As Cammy Bean states, “Good writing is the single biggest factor that can make the difference between an eLearning program that bores people to death and one that gets them to pay attention.” Yet many eLearning scripts are written in large part by subject matter experts whose prose is wordy and lifeless. Developers of eLearning must often revise the scripts and storyboards of subject matter experts, most of whom are not skilled writers and who often think everything they have written should be included in the course. It can be a frustrating and time-intensive experience to revise such prose—unless you know certain techniques.

In this session, you will explore the causes for poor writing and analyze realistic examples from various courses. You will learn the hallmarks of bad eLearning prose, and then be provided six rules that will turn any clunker of a sentence into a lean, active one. In addition, the session will focus on revising sample voiceover scripts to improve the output of audio recording.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why lifeless prose is the default mode of many subject matter experts and eLearning professionals
• The hallmarks of bad eLearning prose and where it often appears in a course
• Six techniques that will turn a wordy, confusing sentence into a lean, clear one
• Special techniques for revising bad-sounding voiceover scripts

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
N/A