Marking Up a Script for Performance

Use simple marks on a text to plan pauses, emphasis, and pace before reading aloud.

Actors and speakers rarely perform a text cold; they mark it up first. A simple system works well. Draw a single slash ( / ) for a short pause and a double slash ( // ) for a long one. Underline words to stress. Write 'slow' or draw a long arrow over a section to slow down, and 'faster' where the energy rises. Put a small up arrow where your voice should rise, as in a question, and a down arrow where a statement should land firmly. Here is an original marked line: 'This year, / we planted forty trees.

// Next year, / we'll plant a hundred. ' The pause after 'trees' lets the first fact settle, and stressing 'hundred' highlights the bigger goal. After marking, rehearse the passage three times aloud, adjusting marks that feel unnatural. The marks turn your understanding of the text into a plan your voice can follow, which reduces nerves and mistakes.

• 1Use / and // for short and long pauses
• 2Underline words to stress
• 3Mark pace changes and rising or falling voice
• 4Rehearse and adjust the marks