity to produce multiple takes of the same content. Delivery, inflection, and even the tone of voice can be very different from take to take. Producing multiple safety takes will help you select the best sounding option for the course. Pay close attention to the tone of voice. Using the most appropriate tone when writing audio scripts can help with learner engagement. Humor scripts can gain attention in a nice-to-have course, but that tone will not be appropriate when creating a course about a serious topic. Always think about your messaging. What are you trying to highlight in your course, game, or scenario? Is it appropriate or inappropriate, or just the desired behavior? You want to make sure that your characters talk just like the people they are trying to portray. In other words, baby boomers use different vocabulary than millennials do, lawyers and other professionals all talk differently. Even fast food servers don't sound the same as waiters working in expensive restaurants. One secret that many script writers use is that before they start writing, they hang out with their future character for a little bit and try to get into their character themselves. You want your audience to fall in love with your character. You want to give learners a reason to want to take the course and hang out with your character. Scripts do take some time to write. Once a draft is created, read it aloud to yourself the next day. Review and read again several times and be as critical as you can, even if you have to completely rewrite your script or cut it in half. The best scripts come from a brutal self-editorial process. Here is a list of items you should check before submitting your script for review. 1. Bolding Do you want to use it for emphasis? As a heading for sections to indicate actions? 2. Hyperbolics Are hyperlinks italicized? What about names of documents, screens, and systems? 3. Fonts Choose two or three fonts and decide which one is for headings, body text, and possibly image design. 4. Colors Find colors that contrast well. There are many different websites that help create color schemes and check contrast. 5. Layout Design five to ten different layouts and let the team use them. This saves time because each page does not have to be custom designed each time. It also trains to understand your pages. 6. Grammar and Tense Are you talking directly to the learner? Should you use past, present, or future tense? Should you be formal or informal? 7. Images Will your images have shadows, rounded corners, feathering, borders, or reflections? 8. Buttons What buttons will you always use? You might need buttons for Next, Back, Job Aids, Exit, Simulation, More Information, Tips, Play, Course, Evaluation, Get Help, Fax, Feedback, and Replay. 9. Logos What logos will you have displayed? Company, Department, or None? 10. Text Size What size are the headings? How about the body text? In addition, it might be helpful to include the following. 1. Types of files allowed in the course. 2. Icons Create a library of standard icons, such as Caution, Checkmarks, Notes, Numbers, or Arrows. 3. Interactivity How will you tell the user to do something? Click the XXXX button or click XXXX. Do you bold what actions the user should take? 4. Bullets What bullet shape will you use? 5. Course Player and or GUI Create a standard interface for all courses. This allows the user to get used to the navigation within your course. By following these simple rules, you will save a lot of time for both your talent and yourself as the audio recording session will not be interrupted for questions and clarifications. There is an excellent website that you can refer to for additional information about script writing, http://www.screenwriting.info/. Lastly, Proofread, Proofread, and Proofread. There is nothing worse than noticing errors in the script after recording it. Now, take a look at the Style Guide template included in this lesson, then review your current content and incorporate appropriate standards and style details into the guide.