I read advice on a LinkedIn post last week that worried me.

He counseled that you should never write word for word in a script or on a teleprompter what you or your subject will say in a video, audio, or any other business presentation.

Great content performers, he suggested, just outline things and let the language come naturally. Scripts make people sound stiff. He argued they read the words rather than talking about the ideas. He said, “Reading scripts from a teleprompter or from a document are the sign of an amateur.”

That just isn’t true.

Now, I don’t mean to say people never sound stiff when they read a script during a video or a presentation. But just because something is true if done poorly doesn’t mean it’s still true if done well.

It all depends on the script and how it’s used as a performance tool.

Scriptwriting is a format

My first job in Los Angeles was writing and editing market research reports for local car dealerships. While I did that, I also immersed myself in writing plays and screenplays. I read as many books as I could on the craft. I took classes. I read hundreds of scripts. I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote.

Spoiler alert: It didn’t work out. I got into marketing instead.

But all that work taught me how to recognize the unique patterns, structure, and language of dialogue. Scripts are unique in the writing world because they generally are not the final art form (though, for many, I’d certainly beg to differ).

Scripts are created to be interpreted through other mediums like audio, stage, film, television, etc. In many ways, scripts serve as instructions for how to tell the story, capturing the movement, speech, and even technical directions.

The critical part is understanding that integral need for interpretation. Your script is a blueprint to help ensure that you – or those performing it – don’t lose important bits of the story and stay true to the structure, emphasis, tone, timing, and overall point of view.

As podcasting, video, and live events become an enormously important part of content strategy, scripts are a core content type. When I ask people why they don’t script their presentations, videos, etc., I often get a response similar to what I read in that LinkedIn post. They are uncomfortable with the format. They are afraid if they write out their speech, it will sound stale and unnatural.

But that doesn’t have to be true. Plenty of amazing entertainers, teachers, thought leaders, and others use scripts. They print them or use teleprompters. They use the script as a key tool in their storytelling.

Let’s look at three secrets I’ve found helpful in thinking about scripting a performance.

Secret 1: Great grammar doesn’t get extra points

Only you (or the presenter) need to see your script. Writing for speaking versus writing for reading is different. Because of my background as a screenwriter, I am more comfortable with the former. Ask any of the amazing editors at Content Marketing Institute who have had the misfortune of having to edit my prose. They will tell you that my sentence structure and my punctuation are, well, “creative.” But, if you read my raw writing out loud, it tends to sound OK.

But that differentiation is why people have challenges performing their scripts. They believe writing down the words for their speaking locks them into a style that sounds overly formal and stilted (and it certainly can).

A critical difference exists between how you speak dialogue naturally and create text that people will read. As speakers, you repeat yourself. You speak in run-on and fragmented sentences. You use pause and filler words that have no place in good writing but add emotional context – and all of these can make a great script funny or dramatic or emphasize a point.

Pay attention to the two examples below from former President Barack Obama. In both, he uses a script. In one, he uses the paper on the podium. In the other, he uses a teleprompter. However, the scenarios are not the same. While both are written for him to speak, differences exist based on the context.

The first video is from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – known for its humorous speeches – where President Obama uses notes.

In the second video, he uses a teleprompter to deliver the final speech of his presidential tenure.

Pay attention in the second video to his use of the phrase, “If I’d told you …” He uses it to set up a list of nine accomplishments in his administration. But he also uses it to set up the end of the speech.

If this text was written for publication, it might be read like this: “If I had informed you that,” followed by nine bullets listing the accomplishments.

But the script uses the casual phrase, “If I’d told you.” It repeats it four times to set up the punch line: “If I had told you all that, you might have said our sights were set a little too high. But we did it.”

Great scripts help the speaker – the interpreter of the story – use words, emphasis, and pauses to amplify important elements in the performance.

Does that mean you should write out the verbal pauses or “ums” in your script? Maybe. It all depends on who you’re writing it for. If it helps the speaker amplify an element you created as part of the experience, then absolutely include them.

Does this mean you have two versions of whatever you’re working on?  Yes. 

Consider the opening lines of the CMI news video from last week. Here’s my script:

Soooo … last week McKinsey – you know – the global consultancy firm – released the results of a new survey of about 100 people in C level growth roles – from CMO’s to Chief Growth Officers, Chief Customer Officers etcetera, and also a whole 21 CEOs from B2b and B2c companies of all sizes and across industries.

Now … uh … if that sounds like too small a sample size to really make quantitative decisions about – well … anything …  Yeah, you’d be right …

That is decidedly different than the article that accompanies the video – which you can check out here.

Does your CEO understand marketing?

They probably think they do, but they probably don’t, according to your CMO.

Who’s right?

New McKinsey research finds despite their agreement that strong marketing equals business growth, their understanding of marketing stands as divided as ever.

And that brings me to my second secret.

Secret 2: Find the stories within the story