The success and failure of a video largely depend on the quality of the voiceover script. Voiceover script consists of the text that voice actors will record. Though the voice over actor plays an important role here, it is the job of a scriptwriter to prepare a script that will influence the way the voice talent reads it.
Preparing a voiceover script can be a challenging task. A poorly written script can cause numerous problems that can affect the project’s overall performance. It can increase the estimated recording time and tension in the actor’s delivery, which can eventually lead to a less professional outcome.
To achieve effective script-writing, here are six tips to follow.
1. Write as you speak.
Your audience won’t be reading your script but would be listening to it. So, picture yourself speaking to the audience when writing your voiceover script. In this way, you’ll naturally use informal language, smaller sentences, and a more conversational tone. The key here is to make the audience feel as though they are listening to a narrator who is friendly and personable.
2. Keep sentences short and varied.
While writing your voiceover scripts, keep the sentences short and crisp without compromising with the main message. If it sounds too simplistic, try using short sentences of varying lengths. You can stick to one idea per sentence, use shorter words, or break sentences into two whenever possible. Writing contracted forms – i.e., “you’re” instead of “you are” can also do wonders for your voiceover script.
3. Use transition words effectively.
Do you want your listeners to press the replay button, again and again, to understand the sentence more clearly? No, right? So, it is essential to use transition words to link two or more sentences together smoothly. Some examples of transition words are – but, yet, therefore, and meanwhile. These words not only clarify the message but also let your listeners understand the flow of your thoughts more effectively.
4. Silence is your friend.
A continuous voiceover narration results in overloaded information which eventually confuses and bores the audience. Hence, to enhance the quality of your voiceover project, it is recommended to use pauses and silence in your script. Silence in audio is equivalent to the whitespaces in the visuals. The idea behind these pauses is to let the listeners take rest and understand the verbal content more accurately. Asking a question and signaling the listeners to pause the video to think about the answer is an excellent example of using silence in voiceover. To include brief pauses in a script, add an ellipsis (…) to indicate where the voice actor should stop for a moment.
5. Get to the point quickly.
When you’re writing your voiceover script, you have to get right to the point quickly before you lose the interest of your audience. Use straightforward language and focus on the most important things. For example, if you’re trying to sell your product or service, tell customers about it, why it is unique, and how they can get it.
6. Read your script out loud.
After writing your script, it’s time to read it loudly. This has many benefits.
• It enables you to determine whether the language is awkward or smooth.
• You can take note of where you stumble and change the words or sentences that are difficult to read.
• It is the best way to spot errors, misspelled words, and tongue twisters.
• You can even identify longer sentences and cut them in two.
Following these rules will improve the quality of your script and turn an average video into a successful piece of content that grabs the attention of your potential customers.
Through a mix of our own and extensive partner network of 200 recording studios and with our pool of more than 3,200 native dubbing/voiceover artists we offer high-quality dubbing/voiceover services at competitive costs in more than 70 languages. We are DUBnSUB – a post-production company based in Gurgaon, India with branch offices in Berlin, Germany, Paris, France, and Boston, USA.