Script Tips Compilation

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Holdcom Script Tips Greatest Hits

A resource for writing audio marketing scripts


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Holdcom Script Tips Greatest Hits | A resource for writing audio marketing scripts

Holdcom |www.holdcom.com| 800.666.6465 |[email protected]

Table of Contents

Introduction.3

Brainstorming4

Message On Hold Tips........5

IVR System Tips.....8

eLearning Tips.10

Proofreading Tips..11

Examples.12

Conclusion..14
http://www.holdcom.com/http://www.holdcom.com/http://www.holdcom.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.holdcom.com/


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Introduction

Every month our newsletter features a writing tip directly from our Scriptwriting

Department. These tips are designed to give you the tools to write the best audio

marketing scripts possible. By using these tips, you will be able to find success in writing

for every part of your audio marketing - from brainstorming to proofreading, and everystep in between. From common grammatical errors to IVR-specific issues, these

suggestions can help you create a successful script for call processing and Message On

Hold.

These tips will help you:

Write cohesive, concise messages for your customers Make sure your script is written appropriately for voice talent to read Proofread with confidence for the best final product

This white paper will take you through the complete arc of development for writing an

audio marketing script.


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Brainstorming

Before you sit down to write, its always a good idea to have a plan of what you want to

express. Youll want to have a least one other person to help you brainstorm, if possible.

Youll also want paper, a whiteboard, a laptop, or some other way to record your ideas.

Remember, when youre brainstorming, write everything down. Theres no such thing as abad idea, and even if you dont use every idea this time, you might revise them in the future.

For audio marketing scripts, here are some thoughts to organize:

Message On Hold

- Make a list of upcoming events, tradeshows, and company news- Look at your Twitter and Facebook posts. Often, the things you are sharing in the

social mediasphere are great material for your Message On Hold

- Come up with some of your most frequently asked questions- Decide what you want the tone of your on hold marketing to beare you

authoritative, entertaining, compassionate?

- Find out how long your customers are put on hold, so youcan properly time your program once its written.

IVR Announcements

- Make a list of all the departments and employees you willmention in your voice prompts. This way, you wont forget

anyone

- Ask everyone to provide a phonetic pronunciation of theirname.

- List the most frequently dialed extensions, so you can place them first in yourprompts.

General Tips

- Decide the objective of your messaging before you start writing. Keeping this inmind will allow you to have a clear message.

- Record all of your ideas so you can reference them later.- Dont judge any ideas during brainstorming.- If you are working with a group, make sure everyone can see all of the ideas that

have been said. Using a whiteboard or computer projector are great ways to keep

everyone informed.

HoldcomsProgram Development Formcan help you organize your thoughts for creating

audio programming.

When youre

brainstorming, its

important to write

down every idea

you have.
http://www.holdcom.com/http://www.holdcom.com/http://www.holdcom.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.holdcom.com/clientsonly/progdev.shtmlhttp://www.holdcom.com/clientsonly/progdev.shtmlhttp://www.holdcom.com/clientsonly/progdev.shtmlhttp://www.holdcom.com/clientsonly/progdev.shtmlmailto:[email protected]://www.holdcom.com/


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Tips for Message On Hold

Word Choice

- Is/Are : Often, clients will mention their staff throughout their Message-On-Holdprogram. When referring to staff, choosing is or are can be tricky, although

both verbs can be correct for different reasons:

IS: "Our staffis very helpful."

In this context, the word "staff" is seen as a collective unit. Therefore, the

noun/verb agreement between "staff" and "is" is correct.

ARE: "Our staffare very helpful."

This context is emphasizing that the staff is comprised of separate

individuals. The sentence is technically correct, as you are talking about thestaff as a group that is not unified. Another example of this would be, The

committee are arguing about the permits. Although these sentences are

grammatically correct, they usually sound awkward. A better option might

be, "Our staffmembers are very helpful."

- Economic/Economical: The word economy has been all over the medianowadays, but if youre planning on mentioning the wordor a similar form of it in

your upcoming Message On-Hold programbe certain to do so in the correct

reference:

Something is economical if it saves you money: This fuel-efficient car is veryeconomical

If you are specifically talking about the subject of Economics, then you would

use economic as the adjective: The decisions made by the committee had a

major economic impact on the entire community

- Advance/Advanced In regard to advance versus advanced, which is correct inthe following examples?

Advance notice or Advanced notice?

Advance preparation or Advanced preparation?

If you chose advance for instances such as these, then youre correct!

The word advanced has nothing to do with preceding anything. It should be used

when referring to something that is complex or sophisticated. For example:

Advanced medical technology.

- When in doubt, consult the dictionary (see proofreading, page 11)


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Pronunciation

Many common words can have various pronunciation (e.g. data, route, associates).

The same is true for many proper nouns (e.g. Caribbean, Oregon).

If you are writing a Message On Hold script, request thepronunciation option that your callers will be most familiar

with. This often depends upon the demographic of your

callers or the location of your facility. For example, if most

of your callers refer to Route 6 as root six (instead of

rowt six), youll want to make sure the voice talent in

your Message On Hold program says, Root six.

Remember, callers can get confused or distracted from the mission at hand when

hearing words pronounced in a manner that is foreign to them. As a script writer,

your job is to make your Message On Hold script informative, appealing, and

relevant to your customers.

Content

- Know your CallersYour callers are the audience for your Message On Hold, and your on hold marketing

campaigns should reflect their interests. Your script should be tailored around what

your customers ask you for frequently and what they really want to know.

- Less is moreWhen creating a Message-On-Hold script, remember that less is more. Dont

bombard your callers with too much information. Since you want your callers to

fully digest the ideas youre presenting, the paragraphs of your script should be

concise to provide an effective flow.

Also, keep your language straightforward. The main objective of a caller is to get to

their desired partys extension as quickly as possible. If your script contains

convoluted and overly wordy phrases, then it will take longer for the caller to reach

a live personand the more frustrated he or she may become. Of the following

phrases, which would help a caller reach his destination faster?

Example A) If you would like to be assisted by a member of our Customer

Service Department, press 2 to speak with the next available representative.

Example B) For the Customer Service Department, press 2.


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- Time Zones and Time ChangesA common misconception is that the phrase Eastern Standard Time (EST) is valid

all year round and that it is synonymous with the phrase Eastern Time. However,EST is in effect for only half the year; Eastern Daylight

Time (EDT) being the other half.

Specifically, it is Eastern Standard Time when

observing standard time (Winter), and Eastern

Daylight Time when observing daylight saving time

(Summer).

It is appropriate to refer to the Time Zone as Eastern

Time at any time of year, as it encompasses both EST

and EDT. This all holds true for the other US TimeZones Pacific Time, Mountain Time, and Central Time.

- JargonAvoid excessive technical terminology, especially if it risks confusing your callers. If

it is essential to include technical or relatively unfamiliar jargon in your script, be

sure to read it out loud or have someone read it to you. This will give you the best

idea, prior to production, whether or not the message is going to convey the

information in the manner you wish. If youre struggling with an awkward phrase

or something that is difficult to explain, try telling someone what you mean instead

of writing it down. This is a good way to iron out exactly what you want to say, and

it helps create a conversationaland more personaltone for your script.

Remember, your Holdcom script consultant can be a good sounding board to make

sure youre communicating information properly.

Knowing your callers

is the first step to

writing a successful

Message On Hold script.

Give them what they

want.


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Tips for IVR Announcements

- Write for the ear- Always remember that navigating through an IVR system is an aural

experience. So when drafting your script, be sure to write for the ear, not forthe eye. Your callers dont have the luxury of seeing your script laid out in

front of them when theyre listening to your various menu options, list of

departments, employee directories, et cetera. Use language that is easy for

callers to comprehend the first time they hear it, without the need to have it

repeated.

- Place extension numbers at the END of sentences ratherthan the beginning

- When a caller listens to a laundry list of menu options,he is waiting to hear a specific option. Most likely thecaller has little to no interest in the other options

being offered. Perhaps he needs the Sales

Department; perhaps he needs to speak directly with

John Smith; or perhaps he just wants to know the

companys address. The point is, once he hears his

desired option, hes then ready to hear the

corresponding extension number that hell need to

enter. By placing extension numbers before their

corresponding menu options, it makes it more difficult

for a caller to recall the exact number he needs.

GOOD EXAMPLE: For Sales & Catering, enter two-zero-one. ForAccounting, enter two-zero-two. For Public Relations or Marketing,

enter two-zero-three.

BAD EXAMPLE: Enter two-zero-one for Sales & Catering. Enter two-zero-two for Accounting. Enter two-zero-three to speak with a Public

Relations or Marketing Department staff member.

- Extension Numbers are best stated as separate digits- Lets take extension number 121 for example. Its much easier for a caller

to mentally digest such a number when its pronounced as one-two-one

and NOT one-hundred-and-twenty-one.

- Zero vs. Oh- While it may not be completely uncommon for an extension number such as

201 to be pronounced as two-oh-one, we recommend using zero in


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place of oh to rule out any risk of miscommunication. For example, if your

business handles a large volume of international callers that dont have a

complete command of the English language, oh could cause such a caller to

press the letter O rather than the 0 button on the keypad.

- SymbolsDont include unnecessary symbols in your script. Keep in mind that when

your script is recorded, your wording could be taken very literally. If you

intend to state a simple phrase such as press one, dont write it as press

#1 because it could be misinterpreted as press pound 1. Likewise, if you

simply want to say press two-zero-one but write it as press *201*, it

could be misconstrued as press star 2-0-1 star. Prompting callers to enter

unnecessary symbols could send them into IVR purgatory.

- Using the word DialWhile it may not be completely uncommon to hear a phrase such as For Sales, dial

1in an IVR menu, the word dial is heading toward obsolence for such an

application. Although many dictionaries state dial is an acceptable word when

referring to the act of pushing buttons on a phone, the word fundamentally connotes

the usage ofrotarytelephones, which we know are all but extinct. So instead ofusing dial, use either press or enter. For example:For Sales, press 1. For John

Smith, enter 3-3-3.

- Saying PleaseTheres nothing wrong with being polite, but repeating the word please

monotonously in your IVR menus can be overkill. Imagining hearing the

word please throughout a lengthy employee directory: For John, please

press 1. For Joe, please press 2. For Kim, please press 3. For Ed, please press

4etc. With all that repetition, the congeniality begins to lose its sincerity.

Our suggestion is say it once before the first direction and then simply

continue with "...press X" for the remainder of the prompt.


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Tips for Etraining and Elearning Scripts

Audio Marketing extends beyond the phone. Make your

e-training stand out and resonate more with your

audience with professional audio. Studies show adding

professional narrations to your projects will increasestickiness. If you have a training project or are thinking of

developing one, here are a few tips to help you make it

great.

- Understand your objective. Is the purpose ofyour e-training application to teach customers how

to effectively use your product or service? Are you preparing new employees to

handle typical on-the-job problems? Whatever your main objective, keep that the

focus of your script and dont veer off onto unnecessary tangents.

- Know your audience. Its important to clearly identify your audience and keepthem in mind during the script writing process. Put yourself in their shoes, anddont assume they know everything you know. Remember, youre trying to TEACH

them what you know.

- Keep it simple. Your script should be easy for a voiceover to record and easy foryour audience to understand. Remember, if you can say the same thing in five

words rather than fifteen, go with five.

- Keep it interesting. You want your audience to learn from your e-training project,not become bored by it. As a final step, read your script out loud and determine

would YOUpay attention?


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Proofreading

- Use Fresh Eyes: Whenever you are writing, its a good idea to have an extra set ofeyesor twolook over your work. Because you know what everything is

supposed to say, youre the most likely to miss small mistakes. If you dont have

someone to help you, read through everything once, then come back to it in an hour.

- Go BackwardsRead your writing backwards. Your mind will automatically glance over

things such as "You Are Formaly Invted", but if you read it backwards you

will stop on each word and notice in fact that "Formally" and "Invited" were

spelled wrong. Granted, many may catch the mistake on the original read-

through, but when you're proofing something small - and important - it

doesn't hurt to look at the content out of perspective, especially in a time

when we think Spell Checker has "got our backs."

- Print it out. When youve finished writing and editing for the first time, print out ahard copy to read. Looking at the printed word instead of the digital text will give

you a new perspective.

- Use a dictionary whenever youre not sure which word to use. Youll stop yourselffrom making mistakes and learn something in the process. Likewise, use a

thesaurus if you think your word choice is too repetitive.

- Read out loud. This might feel silly if youre alone in your office, but reading outloud makes your brain focus on each word in a different way. You will catch spelling

and grammar mistakes, plus you can tell if your sentences make sense. If someone

else is around, reading to them and having the piece read to you will facilitate the

process.

o Remember: your audio marketing script will eventually be read out loud, sothis step is crucial in ensuring that your message is clear and concise. You

have to write for the ear.


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Examples:

Message On Hold:

If your find yourself on hold at Holdcom, you might hear the following:

As part of our commitment to our clients, The Holdcom Voice - our company newsletter - is

published on a monthly basis. Each month we offer diverse articles ranging from business tipsto featured technologies, always providing a glimpse of what's new at Holdcom. If you're not

receiving our newsletter via email and would like to, email us at "Newsletter at Holdcom dot

com" or inform your Holdcom representative.

This is part of Holdcoms Message On Hold programming. The purpose here is to inform

clients aboutThe Holdcom Voice and call them to action by inviting them to receive and

read it. The message is recorded in a direct, open, and inviting tone, and shows that thecompany has businesses opportunities that go beyond providing a service.

IVR Script:

Main Menu:

"Hello and thank you for calling COMPANY X. If you know the extension of theperson you wish to reach, please enter it now."

"To speak with a representative, press zero at any time."

"For Technical Support, please press 1."

"For Billing, press 2."

"For Sales, press 3."

"For Company Information, press 4."

"To leave us a message, press 5."

"To repeat these options, press 6."

If a department is not available

"No one is available to take your call at the moment. Please leave your name,

telephone number, and a brief message, and we will return your call as soon as

possible. Thank you."

Company Information - if a caller presses 4


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"Our staff is here to serve you Monday through Friday 9 am and 6 pm, Eastern

Time. You can visit us on the Web at "w w w dot COMPANY X dot com". If you

would like to leave a message, please do so at the tone, and we will return your call

as soon as possible. Thank you."

This script works because it is carefully crafted and optimized to accomplish thegoal of an IVR System which is to convey necessaryinformation in the shortest

amount of time. These messages are successful because it follows our script writing

tips as outlined above. Its concise, informative, and callers know they can opt out

and speak to a representativeat any time.


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Conclusion

Writing can be a daunting task, but with the right tools, success is achievable. When

writing a script for audio marketing, keeping in mind the brainstorming, writing, and

proofreading tips discussed in this compilation can put you on the path to writing a

successful script.

Writing is aprocess. It takes some time to do it correctly, and the steps you take

throughout the entire script writing arc will have an impact on your finished product. By

taking the time to walk through all of the steps of the writing process, and by using these

tips, we hope you will begin your journey of effective, efficient scriptwriting.

For more information about writing effective scripts, see ourGuide to Writing Effective

Message On Hold and Telephony Scripts

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Script Tips Compilation