Lesson 1 of 4 · 5 min
Delivery versus voice
You can separate who is speaking from how they are speaking, and steer each.
When a read comes back wrong, people usually change the voice. Most of the time the voice was fine and the delivery was not directed.
Steps
- Pick a voice that fits the audience, then stop adjusting it.
- Direct the delivery separately: pace, energy, where the emphasis falls.
- Mark the pauses in the script itself, because pauses do more than pace.
- Change one of the two at a time so you learn which was at fault.
How to direct
Write the direction the way you would tell a person. "Slow down on the second sentence, and land hard on the last three words" is actionable. "More engaging" is not.
What to watch for
Reads that are too energetic are more common than reads that are too flat, and they are the ones that sound like advertising. Aim slightly calmer than feels right.