As one of PH Audio’s dedicated audio producers, Mark Griffiths spends his days making client productions sound the way they should. But by night, he’s a hugely talented scriptwriter and novelist – and for his efforts he recently landed a publishing deal for his debut novel with Simon & Schuster.

In this post, Matt catches up with Mark to learn about the book and find out how he’s juggled the sound of words with writing them.

Hi Mark! Big congratulations on the book deal. We’re all looking forward to robbing your champagne and canapés. Can you tell us what the book’s all about?

Well, the book’s a science fiction comedy for children of about seven or eight and upwards. It’s called Space Lizards Stole My Brain! and it’s about an ordinary school boy who becomes possessed with the mind of an alien lizard warlord.  It’s autobiographical, obviously.

It sounds pretty unhinged – in a good way – and perfect for the age group. But over the years, you’ve also written comedy and drama for radio, TV and stage. Tell us a bit about how you’ve come to writing for children.

I know exactly the kind of stuff I can do, the jokes I can do, and the stories I can tell. I have a lot of quite bizarre, wacky ideas, and children’s fiction seems the best format for a lot of those ideas.

You also have experience as a copywriter, too. As a copywriter myself, I’m interested to know whether writing adverts and producing them has had any impact on the way you write fiction.

I suppose my background’s in radio production and copywriting. I’ve worked for a couple of radio stations around the North West as a copywriter and producer of radio commercials. And throughout that time I was also writing freelance, working on sketches, pilot shows for BBC radio and TV, so there’s a crossover there.

Do you think there’s a key component to writing successfully across lots of formats?

I think the techniques of good writing apply across all types of writing, whether that’s an on-hold script, a stage play or TV stuff. For copywriting, you know it’s important to remove unnecessary words, keep the voice active, use interesting verbs. These are crucial skills in copywriting, and they transfer really well to script writing or novel writing. The skills you use in writing copy for our clients, you’d draw on those writing anything else.

Have you found it tricky to write a novel while doing a full-time job?

Well, I’ve had busy break times and lunch times! It’s good to have a little project to do in your spare time. I think it’s all about self-discipline, as you’ll know as a writer yourself. You get into a habit of doing a certain amount a day. While I was writing this one, I’d say to myself , “try and write a thousand words a day”.

And have you any tips for the aspiring novelist?

For me, it was a textbook case of using the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook – in my case specifically, the version for children’s writers. You write the novel, you send the first three chapters to a variety of agents, and you hope for the best. I sent it to around 25 in total, and was honest about multiple submissions. It’s not only good manners to do that, but it means that if there’s interest they might get back to you quicker!

Well, we’re all glad they did. Thanks for chatting, Mark!

SPACE LIZARDS STOLE MY BRAIN! will be published by Simon & Schuster in January 2012

Photo credit: Kevin H @ Flickr

You’ve no doubt heard it before – when it comes to promoting your business, place your main focus on the benefits (not the features) of your product or service. But this advice so often gets overlooked.

After pouring hard work, creativity and countless resources into your business, you deserve to sing its praises. But without a meaningful connection and a tangible list of benefits that separate you from your competitors, phrases like “our service is really friendly” just won’t get the results you want.

Now, I know that when you said “We’ve doubled our profits in the last year, because we are the best at what we do,” you really thought your customers would care. But think about it. Why would I be interested in how much profit you’ve made, when what really impresses me is your next-day delivery service on the products I need, at a much cheaper price than the manufacturer?

When you try to sell the features of your product, your customer has to do all the work to figure out why they want it. It’s in the seller’s best interest to draw the connection for them. But to do that, you have to know the results yourself.

Identifying the benefits

Of course, it’s easy for a copywriter to instantly identify the unique selling points and benefits of the business they’re writing for. But if you’re not used to tackling your own business copy for brochures or e-shots for example, see if these simple steps won’t give you inspiration (examples in brackets refer to an audio marketing service):

1. List the features of each product or service (E.g. bespoke audio productions; professional scriptwriting; cutting-edge remote access technology)

2. Next, think of and try to identify your customers’ needs and desires. (Finding affordable ways to promote their business; improve their brand; increase revenue)

3. Then, ask yourself why your customers should care about your product’s features. (Enhances corporate image; reduces caller ‘hang ups’; improves client retention)

4. Once you’ve identified the key, say five or ten benefits of your service – focus your marketing content (your website, leaflets etc) around them.

Brian Clark, founding editor of Copyblogger, and co-founder of Teaching Sells and Lateral Action, says: “Look, if you own a company and you want to market based on your personal preferences without regard for what works best with your prospects, that’s your prerogative. As long as you accept personal responsibility for lower revenues and profits when you miss the mark, no one can say a thing.”

And we tend to agree. When we approach our customers’ On-Hold Marketing scripts, we write for the intended listener, always aiming to find a happy split between benefits and features. Work that method into the rest of your marketing literature and you’re on to a giant WIN.

If you’d like advice on how to ensure your On-Hold Marketing production is benefit-led, feel free to drop us a line.

Hold messages have a bad rep in some quarters. When you listen to the worst examples of music on hold, you can see why.

Sound quality. Music choice. Voice choice. All of these things can make or break an on-hold experience. But something that’s sometimes overlooked is the script. And more specifically, clichés.

In this post, we’re looking at how an overused phrase with good intentions can actually have the wrong effect.

Heard that before?

Clichés are the phrases we know and often hate. They’re the phrases that run a fine line between functional (everybody understands them) and irritating (nobody wants to hear them).

Clichés started out as great phrases that turned hackneyed when everybody started using them. They fast become cheesy, too. Like bad jokes, the worst clichés make you groan and wince.

And if you think of being on hold – of all the times you’ve ever tapped your foot to some anonymous lounge jazz – you’ll be able think of one in particular:

Your call is important to us.

Are you sure it is?

See, the company you’re calling is passionate about customer service. They want to reassure you and keep your business. After all, that’s why they’ve installed hold messages to start with: your call IS important. But because the company’s heard so many hold messages before – and because they think it’s the done thing – they’ll request that their script says:

Your call’s important to us.

And you think, hearing that cliché, that cheese; a phrase that’s well-intentioned but kind of hollow, Well, it can’t be that important.

So at PH Audio, our scriptwriters have found better ways to say it.

Sounding sincere is crucial

You know when you apologise to someone, and they want actions, not words? It’s the same on hold. A company can say sorry all they like, but if you’re waiting on hold for twenty minutes, it’s probably not an apology you want – it’s an operator.

That’s why it’s a good idea to avoid the cheese. Take out the fluff and the stuff your callers have heard a million times over from a million other companies.

Instead of making a call a negative experience, make it a positive one. Tell your callers what you can do for them. Speak to your callers in a way they’ll appreciate. Talk to your callers about things you know will benefit them.

In clichéd terms, add more value to the time your callers are on hold. That way, they’ll know their call really is important.

You’ve heard it all before:

We need blue-sky thinking. I’m talking about pushing the envelope, going forward, let’s touch base soon.

Translation: corporate waffle that, in reality, could be said in half the words. Just another way to say, “We need big ideas, so give me a call”.

Anyone who watched Heston Blumenthal’s attempt to resurrect Little Chef last year will no doubt remember the chief executive’s constant wittering about ‘blue-sky thinking’. The phrase alone is irritating, but when used in the context of menus and motorway services, it simply became absurd. You can watch the evidence here.

Finished cringeing?

Well, in this post, we’re looking at why these kind of phrases have no place in external communications.

Business lingo is a customer no-go

Between the walls of many boardrooms, words and phrases like ‘goal-orientated’, ‘user-centric’, ‘facilitate’, ‘streamlining’, ‘the bigger picture’, ‘bring to the party’ and ‘out of the loop’ may all have their place.

But even internally, these over-used phrases are gently ridiculed in popular workplace games like buzzword bingo.

And while these internal business languages might be common in the confines of the workplace, externally they can often alienate their intended audiences by jumbling important messages.

Consider many of today’s most successful advertising campaigns and the language they use. The most effective use direct language and are simple to digest — like Dixons’ memorable campaign from last year. The point is that when it comes to copywriting and, in particular, audio copywriting for radio or on-hold messages, it’s essential to keep it clear and concise. There’s no room for ambiguity.

Original content is king

Another key point is to remember that when phrases become over-used, they lose their impact and in many cases, their sincerity. Continually reminding callers how much you appreciate their patience is far less effective than giving them interesting facts or information that will engage them (and most importantly, help them forget they’re waiting).

Speak a familiar language

Every business has its own way of saying things to reach an intended audience, and it’s never more important to think of your audience than when writing for audio. Tool hire businesses, for example, won’t want a stiff, corporate message to greet their callers. Instead, their script should contain enticing special offers and product and business information that’s friendly in tone and easily understood.

Keep audio copywriting simple

Simplicity is central to an audio branding exercise. When you’re writing for the ear, you need to produce an effective message that engages the audience in less than 30 seconds.

The best way to do this? Straight-talking, direct and engaging messages delivered in plain language — leaving all jargon at the boardroom door.

Photo credit: takomabibelot @ flickr

Did he eat, shoot or leave?

Last week we had a look at the benefits of brevity in effective hold music messages. This week, we’re looking at the role of grammar and punctuation in audio copywriting – and how a slip-up can change meaning in a big way.

When we write audio prompts, we’re writing to be read aloud. But that doesn’t mean we can ignore the conventions of prose or the kind of grammar that turns PR fluff into a stonking, high-impact press release. That’s because, in many ways, a company’s successful on-hold messaging is built on the same blocks as a good story – if the grammar, punctuation and spelling is spot-on, you won’t even notice it. The caller won’t be distracted; your message won’t be lost.

That’s not to say you need to be perfect, of course. But not paying attention to grammar can change a lot, inadvertently loading a simple statement with innuendo… or worse. Get copywriting tips after the jump!

Say again?

Here’s an example of what can happen when a script is missing the right punctuation mark:

Copywriting tips for audio and voiceover scripts

1. The first rule of audio copywriting is: be thorough! But what else do scriptwriters need to think about? Here are some other grammar, punctuation and formatting hints you might want to think about if you’re writing for audio.

2. Bluntly, voiceovers read what’s in front of them. This means it’s a good idea to make things easy to read – so first up, you should space those lines, remove hyphenated line-breaks and ensure strange words or product names have direction for pronunciation.

3. Don’t use abbreviations. A policeman wouldn’t tell you off for driving at 90 MPH. They’d say, ‘You’re naughty – don’t travel at ninety miles-an-hour.’ And if you do need to use acronyms, symbols or abbreviations, make sure they’re spelled out. Use ‘percent’ instead of a % sign. Use ‘and’ instead of an ampersand (&).

4. Use contractions – try you’re instead of you are; we’re instead of we are. This makes audio prompts sound a lot more like natural speech.

5. Justified text is very hard to process. Use default left-aligned text, as this won’t squash long phrases or overly space short ones.

6. If you’re marking a pause, use a full stop or a dash. Certain conventions for written material – like ellipses or semi-colons – often don’t translate well to voice, causing unnecessary pauses and potential confusion.

7. Beware lists. (Unless they’re lists like this one!) A long sentence can carry a lot of information, but without a break, a voiceover artist is going to run out of breath and/or rush through the details. By using more full stops, you’ll save valuable seconds, strengthen the message and avoid the temptation to fluff up a point you could make in fewer words.

Got any extra tips? Leave a comment and let us know.

Writing for voiceovers

Something we wrestle with on the PH Media copywriting team is how things are said. Not so much pronounced – although the odd company name might throw us – but written to be said. We write scripts for our professional voiceovers to read aloud, which means thinking about more than the rhythm of speech and the balance of a sentence.

And, because the difference between what’s on paper and what’s spoken can often be larger than we realise, we know a few things about what works – and what doesn’t.

Say what?

In practice, the considerations are simple. The first one is exactly that. If we keep it simple, the message is easily understood. Keep it snappy, and we keep it sharp. Ramble away, and the message is garbled; the audience is lost.

Every prompt carries its own message – information about an aspect of a business or the sales line for a product. So are you more likely to read a prompt that wings its way around the point – or one that’s on the button?

Here’s one we made earlier

Here’s an example. I’ve invented a company. They’re called Gumguardian, they’ve made a new kind of dental floss product and they want PH Audio to deliver a targeted music on hold service that ties in with their print advertising campaign. They’ve briefed us about the product, so we know what it does, and now they want their on-hold messaging to reflect their printed message.

Here’s what we could say:

Utilising the latest innovations in dental technology, Gumguardian has been developing a revolution in dental flossing – Gum-champ!

Sounds quite impressive, doesn’t it?

Now read it aloud.

When did you last utilise anything? Maybe in an essay. You’d certainly never say you were off to utilise the toilet. And that bit about Gumguardian doing something in the past – it’s almost old news; it doesn’t sound fresh.

This is where simplicity wins through. Utilise means use, which has only one syllable, so it’s simply written and simpler to say. And, by putting things in the active, present tense, the sentence develops an urgency you can’t help but listen to.

Here’s the same message with these things considered:

Choose Gum-Champ from Gumguardian – the revolutionary dental floss you can actually use.

Direct, to-the-point, effective.

Next time, we’ll have a look at the importance of correct punctuation in an audio script – and how something as little as a misplaced comma can be disastrous when read aloud.

After recently discovering the Many Eyes website, we thought we’d give you an insight into the uses of this fascinating tool. The application aims to bring on a new meaning to visual interpretation of data within today’s social environment. It’s hoped that by democratising these visualisations of data-sets, we can find patterns and insight; analysis on a social level.

How does it work?

The application works by uploading certain types of data-sets to the Many Eyes website and can be used to analyse a spectrum of data. After uploading a data-set, the user can look over the following visualisation types: analyse a text, compare a set of values, see relationships among data points, see the parts of a whole, see the world and track rises and falls over time.

A picture can quite literally be worth 1,000 words…

It is often necessary to see a snapshot of how often a particular word has been used in some text, or indeed to see the relationship between those words. Many Eyes allows you to quickly identify which are the most prominent words within a piece of written text. You can see two examples of this below:

Word cloud

By uploading a paragraph of text that you wish to analyse, you can easily see which words are being used most often. Take for example the opening paragraph of the home page on phaudio.com:

At a glance you can see that the above image shows the words ‘marketing’ and ‘audio’ are used most often. 

Word Relation

From the same paragraph of text, it is possible to view the relationships that the key words have with each other:

The spirit of Many Eyes

In the true spirit of the Many Eyes application, it is possible to publish your uploaded data-sets and your visualisations, therefore integrating the analysis of trends and patterns within data and today’s online social environment.

Some interesting visualisations

Visit the Many Eyes website here and take a look at some of these interesting visualisations published on the website…

President Obama’s Education Speech – September 8th 2009

Why I Don’t Smoke

Network of Automotive Blogs

As you can see from these few examples, the website can interpret and picture different types of data in a format that is easily understood by its intended audience, while also providing valuable insight at a glance. There is however a drawback to using the visualisations – the data is not necessarily certified and correct. Any user can upload and publish their data sets and visualisations, making data potentially erroneous or purposely skewed. Nonetheless, the tool still enables a user to provide at least themselves with a useful image of their data.