When you speak in front of a live audience, you may hold a set of notes and glance at them from time to time as you speak directly to your listeners. When you record an audio track for a slideshow or video, however, it's generally best to work from a script. A written script ensures that you'll say exactly what you want to say in the amount of time available.
If your presentation relates to a topic that is similar to an essay or report you've written, you can "lift" language from that piece as you write your script. However, you should not reproduce your essay word-for-word as a voiceover script. Most research reports, for instance, are far too long and "wordy" to work as the voiceover script for a slideshow or video. Besides, some of the details in the report can be communicated using other media besides text.
Review these steps and suggestions, which you should have seen demonstrated in the presentation you just viewed.
| Get organized and make notes. | How many slides or screens will you use? What information do you want to cover in each slide? If you have not yet created a storyboard for your presentation, sketch out one that helps you identify the number of slides or segments in your presentation. |
| Think about time. | How many minutes do you have for the entire presentation? How many slides do you have? Divide your presentation time by the number of slides to get a rough estimate of how long you can speak while each slide or frame is onscreen. |
| Remember your hook and clincher. | Start your script with something that will grab viewers' attention quickly. End with a statement that will help your audience to remember your most important points. |
| Avoid reading onscreen text aloud. | If you plan to have text on a screen, don't include that text in your script, word-for-word. Instead, use the onscreen text as an "anchor" for viewers, and elaborate on the topic in your script. |
| Don't talk over other voices or sounds. | If there's a section of your presentation that includes a video, sound effects, or important music (not just background music), write a pause into your script for that section. Your audience won't be able to focus on two things at once. |
| Keep it brief. | Your script should be as short and interesting as possible—while also communicating key information about your topic. |
| Expect to revise. | No one writes a perfect script the first time. Try reading your script aloud while clicking through slides or playing a rough version of the video, to make sure that the length of each section matches up with the amount of time you want to spend on each slide. |
Now write the voiceover script for your presentation. Be sure to designate in your script which words belong with which slide. When you have finished your script, save it to use in later steps in the process.
