4.1 Using Delivery Notes
Some students might choose to prepare a plan while others prefer writing their podcast script in detail. Any method you choose, it is important to work on the delivery of the message (how a message is communicated). We want our audience to be captivated when listening to our podcast.
With ESL students, we recommend using the written script of the podcast. We can teach them to annotate their text in order to indicate pause, emphasis, change of tone, or other elements. This will help students deliver their message in a more natural way.
Here are some annotation strategies you can teach students to practise their delivery:
- Divide sentences to group each idea and mark a pause.
- Put focus words in bold that will be emphasized during delivery. Usually, the key ideas or information of the sentence.
- Write large numbers in letters to avoid hesitation.
To go further: Reading with Feeling: 4 Simple Strategies for Helping ELLs Develop Prosody
Activity 4.1.1 Two versions of an audio text
Instructions: Listen to the two versions of an audio text
Modality: Individual work
The intention of this activity is to understand how various strategies can help improve the delivery of a podcast.
We invite you to observe the annotations that were made on the initial text and how it affects the audio message.
Initial Text
Alcatraz prison had 336 cells, but held an average of 265 prisoners at any one time.
Cells measured 1.5 m by 2.4 m.
If a prisoner extended his arms, he could easily touch both walls.
From 1934 to 1963, Alcatraz held a total of 1576 inmates.
Modified Text
Alcatraz prison | held an average of (265) two hundred and sixty-five prisoners | at any one time.
Cells were very small, | approximately the size of a small bathroom.
If a prisoner extended his arms, | he could easily touch both walls.
Over its (29) twenty-nine years as a federal prison, | Alcatraz held over fifteen hundred inmates.