How do you pronounce that?

Tricky pronunciations have a way of sneaking up on you in radio scripts. A few sentences on the weather, a sporting fixture or travel update can grind to a halt or become garbled when you don’t know how to pronounce a name or place you’ve never seen before.

Even words and places which look straight forward enough might not be pronounced in the way you expect.

It’s important to get pronunciations right when you’re giving essential information. Even if it’s giving the name of a new artist I think it shows that you’re prepared and that you don’t want your listener to be embarrassed by using the same incorrect pronunciation!

Read every script before going on air

Always read through scripts before using them on air. It really sticks out when someone hasn’t done this and comes across a missing word or doesn’t know how to pronounce a name.

Reading scripts out loud before opening the mic helps find any problems with words, grammar, overlong sentences and pronunciations which need clarifying.

Some scripts, such as those available from IRN, might have a tip for the pronunciation. For example:

Irish Taoiseach (PRON: TEE-shock) Leo Varadkar will arrive in London later today.

— Radio news script

While this is helpful it’s always worth practicing the pronunciation before relying on it live on air.

Listen to other broadcasters

Some difficult pronunciations can be found in sport scripts. The names of popular players, teams and stadiums are normally well known. But the right way to say the name of the city where England are playing in a qualifier might be less obvious.

If you’re not normally interested in sport it might be worth listening to BBC Radio 5 live, which has sport bulletins all day after the news headlines. The BBC News Channel airs Sportsday at 6.30pm which covers a variety of sportspeople and events.

If a country is featuring in the news more than usual you could listen to bulletins or news podcasts from that country. Tuning in to RTÉ Radio 1 might help you become familiar with leaders’ names, counties and Dáil Éireann or the Oireachtas.

Before visiting Oxford and listening to Jack FM I had been pronouncing Bicester incorrectly for years!

A quick search on YouTube for a sportsperson or tournament will normally surface a brief video from an established news outlet or YouTube channel with the correct pronunciations.

Traffic and local places

If you’ve grown up in the area where you’re broadcasting the chances are you know the way place names are pronounced. On a local radio station providing local information there isn’t much of an excuse for garbling road and town names.

Things can be more difficult when you’re voice-tracking remotely or broadcasting in an area you’re not familiar with. Place names like Ponteland, Stanhope, Alnwick and Prudhoe might look simple enough on paper (or the screen), but saying “Pontyland” or “Stan-hope” will stick out.

Searching online may reveal a newspaper website or blog with the correct pronunciations, like this one.

You could always ask colleagues at the station too.

Bands and artists

How would you pronounce the name of the singer MNEK? Would it be M-N-E-K, in the way you’d pronounce R.E.M. or AC/DC? While we’re reading through our scripts it’s worth looking at the music log too for any new names or song titles we don’t know.

Again, looking at showbiz news and interviews on YouTube can be helpful.

If you add the music for your radio station you could leave a message with the correct pronunciation on the studio whiteboard or use the notes/comments in your playout software.