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Radio Scripts

If you plan to produce a radio script, you need to think about who to put into your discussion/interview.  Will you use ‘big names’?  Some people think it’s fun to have Lakoff arguing the toss with Goodman, for example.  However, it may be less daunting (and more realistic) to script comments for unknown/invented presenters who’ll quote and paraphrase the real names.  The golden rules are to forget about things like phone-ins and adverts and jingles, and just write the bit you are asked to.  It should NOT look like a transcript, you don’t need to put in hesitations, false starts etc.  Just make sure you write things that people can actually say.  For example, thinking of the genderlect example from an old Unit 6 paper, it doesn’t work to have:

Clare: I think that it is not true that women hesitate more than men.             Rather, men and women both hesitate.

This doesn’t sound like speech at all.  A better rendering would be:

Clare: I don’t think women hesitate more than men.  That doesn’t seem           true to me, men and women both hesitate, I think,

Remember that in a scripted broadcast, ideas will need repeating to help the audience absorb them.  As with any task for this unit, you must also ensure that you use language which is suitable for a wide audience - no unexplained technical terms, please.