Writing for the ear: Six tips to fix stiff podcast scripts
Writing for the ear
A common mistake when scripting a podcast is using language that looks (and sounds) like an article in a newspaper or an excerpt from a book or website. That’s not what we're after.
In podcasting, we write for the ear.
What's the difference?
Let’s look at a practical example. I sat down to write an intro for the PodCircle Meet-up with Carl Smith, the podcaster in the March newsletter (check out that issue here). I was pulling from various sources about his career and came up with this on the first pass.
Carl Smith, a science journalist and children’s podcast host, began his career as a news cadet at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), where he trained as a multi-platform journalist in Canberra before moving into children's media. After a stint on Behind the News, ABC's long-running national children's current affairs TV show, he was recruited to co-host Short & Curly, a children's ethics and philosophy podcast launched in 2016. Short & Curly targets children aged eight to 12 and uses fictional storytelling, input from a philosopher, and a "brains trust" of real children who give their takes on thorny ethical and philosophical dilemmas.
Do you see any problems with this?
In podcasting, our aim is for our audience to feel like we are talking to them, like we'd talk to a friend. What I wrote above reads like an 'official bio' on a website.
Here’s what it looked like after a rewrite.
Carl Smith is a science journalist and podcast host. He started his career at the ABC, Australia's national broadcaster.
He later worked on a children's current affairs show.
Ten years ago, he joined a new kids' podcast called Short & Curly.
Short & Curly takes on ethical and philosophical questions, and makes them accessible to children between 8 and 12.
Its recipe? It mixes imaginative storytelling with input from a philosopher and kids sharing their own takes on thorny ethical dilemmas.
See and hear the difference?
Top tips for writing a script for podcasting
1. Break it up
Since listeners can't reread your audio, and probably won't rewind, the copy has to land on first hearing. Aim for one idea per sentence. If a sentence has more than one comma, cut the sentence in two or simplify it. I split my original first sentence up.
2. Write like you talk
Use words you'd use with your friends. Your podcast shouldn't sound like someone is reading to you. You can use sentence fragments (above: "Its recipe?”). The sentence part "…targets children aged eight to 12" got more natural phrasing: "…accessible to children between 8 and 12." Maybe a sentence just has one word. No problem. That's how people speak.
3. Use simple, active verbs
The first version has "he was recruited to co-host". Looks fine on the page but sounds formal and like it's from a press release. The second version swaps this passive construction for "joined a new kids' podcast." It's shorter and more active.
4. Kill details that aren't necessary
Details that work on the page can be dead weight on the ears. If you can cut a detail and it doesn't change the meaning, do it. Above, I cut things like "News cadet" and "Behind the News." I didn't lose anything essential.
5. Be careful with numbers
Complicated numbers don’t work well in audio formats. If you've got a video pod and can show numbers, that can help. For audio, simplify numbers, cut the decimals, and say things like "half" instead of "50%."
6. Read it out loud!
This is a must. If you find you're running out of breath mid-sentence, it’s too long. Do things sound clunky or artificial? Are you stumbling over certain words? If so, make changes.
Give it a try
Take a section of a script you've written before and record yourself reading it. Then rewrite it applying the tips above. Record it and listen to the two back to back.
See what happens.
