One of the most prominent filmaker of the 1930s, Frank Capra once said, “Scriptwriting is the toughest part of the whole racket… the least understood and the least noticed”
Director, Producer, and Screenwriter Sir Alfred Hitchcock said “To make a great film, you need three things: the script, the script and the script.”
Scriptwriting is admittedly one of the toughest jobs, not just in entertainment, but in all industries.
Wait? All industries?
Yes, I said it and it is not an error.
I did say (or write) “In ALL Industries”.
Did you think scriptwriting can only be utilized in theatre, television, and radio? If you do, then let me open your mind a little bit and hopefully, you will learn the extend of the value of scriptwriting skills.
In the past 10 years since I joined the education industry, I have conducted several skills-based workshops for different groups of clients.
From each batch of workshops I’ve conducted, I grew more certain of how powerful this scriptwriting skill can be. A superbly transferable skill that can be used in many forms for many purposes.
Other than stage and screen performances, how else can we use a script? Here are 3 alternative ways where a script is useful.
3 Situations Where A Script Is Needed
1. Presentation/Public Speaking.
A good presentation is a great blend of engagement, simplicity, entertainment and message driven.
It is always objective oriented and anything lacking that will tend to overrun and always leads to a waste of everybody’s time.
This mix can only be achieved through practice with a good and well-considered script.
Have you experienced a speaker or lecturer who seemed to enjoy talking from one story to another, and is oblivious that he is missing the point of his speech or he is way over his time?
2. Sales Pitch
I used to work as a telemarketer for Singapore Cable Vision back in 1999, just before I was enlisted into the army.
I remembered that every one of us was given a script on the first day of training.
During training, we had several role-plays and we learned to use the script with confidence.
In the first 2 weeks of teleselling, I had a tough time. I just seemed not able to hit those sales numbers.
Then one day I met with 2 top telesalesmen in the company. I literally eavesdropped their calls to see how they do it. During the break, I asked them how did they do it.
They said, “Use the script as a guide. Once you have internalized the sales conversation process, then you can create your own way, your own style.”
So i did as told. I followed the script for another 3-4 days and I internalized the sales process, and adapted it to suit my style.
In the following month, I was among the 2 top telesalesmen, knocking one of the original top 2 into third place. This is the value of a good script.
Every sales pitch will tend to rely on a script.
Proper sales scripts are always well thought and designed with the aim of educating new staff and improving sales.
If you still think a script brings little or no value, do spend time to watch “The Wolf of Wall Street” featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. He created a sales script to achieve those results.
3. Job Interview.
“Tell me about yourself”
“Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”
These are some of the most ‘lethal’ questions that could almost kill an unprepared candidate.
If you’re looking for a job, you need to prepare a script to address the above questions, among others.
How a candidate responds to the above question will tend to set the pace for other questions.
If you’re hesitant in your first reply, you tend to lose confidence after that. So write a good script and aim for a great start!
Scriptwriting skills can be used in content creation.
It can also be used in sales and marketing.
It can be used to entertain and engage an audience.
It can be used to improve one’s interview outcome.
And the list goes on…
I am certain that by now, you would have realized the alternative application of your scriptwriting skills.
In the next post, I will talk about how we help students learn scriptwriting with Thespian Lab’s “From Page to Stage” scriptwriting programme.
In the meantime, do stay safe.