Special offer
Restarting your business? Need some help with your pitching script – or a short sales video?
Then email me with your details and I’ll give you an hour’s free consultation. Just fill in the contact form below…
Scriptwriting – writing for the spoken word, and in particular for video and audiovisual media – is quite unlike any other form of writing.
Firstly, it’s meant to be heard, and understood, without the words being available to read. (And that holds true even if you use subtitles.)
Secondly – if it’s a video – then images and captions are ‘sharing the load’. Which you seriously need to take into account.
And thirdly – especially these days – your script needs to be short, sharp, and absolutely to the point. Because you’ll usually have two minutes – or less – to make that point.
So if you’d like a little help – please get in touch!
Book a consultation here
Download a seminar!
Recently I ran a Zoom seminar about the basics of successful scriptwriting. For a small fee you can now download a recording of it from the Stowmarket Chamber website.
Our top scriptwriting tips…
Interviews – and asking the right questions…
Interviews for video aren't exactly like the ones you see on the news. It's true that you're after the same thing as a news reporter - namely the story. But there the resemblance pretty much ends. Because it's your job to make interviewees look good on camera. Even if...
Public speaking for beginners
What scares you? In fact, what scares you the most? How about death? Scary enough? Failure. Does that worry you? Then, of course, there's pain. No one loves pain. But in a well-known survey... ...one fear topped them all. The fear of public speaking. And death? That...
Talking the talk – writing for the spoken word
We don't speak in the same way that we write. So if you're writing something that's going to be read aloud, you need to think a little differently. Short sentences. Ungrammatical constructions. (Or, at least, not strictly grammatical.) Careful word choice. (No...
Video? Let the pictures do the talking
Video is a visual medium. Yes? Well, obviously. But in my experience many senior executives have a serious problem understanding that. And I say that after spending around thirty years of my life as a visual scriptwriter... 'The CEO just wants to add his input...'...
Medalling with English – making jargon work for you
Despite the appearance of Christmas trees on the TV sofa adverts, it seems only a hop, skip and jump in time since we were enthralled by the Olympics and Paralympics in Rio. And it wasn’t just medals that got the media buzzing, but medalling. We all know that a medal...
Engaging a short attention span – are you with me so far?
If today’s readers have a shorter attention span than a mayfly, how can you keep them interested without them becoming daunted or, worse, plain bored?
Sell? No, I’d rather talk about myself…
Earlier this year I was in Turkey, on a rather unusual trip into the heart of Anatolia, billed as a journey ‘in the footsteps of St Paul’. It didn’t quite live up to the billing… and occasionally demonstrated – very clearly – how wrong you can go with a hard sell.
Why you need to be a storyteller
To write successful marketing copy you need to be a storyteller. More importantly, you need to be a GOOD storyteller. The only question is how you do it…
The Blish model – how YOU can write perfect marketing copy..
I was shown the ‘Blish model’ when I was 19. I’ve used it ever since – and won awards, video and book contracts, and copywriting gigs with top UK companies. Now I’m sharing it – to help you write the perfect newsletter…
The art of engagement (and five ways to achieve it)
Engagement? OK – I’m not asking you to get down on one knee and propose to your clients, but I am asking you to think about them as people, rather than names on a list or numbers on a chart.