Adobe Captivate: Six Ways to Use Voiceover Scripts

by Jennie Ruby 

 

I often point out in my classes on writing eLearning voiceover scripts that a script is necessary so that when you record the audio you don't skip anything, don't stumble, and don't say "um." However, using a voiceover script for eLearning is way more useful than just that.

Let's say for example that your eLearning project will be developed in Adobe Captivate. Captivate allows you to type--or copy and paste--the script into Slide Notes, similar to the slide notes you might be familiar with in PowerPoint. From there, you can use the notes in several different ways.

 

First, just as in PowerPoint, you can create handouts that print the Slide Notes along with an image of each slide, like this:

 

Second, if you are going to record the voiceover yourself, you can display the notes in the recording dialog box, like a miniature teleprompter, for your ease in recording the audio. At the bottom of the recording window, click the Captions & Slide Notes button to display the notes.

 
 

Third, if you are hiring voiceover talent to record the audio, you can provide the script to that professional, slide by slide, so that he or she can record the audio for each slide separately.

 

Then, fourth, once you either record the audio yourself or import the recordings from your voiceover talent, you may need closed captioning. Once you have pasted the voiceover script phrase by phrase into the Slide Notes pane, you can create the closed captioning just by clicking a check box.

 

And if you have accurately divided the script into phrases as shown above, it will automatically be synchronized with the audio. Below, you can see the yellow markers indicating the closed caption that goes with each audio segment.

 

Fifth, suppose instead of hiring voiceover talent and instead of recording the audio yourself, you decide to go with Text to Speech. Since Captivate comes with several high-quality computerized voices from NeoSpeech, this is a viable option. Just as with the closed captioning, creating the Text to Speech from the Slide Notes is very easy. In the Slide Notes pane, you click the TTS check box.

Then you open the Speech Management dialog box, where the Slide Notes are automatically imported, click the Generate Text button at the bottom, and you've got your voiceover audio.

 

And as before, to get closed captions with that, you just click the Audio CC check box.

Sixth, and finally, if you are creating accessible eLearning that is 508 compliant, then the final thing you can do from that one voiceover script is automatically import the Slide Notes to the Slide Accessibility dialog box. This contains the text to be read by screen readers, for those accessing the training through audio only.

 

So, let me count them up--yep, that would be six (6) ways to use a voiceover script to help in the development of eLearning with Adobe Captivate. By starting with a good voiceover script, you not only create a clear and well-planned audio, but you also save tons of work by using the script to automatically generate any or all of these aspects of your eLearning project.

Are your scripts up to the task? Join me for my afternoon mini course on how to write a good voiceover script.

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Need more help with your script? Look for our hourly consulting service. We'll help you evaluate, substantively edit, or rewrite your voiceover script to make sure it is up to par.

Comments

[Eddie]

Jennie,

Thanks for detailing the ways a script is useful. But do you need to include the slide accessibility text (the 6th way you mention) if you are already reading the slide with TTS and providing closed-captioning? What happens if you do include the accessiblity text and also have voiceover, for people using screen readers? Does the screen reader reading the slide accessibility text clash with the voiceover?

[Andrew]

A lot of people don’t realize how different a Voice Over script can be. My favorite tip (and one I’m a big advocate of) is “Do a Sound Check.” Reading the script out loud can catch a lot of mistakes you wouldn’t notice otherwise.