How Fast Should You Speak When Reading a Script on Camera?

Chris Schwager

Reading Fast and Furious, how to keep your audience hooked. Are you struggling to keep your audience's attention when reading from a script on camera? Well, despite what you might think, reading Fast could be the solution. When you read fast, you actually help your audience to connect the dots and hear your message better. See? People can understand what you're saying much quicker than you might think. So if you want to keep your audience engaged, you gotta bring some energy, baby, and speed to the game.

[00:00:33] I'm your host, Chris Schwager. So why would you read Fast? Why read Fast? Oh, as a presenter, and trainer myself I've seen firsthand how most people struggle to read their scripts for the first time. Comes across very robotic and very slow. I always talk about it much like my daughter who's nine. It's, it's pretty much the same thing, you know, lacks punctuation, lacks tone, lacks speed, lacks energy. Lack, lack, lack, right? But when you present your message like you're at a barbecue with a conversational and a casual tone, your audience will hear you, hear you clearly and understand you faster than you can read it. Your audience can decipher what you're saying faster than you can deliver. Their brain is a lot quicker than what you can get, uh, out of your mouth, and it's hard. Sometimes to read through all that bone while smiling at the same time. It's, it can be difficult and it needs, you need to exercise your brain a little bit so that you're consciously adding that as you go as well.

[00:01:36] But, uh, as easy as that may be for me, there are some common mistakes other people make when reading fast that could hinder effective communication, and that's what this is really all about. So what are the common challenges people are faced with when they read on camera?

[00:01:55] Well, number one, people get tongue tied sometimes. Um. When you are trying to read too quickly, it's easy to trip over your words. You know, it's funny people so say, oh, can we, you know, be in our sh on a shoot and they'll be like, oh, can we just change that word? Keep getting tongue-tied on it. It's like, no, because we're not here to script, we're here to present. Right? I'm very, uh, uh, directorial in that way. If you ever land on one of my sets, this is how I roll, right? But you can slow it down and by slowing it down will be easier to get over that little hump that you're struggling with, and the audience will not know any different. Now, this is a faster point of execution here because you don't wanna go back into script mode. You just wanna keep moving through. You wanna keep that momentum when you're shooting. So, um, so just slow it down. It's kind of like, you know, mid theatrical play. You know, if you slow something out, nobody's going to go, oh, why are they speaking so slowly? Unless you do it for a prolonged period of time.

[00:02:55] Uh, so two, there's a lack of intonation. When people read, people read too fast. When they do that, it can be difficult to add intonation to your voice, which can make your presentation sound monotonous and boring. It doesn't happen, as much as the slow thing, people reading very slowly, but sometimes they can try and race and yeah, they, they're just, their brain is overactive. In fact, I had one of the guys that was here recently with dyslexia was, had a problem with that and his main error point was because he was reading so quickly just, error weight-- error rate was high, really, really high. He wasn't getting anything out clear. He was missing all his diction. He was missing everything.

[00:03:39] And the error weight rate was, I keep saying error weight. Error rate was so high, he'd get quite frustrated and he'd apologize. So these aren't good habits, you know, and so getting some breathing in there and getting some momentum is vital.

[00:03:53] Number three on my little list here, people tend to lose their place when reading from a script on a teleprompter. It's easy to get lost in the words and lose your your place and can cause you to stumble or lose your flow. Again, I think that's really more about reading than it is presenting. I think sometimes people, you know, maybe say 30% of people that come through the studio, you know, really require some reading out loud practice. You know, it is pretty uncommon for adults to read out loud a lot. Right? And they just need to practice it more. And, uh, they'll, they'll get a lot better.

[00:04:28] So number four and final. People get unnerved. Reading fast on camera can be nerve-wracking. Well, I think that's part of the process. Um, and especially if you're not used to being in front of the camera. I think if you are going through training, I think unnerving, um, being out of your comfort zone, unsettled, I think these are all part of wiring the brain to feel, um, to reframe what is unusual and, and, you know, weird for you and reframing it so that it becomes the norm much like what I'm doing right now. I've always got lights and camera and things always coming at me. I've gotta really focus on what I'm saying, what's coming outta my mouth, and also what my facial expressions are doing at the same time. These are real priorities in the content delivery. Um, Part of the way I present.

[00:05:17] So how do you overcome these challenges? Well, here a few tips. One, practice. Practice, practice. Look, I absolutely a hundred percent agree. You gotta practice. Okay. I think it's valid to practice with someone who's an expert as well. I think that's really important so that you're not just trying to practice bad habits, um, don't practice in front of a mirror.

[00:05:36] I think that's a bad habit. I don't think that really helps. I think you've got too much to focus on. Um, I think what you wanna be doing is trying to practice a take. Okay. Um, going back, assessing one thing outta that take that is, that could be better. So smiling for, for instance, and doing it again, but then focusing their next take on smiling, playing it back.

[00:05:58] Did you smile enough? Yes or no? If no, do it again. Do it again. Do it again, right? If, yes. Cool. Let's move on to something else. Okay. So how about, uh, eye contact, for instance? All right, so now you've gotta do smiling and you've gotta do eye contact at the same time. And repeating that process. And that's a great way to practice doing one thing at a time, not trying to do everything and getting flustered and muddled up. Um, there's, that's not good for anybody and you can burn a lot of hours going through and, uh, trying to get better in that way, which I think is a waste of time. You can do this by reading news articles, books, or other written material out loud. It's always gonna help. Number two, use vocal warmups. Doing vocal warmups before recording can help you articulate your words better and prevent tongue tied moments, especially if you're starting in the morning. Say it's an eight o'clock start and or you're gonna fire off some videos. Yeah, why don't you, you don't have to be la la, la, la, la la, la, right? Vocal warmups, but just talk a bit, just clear the throat. You know, if you're like me, you might get a little bit of phlegm in the throat and you just need to kind of clear that out and get, uh, those vocal chords working a little bit, then that's a great, great exercise. So therefore, your first take is ready to go. You're all nice and warm.

[00:07:09] Number three. Balance your pacing. Find the rhythm in reading fast and slow. Read slow to put emphasis on value. Put emphasis on value, much like what I've just done and read fast on factual based content. Read fast on factual based content just like I've done there.

[00:07:29] Nice and quick. Rip it, let it rip, get it out, right? Particularly on things like, who are you? What do you do? Right? So lot, lot's. The time that people stress the importance of, hi, I'm Chris Schwager from Ridge Films, and I'm in this and I'm that. Nobody gives a shit, really, you know, it's you care, but n the audience arguably doesn't really care, so therefore, get it out quick.

[00:07:49] Good day. I'm Rich. I'm Chris here from Ridge Films. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I'm gonna b blah, blah, blah, and I'm gonna give you value, value, value, right? And you slow those points down so people really hear what, what's in it for them. Okay? So highlighting your script with color, uh, or bold fonts can help you keep your place while reading. So, They're really great visual guides as you go.

[00:08:11] Number four, record yourself. As I said, recording yourself while practicing, can help you identify areas where you need improvements. Just keep it simple, okay? Don't overwhelm yourself. Just get one thing right at a time.

[00:08:23] And five, take breaks. If you start to feel nervous or overwhelmed, take a short break, get out, put your feet on the ground, get some fresh air. Look out into the horizon. Uh, you know, you gotta, you gotta take break. You gotta get outta that environment just for a minute and reset yourself and come back in. And you'll always have a better start as well. You'll have a fresher, clearer mind, uh, to come back in and get a new perspective.

[00:08:48] Remember, reading fast is not about rushing through your words or sacrificing clarity for speed. It's about finding the right balance between pace, intonation, and clarity to keep your audience engaged and attentive. With some practice and the right techniques you can present effectively and confidently on camera so the next time you, or you are in front of a lens, don't be afraid to pick up the pace and give your message the energy enthusiasm it deserves.

[00:09:17] That's a nice little script, Christine. Well done. If you're struggling to read on camera and need expert feedback, our team of experts is here to help. We offer personalized coaching by the way and guidance to help you present like a pro.

[00:09:30] If you need that, then contact us to learn more. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more valuable Video Made Simple ideas. Thanks for listening. That's all for this episode. Thanks for listening. Again, let's remove the rep repetitious. Thanks for listening, Christine, how about that. And see you next week.

[00:09:46] Bye-bye.