Happy Holidays!
A little holiday cheer from all of us.
Wishing you all the best in the new year!
5 facets of a good script
by Sarah Kesher, Director of eLearning
Last month I talked about scripts and how they can do so much more than they are often given credit for. This month I thought I’d share the foundational elements in making a “good” script – of any sort. This is the stuff that has little to do with writing skill, but more the necessities that every script needs to work. If you have more thoughts, please do share them in the comments!
1. Intention
Acknowledge that the script is a crucial part of the process. Make sure you talk about the script up front and make decisions on it before you get started—even if that decision is that the script is a low priority for this project and developed at the last minute, at least you know.
2. Clarity
Make sure the script is easy to understand. ‘Cause that’s sort of the point. Reading something on paper is a different mental process then listening to something. Ever try to listen to someone read an article out loud to you? I often have to go “Wait, wait, wait, read that part again?” Maybe that’s just me. Either way, read your script out loud to someone that hasn’t ever read it to make sure it’s clear to them, not just to you.
3. Cohesion
A good script should have a beginning, middle, and end. Even for elearning. Themes and tone should run throughout and not change constantly. It also should stay consistent with its own internal logic about the elements of the elearning — setting up interactions, dialogues, etc.
4. Impact
There’s no reason to add an audio script if you don’t want to add any additional impact. Once you add a voice reading something, you have the possibility for inflection, tone, subtly. Where can the script and voice talent really drive a point home? Where can they turn a phrase that connects with the users on a human level? Even the most technical of scripts have moments where this is possible. Use them.
5. Legibility
Yeah, this is a bit of an oddball in this list, but its right up there in importance. I can’t stress this enough, you are writing a script for someone to read. Think about how you can make the actual format of the script easier for that person. Separate their lines from notes to the developers or other such things. Make a “recording script” that is just for them and has nice clean legible fonts at 11 or 12 pt size. Put in extra spaces between paragraphs and don’t let sentences break across the page. Just to name a few.
Good luck and have fun writing! Oh yeah, fun…the more you enjoy, the more your users will too. So by all means, have fun!
Scriptwriting as an Art
by Sarah Kesher,
Director of eLearning
I always find it interesting how pieces of other fields suddenly find themselves in a totally unrelated area. It’s fun to think about – opening your mind to how something used somewhere else can provide value to the work that’s right in front of you. In elearning, there are many fields that are colliding to form effective elearning – education, design, technology, audio, and so on. And its had to borrow best practices from all of those industries.
One of the things I’ve paid special attention to as elearning has evolved is the “script.” At first, the script was simply “text”. Not really a script at all. No one had the budgets nor bandwidth to add audio or video to their programs, so everything relied on the user reading the text on the screen.
But now, here we are at a time where it’s more realistic, and often even necessary, to include voice over or other audio/video elements to elearning. And that requires an actual script. Something that used to be reserved for stage or screen performance. Does that make elearning a type of performance? Perhaps it’s not a bad idea to consider that when writing.
I’ve been at this long enough to have seen a lot of different “scripts” in elearning. They come in all shapes and sizes, formats, voices, you name it, and they are different. Some read like a textbook. Some have personality. And some don’t know what they are.
Honestly, I don’t have a problem with scripts being different, as long as the script has intention. All too often the script comes together as a byproduct of the development process. It seems to me that most of the time, the amount of time spent on pieces of an elearning is something like this:
I had the privilege of presenting a session at this year’s DevLearn conference, November 2nd, on Scriptwriting for Engagement. In my session, I made a case for how a script can be more. A good script can create a cohesive package around everything else you’re trying to do in your program. It can help make sure all your hard work is remembered.
I like to get involved as early in the process as possible as I believe that a scriptwriter shouldn’t just be thinking about the words, they should be thinking about how the whole program fits together and what they can do to tie it together smoothly and effectively—from writing narration to basic instructions. Sometimes, with my scriptwriter hat on, I even ask questions that may change the order of the design to work more cohesively with the script and improve the flow of the project. I’m a part of the team that is working together to create the best piece of learning we can.
I was thrilled to see many nodding heads in the standing room only room as I spoke. It gave me hope that others share my belief and will go forth and spread the philosophy as much as possible
I think we have not yet seen the golden age of elearning.
I think we have not yet seen the golden age of elearning. Where producing elearning is about craftsmanship and the script is a cruical part of the art of engaging users.
I look forward to it!
Using Union vs. Non-Union Talent
by Sarah Kesher,
Director of eLearning
I’ve worked with a lot of different actors in my life. I’ve worked with top-notch union talent and I’ve worked with the lowest rung amateur community performers. I have seen breathtaking talent rise from both of those groups and all levels of performer in between. So yeah, I know that “talent” doesn’t always have to do with whether someone is a “professional” or not. In fact, one of my favorite actors to work with is a non-union, “amateur” actor, but he just brims with talent.
That said, in our business, the term “union” is more than just how they get paid. It speaks to a certain standard of talent and professionalism that is not always certain with non-union performers.
keep in mind that someone with a higher rate has earned that rate in many ways
Now, I totally get that non-union performer’s rates seem, on the surface, less expensive than the union rates, and I get that budget is a big issue with every project. But sometimes there are hidden costs to using someone that doesn’t understand all the tips, tricks, and best practices for working in audio or video.
For example, recently I had a client who was doing a very fun interactive piece. When starting on a project, I’ll have a discussion with a client to find out what sort of voice quality they’d like. This client did more than just tell me, he found and sent me a website for a woman who packages and advertises themselves as a non-union “professional voiceover artist.” Her demo sounded fine (though most demos do after editing and processing etc.). The biggest issue I had with using her was that I’d never worked with her before. There were so many unknowns; how fast does she work? Does she take direction well? Does she read smoothly, with inflection, and in a realistic way? Will we have to stop the recording often for coaching, or other things? Because of this, I spent time talking with the client about the risks and sent the client a few more voice samples of people I had worked with that I felt had the same general qualities. In the end, he decided to understand the risks, but to go with the person he had discovered through the web. We did our bid accordingly, allowing a range for those unknowns.
Now, this isn’t going to be a ridiculously awful story where the woman shows up and can’t read a line. No. She was fine. And the final piece sounds great – especially for what they needed. However, to get it there took some work, and both my engineer and I noted some skills and behaviors that were not to the standards we’d expect with a more seasoned professional. Including:
She had a cold. Not a horrible head cold, but it came with a cough. She called and told me at 9pm the night before (almost too late to do anything about it). She made it through the session, but she had to stop often to cough, clear her throat, and drink water or tea so she could continue. A union pro would’ve either found a way to prevent the cough from getting in the way at all, or she would’ve declined the opportunity (oftentimes notifying their agent to find a replacement if possible).- As she read, she would turn the pages as she read. This is a basic no-no. The sound of the pages turning as someone speaks is nearly impossible to take out of the recording so it meant we had to rerecord all those instances. Most pros lay out the script side by side to prevent this.
- Her enunciation was often garbled. We all do it. It’s totally natural. But it doesn’t fly when doing narration. People need to hear the words clearly and understand them. This caused us to rerecord several lines.
Thankfully, she did take direction well and was very pleasant to work with, so we were able to push through until we got it all. And the client was very pleased with the final product. I will tell you though, that what was supposed to be a less than an hour recording session took an hour and a half, and the post production took over 5 hours to complete which was 2-3 hours more than we’d expect. Everything was slowed down because of the coughing, enunciation, and page turning. You can probably guess that the extra time led to extra money. Luckily, we were able to still land the project within the range we had quoted.
This client knew the risks and decided that they were still worth taking, and again, is very happy with his project. Sometimes that risk is indeed worth it. A specific voice quality you can’t find elsewhere, a combination of characters for a case study, or any other reason. Heck, I’ve done it myself for my own projects. Only once did I have to go back and have everything re-recorded but that’s a whole other story…
The bottom-line is this—know the risks. You might stumble upon someone who’s at a union level in terms of skill even though they remain non-union (I like to call them” experienced” or “seasoned” non-union), or you might find someone with more issues than we had here. And, one more point, when comparing talent rates, keep in mind that someone with a higher rate has earned that rate in many ways— ability, speed, professionalism, less need of direction, etc. Because of the skill they bring to the project, the end cost might actually save you money.
Look for us at DevLearn 2011!
I know its not even September and the DevLearn 2011 Conference isn’t until November, but we’re getting excited and the buzz is already building on the interwebs.
I wanted you to know that not only are we presenting at the conference, we’ll be exhibiting again as well. I’ll be doing a session on Wednesday, Nov 2, from 10:45a – 11:45a, and both Lani and I will be at the booth during the rest of the exhibition. We’d love to set some time to chat with you as the conference can get crazy. Let us know if you want to schedule something!
Three Techniques for Pleasantly Surprising Users
by Sarah Kesher,
Director of eLearning
Last month I started to talk about pleasant surprises. I promised that this month I’d be back with some ideas of how to create them for your users. So without further ado, here are three methods explained. These are certainly not the only ways to do this, but they are techniques that I’ve seen work over and over again. Please share any other ideas you have in the comments.
1) Start off with a bang.
Not literally of course. I spend a lot of time and attention on what I call “the opening.” The opening usually falls after the welcome screens and technical “how to use this program” information, but before the content begins. The opening sets the whole mood and tone for a program. And, it’s your best chance to get your user’s attention
Think of the opening as making your case for why your users should care about the content. First, be very clear about the learning objective(s). Then think of both the benefits to the user in taking the course, and the risks of not taking it. However don’t dwell on the risks, scaring people has its own side-effects that aren’t always desirable.
Once you know the objectives and the benefits, decide what tone will be able to convey the appropriate tone. This is not an intellectual decision, but an emotional one. You want to hit on the emotions of the user so that they become personally attached to the content. The opening is also a chance to set the stage for the environment you are setting (see below).
As for execution, I tend to prefer an opening “movie” of sorts. Either a true flash movie, or video, or the down and dirty version where it’s a series of slides that move at a good pace with narration.
2) Alternate reality.
Take the users out of the literal and into either a parallel environment or into a new environment all together. By taking them out of the literal day-to-day reality of their environment, you move them into a place where they can relax and learn without watching for inaccuracies and other emotional triggers stemming from their reality.
A parallel environment might be a simple “other company” where things are slightly different but at the same time similar to the real environment. The risk here is making the alternate reality too much like the real world so that the user can see through the veil at every turn. At the same time, you don’t want to make it too different or the user will start thinking “that’s not how it happens here.”
A totally new environment may include a metaphor or vehicle. A metaphor can be powerful if chosen well and not over used in the program (using a setting unrelated to the actual work environment but contains elements or situations where the appropriate learning can happen). A vehicle (like a game show or other familiar format) can work well for short programs of specific activities.
With both parallel and alternate universes, I find that it works best to use images and language specific to that world in my opening, and then switch to the real world for certain pieces of content. I often will even acknowledge that I’m using a metaphor. Which leads me to…
3) Acknowledge the user’s presence.
In addition to using “you” as the pronoun in your language, acknowledge the user and their thoughts. It’s a trick I learned long ago from my days doing corporate theater-based training programs and writing many, many scripts that required actors saying cheesy things that people would just never say in reality. If you acknowledge that it is indeed cheesy, the audience forgives you and knows you don’t think they’re stupid. No other way to say it. People don’t like to be treated like they’re stupid.
For example, I was doing a script where we had to teach the model that had three parts. We had a team of “superheroes” arrive on the scene to teach a character the model in order to solve his problem. The superheroes would say the name of the model “Check, Check, Double Check!” and give each other a double high five on the “double check.” And this happened several times during the scene. It was the cheesiest think you could imagine.
Intentionally cheesy, but we didn’t want to lose the audience in the cheese factor. To solve this, we had the character learning the model say “Wait a minute. This isn’t going to be one of those cheesy things where we all have to sit in a circle and sing kumbaya is it?” As soon as he acknowledged that, we got a laugh, and then the scene went on with the audience understanding that it’s a real model but we’re just having a little fun with how we present it. We showed them that we didn’t think they were stupid, but that we were playing on their sense of wit and humor. In evaluations it was often voted a favorite scene in the program.
Sarah and Lani were honored to be asked to share their Audio for Engagement presentation at the eLearning Guild Online Forum which will take place this Thursday and Friday (July 21-22). Our presentation is at 12:15 CST on Friday.
More than just being an opportunity to hear Sarah and Lani speak, its an interesting conference as a whole, both in content and in format. If you’re interested in attending, you can get more information here.
