One of the biggest benefits of reading from a script is that nobody, other than you, can actually see the script. That means you should feel free to mark it up however you’d like.

If you want to give a word more emphasis, put it in all caps or make it bold. If you speak too fast and you need to figure out some places to pause, use ellipses or dashes to remind you to slow down. You can even write the words “slow-down” on your script, just make sure you don’t say them out loud.

If you need to write out a word or a name phonetically, I highly recommend doing that. It’s an awful feeling to mispronounce a word or a person’s name. Even if you know how to pronounce an unusually spelled name, in the heat of the moment when you’re reading your script you may incorrectly pronounce it as it’s spelled. Write it phonetically to ensure this doesn’t happen.

The point is, you’re the only person who will see your script so you can put whatever you want on there! So, help yourself out with written cues. It will be our little secret.

If you’d like to learn more about becoming a more powerful public speaker, just reach out to me here.

Have a great day!

Dave