[MUSIC] Hi, so now you're preparing a script and recording the audio. In this lesson, we will give you some pointers on how prepare your script, so that your audio recording sounds interesting and natural. The first thing to remember is, that your audience won't necessarily be able to tell you to slow down or ask any questions. So, you need to make sure that you speak clearly and slowly in your presentation video and to pause between passing information. One good way to achieve this is, to prepare your script with pauses before your go in. Chunking is a method from pronunciation training that can help you plan the way that you will speak. When we chunk a piece of text, we add pauses and indicate where stress falls. We do this, so we don't end up sounding like a robot when we read out the script. Let's use an example. Take the short paragraph I just read. The first thing we need to do is, look at each section of your script and identify where to put the pauses. Usually, pauses in speech occur between clauses, sentences, or sections. To do this, we put one backslash between clauses. Two backslashes between sentences, and three backslash between sections of your talk. The number of backslashes corresponds to the length of the pause. That is, you will pause for a short time between clauses. for a longer time between sentences, and for the longest time between sections. Take this example. This one is easy, because it is just one section. I am going to indicate sections by putting three back slashes before and after the sections like so. Next, we mark out the sentences with two back slashes. This is relatively easy, because we just need to find the full stops. Lastly, we need to put a single back slash between clauses. Put simply, clauses are a group of related words that contain a verb. Here, I've highlighted some of the main verbs in this text. When we put in a pause, we try and keep all of the bits of information that belong together in the same group. Commas are obvious places to put pauses, like in the third sentence, but others can be a bit tricky. However, if you're struggling, just put a pause in and then exaggerate it when you read it out. If it sounds funny It doesn't belong there. If it just sounds like you're taking a deep breath, that's fine. Take this example. These are our verbs and let's add in some pauses. >> One good way to achieve this is, to prepare your script with pauses before you go in. >> When I read this out, adding pauses as they are here, they sound really odd. However, if I look at what the sentence is saying, I can see it has two different parts. It's telling me a good way to achieve something and also telling me how to do that, so let's move around my pauses a little. >> One good way to achieve this is, to prepare your script with pauses before you go in. >> Okay, that sounds a little better, but the last part of the sentence is still hard to say. I need to add somewhere to breathe, but where? If I look at the information in the second part of the sentence, I can see two bits of information again. One, that I should prepare the script with pauses and two, that I should do it before I go in. If I add a pause here, it allows me to breathe and breaks up the information for my audience. How does it sound to you? >> One good way to achieve this is to prepare your script with pauses before you go in. >> Here's how we would break up the whole paragraph. If you want to take a closer look, just pause the video. Of course, it still sounds a little unnatural. That's because I'm not stressing any words. Stressing words makes our speech sound more natural, and it also tells the audience what words are important. So within the chunks, we need to identify these stressed syllables. Stressed syllables are just the words or parts of words that you need to say with more stress. That is, louder or slower, or more clearly than the other parts of the clause. Take the following sentence, without adding the pauses, it sounds like this. >> When we chunk a piece of text, we add pauses and indicate where the stress falls. >> When we add in the pauses, it sounds like this. >> When we chunk a piece of text, we add pauses and indicate where the stress falls. >> Finally though, when we add stress to the k words, it sounds more like this >> When we chunk a piece of text, we add pauses and indicate where the stress falls. Here the words we have stressed are chunk, pauses and stress falls. These are the key words and tell the audience what they should pay attention to. Stressing different words in a clause will shift the meaning of what you want to say. So, play around with what words and syllables you stress and see what sounds right to you. The more you do it, the more natural it will feel and the easier and quicker it becomes. Finally, practice reading your script through and then, practice it again. And I don't mean mumble it under your breath, while you stare at your computer screen. Speak loudly and clearly even when you're just practicing it. When you feel ready, record the narrative audio. It is possible to remove some pauses and um's during the editing process, but you want to create the best recordings possible. Play it back to yourself. Compare it to some of the examples and identify any of the parts that are difficult to understand. You can get a friend to listen and give feedback and then re-record sections if necessary and lastly, have fun. Good luck with creating the video and we hope this is the beginning or middle of a fantastic academic career. [MUSIC]
