A script is a tool to outline the goals for communication. In life we face every day thousands of micro-decision points that can potentially turn our life upside down in a split of a second. Life is a balancing act between intuition and common sense. A good script can encapsulate both – reasoning and intuitive wisdom that comes from creative thinking.
Tension in communication makes it interesting. That’s why most of business communication is so boring and meaningless; there is no tension, no excitement, no passion, no surprises. Take a look at Steve Jobs when he is giving a keynote speech. He has all of those elements in beautiful order. Jobs can build tension, he reveals the story behind numbers and ordinary marketing jargon and he knows how to surprise. And he is also a great observer. But before anything else he has a script. He knows his story and how to tell it.
Unexpected things in life can be unpleasant, sometimes even horrifying. In communication though they make us wake up, stay alert and want to know and see more. In communication unexpected things come from a script and are known by you, the creator of that script. You need to surprise your audience, but if you don’t have a script they will most likely just feel bored and instead of them it is you who will be surprised – by the unexpected hostility of the crowd in front of you.