Broadcast writing isn't print writing read aloud. It's a different craft with its own rules, and copy that reads perfectly well on a page can sound stiff, confusing, or exhausting the moment it's spoken out loud. Here's how to write for the ear instead of the eye.
Short Sentences Win
A viewer can't re-read a sentence they didn't follow the first time. Print writers can build long, clause-stacked sentences because the reader controls the pace. Broadcast writers don't get that luxury — one idea per sentence, and if a sentence needs a comma to hold two ideas together, it's probably two sentences.
Active Voice, Always
"Police arrested the suspect" is faster to say, faster to understand, and more natural to hear than "The suspect was arrested by police." Passive voice buries the subject and adds words that do nothing but slow the sentence down. Read your script and flag every "was," "were," and "by" — most of them can go.
Read It Out Loud Before You Call It Done
This is the single most effective edit available to any writer, and the most skipped. A script that looks clean on a screen will reveal every awkward phrase, tongue-twister, and unclear reference the moment you say it out loud. If you stumble, so will whoever reads it on air — fix it before it gets to that point.
If you wouldn't say it out loud to a friend explaining the story, don't write it that way for broadcast.
Cut Ruthlessly
Every word that doesn't move the story forward is a word the viewer has to process for nothing. Adjectives, qualifiers, and throat-clearing phrases ("it's important to note that...") almost never earn their place in broadcast copy. Write the sentence, then read it again and cut anything that isn't doing real work.
Write The Way People Actually Talk
Broadcast writing should sound like a smart person explaining a story to a friend — not a press release, not a legal document. Contractions are fine. Simple words beat impressive ones. If a script sounds like something a real person would say out loud, it's probably working.