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.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good Morning, This is Laura.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
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 you structure your
writing to make that possible, your writing will be more
compelling and clear. This week, I'm sharing several of my

(00:35):
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 make all writing better.
When I write these podcast scripts, I am obviously writing
them to be read out loud. That is the whole

(00:55):
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 how people actually process
written language. Many years ago, an editor told me almost
in passing, that when people read things silently, they are

(01:20):
actually saying them in their heads. As a result, writing
that sounds better to the ear 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

(01:43):
are too long, they need to be broken up so
I can get through them without gasping for breath. Sometimes
sentences are all the same length, too many long sentences,
or for that matter, too many short sentences in.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
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 feels more satisfying
than ending it on a long one. So rather than
writing being clear and compelling, you want it to be

(02:22):
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 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,

(02:44):
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 that some words sound
better than others, you will see where you are gasping
from breath, and you'll break things up that will help
readers be able to make it through your writing too. Now,

(03:08):
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, 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.

(03:29):
In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
here's to making the most of our time.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. 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 the number four than Breakfast pod.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled

(04:07):
out with all the letters.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Thanks so much.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
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.