Second Cup: Write for the ear

Make your writing better by reading it out loud

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to write for the ear. If you assume
that whatever you write will be read out loud, and

(00:25):
you structure your writing to make that possible, your writing
will be more compelling and clear. This week, I'm sharing
several of my favorite writing tips. Whether you write for
a living or not, you may have to write reports
or emails or articles for industry publications. Certain tactics can

(00:46):
make all writing better. When I write these podcast scripts,
I am obviously writing them to be read out loud.
That is the whole point of a podcast script. But
even writing that isn't designed to be recorded benefits from
approaching it as if it would be. That's because of

(01:08):
how people actually process written language. Many years ago, an
editor told me almost in passing, that when people read
things silently, they are actually saying them in their heads.
As a result, writing that sounds better to the ear

(01:28):
reads better even if you never actually hear it. When
I write these scripts, I practice reading them out loud.
When I do, I immediately see things that need to
be edited. Sometimes sentences are too long, they need to
be broken up so I can get through them without

(01:49):
gasping for breath. Sometimes sentences are all the same length,
too many long sentences, or for that matter, too many
short sentences in a row boring. Finally, certain words and
sentence structures sound stronger than others. It turns out that
ending a sentence on a solid one syllable word generally

(02:12):
feels more satisfying than ending it on a long one.
So rather than writing being clear and compelling, you want
it to be compelling and clear. Some of this becomes
habit over time. If you want an example of what
good spoken language sounds like, try listening to a really

(02:33):
good preacher. These people often have it down because they're
talking to crowds many times a week. But even in
the absence of that, if you simply commit to reading
your own writing out loud before you publish it or
hit send, you will likely spot problems. You will see

(02:55):
that some words sound better than others, you will see
where you are gasping for breath, and you'll break things
up that will help readers be able to make it
through your writing too. Now, I know that most of
us don't do this with casual writings such as emails.
But imagine if we did reading email would feel more pleasurable,

(03:19):
and thus we'd be able to get our points across
and maybe we'd send fewer emails. That wouldn't be a
bad thing at all. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

(03:46):
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then
Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at
Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That before Breakfast

(04:07):
is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.