Podcasts, interviews and other recorded speaking events

“Whenever I try to record myself, I either get sidetracked, or I stumble over my words. But, when I try to write out what I want to say ahead of time, I end up sounding like a robot. How do I fix this?”

I see this question in podcasting groups all the time. It kind of feels like there is no middle ground for people who want to sound natural but also say what they need to say clearly and succinctly.

But actually, there is a pretty simple solution! The problem is, there is a misconception surrounding scripting, reading and recording.

Put simply – just because you script your show (or interview or whatever), doesn’t mean you have to read your script.

Ok – so why would you want to bother creating a script when you aren’t going to use it? Well… you are going to use it. Just not the way you’re thinking.

When I was younger, I used to play softball. I’d spend hours at the batting cage, or in practice, swinging a bat. I’d swing over and over and over again. I was preparing for my perfect hit. But… I rarely got a perfect hit. Sometimes, I’d walk. Sometimes, I’d bunt. Sometimes, I’d hit it straight to the pitcher and not even make it to first.

Boost Sales Like You Have Magic Powers

Drop your email below to get the FREE 3-part guide to start boosting sales and freeing up time (some see results in days). 

Grab The Guide

But swinging that bat over and over and over again allowed my to create a sort of muscle memory. Swinging felt natural and comfortable. When I was thrown a curve ball, I could easily adjust. Because I’d adjusted so many times in the past.

Speaking is so similar. Creating a script, and then working with that script, burns the message into memory. And this absolutely doesn’t have to be a long process. If I’m creating content that I’m already very familiar with, sometimes I just need to write it once, tweak it if necessary, and do a read through and then I’m ready to go. Sometimes, I need more time with it so it can sink in.

Step two of this process is to take your script (which I always create in a long form, full sentence outline), and chop it down into a bulleted outline, with just keywords and phrases.

That’s what you use while you’re on the mic. It’s just a reference, with a few points. But you won’t need any more, because you’re points and stories and examples and jokes are already ingrained into your brain. You know them all intimately. So, if you start to get off track, it just takes a quick look at the outline to bring you back.

Simple. Right?

Give it a try if you’re struggling to stay on point, but don’t want to resort to reading from a teleprompter or script. Let me know how you like it! 🙂