Follow these procedures to prepare your script for the daily Logan Live! show.
Download the Bulletin
Visit the home page of the school website at JamesLogan.org and click on the [Daily Bulletin] menu.
If the bulletins are displayed as icons, click the list view icon in the upper right to change to list view.
With the files displayed in list view, click the arrow next to Name until it is pointing down.
With the arrow pointing up, the files are sorted so that the most recent one is at the top. Find the bulletin with today’s date and click on it. (If it does not appear it may not have yet been uploaded. Use the most recent bulletin available.)
Once the bulletin has opened, click on the File menu, click on Download, then click OpenDocument Format (.odt) and navigate to the My Logan Live folder in your Finder.
Make sure Save As has the name of the bulletin file with an .odt extension and the location is set to your My Logan Live folder within your Google Drive EMP folder.
Check that the Format is OpenDocument Text, then click the [Save] button to download the file to your computer.
Once the bulletin has downloaded, navigate to the MyLoganLive folder in your computer’s Finder. Double-click the file. If it opens with LibreOffice, skip to “Editing the Bulletin” below. 
If the file does not open with LibreOffice, close whatever program it opens, then select the file in your My Logan Live folder.
Press and hold the Command key then click the i key on your keyboard. [Command+i]
In the Info dialog box, look for Open with and select LibreOffice from the menu. Click the [Change All] button.
When a new window opens, click on the [Continue] button.
Close the Info box then return to your My Logan Live folder and double-click the bulletin file. It should now open in LibreOffice.
Editing the Bulletin
With your downloaded copy of today’s bulletin open in LibreOffice, review the sections. If today is a Tuesday or Thursday, delete the Sports section. (These announcements should be included in the Sports anchors show segment script.)
Next, delete all section and announcement headings. Here is a BEFORE and AFTER example.
With the sections and announcement headings gone, use [Command+A] keys to select all text.
From the style pull-down menu, click the Default Style option.
You need to arrange the announcements in the order they will take place. Anything taking place should appear first, followed by tomorrow’s events, etc.
As you go through the announcements, copy, cut then paste the announcement where you think it should appear. It may take several passes to make sure everything is in order.
In this example, the show is on a Monday, so sports announcements will be included. No announcements take place today, but one event takes place tomorrow.
Select the announcement using the mouse and cursor.
Use the [Command+C] keys to copy the selected announcement.
Use the [Command+X] keys to cut the announcement.
Click at the top of the page below the date.
Use the [Command+V] keys to past the announcement into its new location.
Repeat the process for each announcement.
After all announcements are in order review each announcement.
Rewrite the announcement if any of the following questions are answered no:
- Is the announcement easy to read out loud?
- Does the announcement follow the Attention-Details-Action formula?
(It should start by getting the audience’s Attention; provide some Details; then let the audience know how to Act.) - Does it take no more than 15 seconds to read out loud?
Rewrite the announcement if any of the following questions are answered yes:
- Does the announcement mention a year?
- Does the announcement include a date for an event taking place within the next week?
- Are there any punctuation, spelling or grammar errors?
In the following example the event takes place tomorrow and it does not follow the Attention-Details-Action formula:
Do you like art? Art Club’s first meeting is on Tuesday, in room 84 afterschool! There are many fun activities planned, see you there!
Here is one way to rewrite it:
Do you like art? Enjoy many fun activities at the first Art Club meeting tomorrow after school in room 84. See you there!
In the following example the original announcement is very long:
Do you know what “See You At The Pole” is? It is a national event that occurs the last Wednesday in September where students and staff gather around their school’s flagpole for prayer for their school, their city, their state, and their country. The Youth Alive Club would like to invite any interested students and staff to join us after school this Wednesday. Please note that we are meeting after school rather than before school as in the past.
Here is one way to rewrite the announcement:
Do you know what “See You At The Pole” is? It is a national event where students and staff gather around their school’s flagpole for prayer. Any interested students and staff are invited to join The Youth Alive Club Wednesday after school.
If an announcement should include a full-screen graphic, indicate where the graphic will be shown. Here is an original announcement example that should include a graphic:
Want to get your Permit? Driver Education Classes at Adult School. November 25, 26 & 27 or January 2, 3 & 4. For Info/Registration call Adult School @ 489-2185.
The graphic looks like this:
Here is the re-written announcement:
Want to get your Permit? [GRAPHIC] There will be Driver Education Classes at the Adult School during Thanksgiving and Winter breaks. Call the Adult School at 489-2185 for more information.
If an announcement can use a lower-third title graphic (one that appears over the anchor at the bottom of the screen) indicate a [LOWER-THIRD] graphic. Here is an example:
October is the last month to pre-order your 2020 Yearbook at just $70 with a ASB sticker and $80 without. [LOWER-THIRD yearbookordercenter.com code 7729] Order online at yearbook order center dot com and use school code 7729, or come with cash or check to room 223. Order before November 1st and save money!
The details of the graphic will be removed by the prompter operator after it is shared with the title graphics creator. Only [LOWER-THIRD] will remain in the prompter script to indicate when the graphic should appear.
Notice that the long URL has been broken up in the script so that it will appear properly in the teleprompter. Make sure any long website or email address is broken up by spaces that make it easier to read. Do not include http://www. or any part of it when reading a website address or including it in the spoken portion of your script.
In the following example the event takes place within the next week.
Come out to this years Movie Night on the Turf! This Friday September 27, 2019 we will be watching a film on the big screen! Prices are $3 w/o ASB and $2 with ASB. See you all Friday!
Here is a rewritten version of the announcement. The year should never be mentioned unless it is more than one year in the future. The date should not be included unless it is more than 1 week away.
Come out to this year’s Movie Night on the Turf this Friday. We will be watching a film on the big screen! Prices are $3 without ASB and $2 with ASB. See you all Friday!
While you are writing the script you should make certain that each announcement sounds right as it is read out loud.
Preparing the Teleprompter Script
If you have not already done so, click on this 00-ANCHORS-Template-COLOR.rtf link. It should open in a new browser tab.
Click on the DOWNLOAD ICON.
Navigate to your computer’s My Logan Live folder within your Google Drive EMP folder. Make sure the Format is rich text (RTF) then press the [Save] button to download the file.
You will use a copy of this file to create your script for the daily show.
In your computer’s My Logan Live folder, double-click
your copy of the 00-ANCHORS-Template-COLOR.rtf file to open it.
If the file does not open with TextEdit, close whatever program it opens, then select the file in your My Logan Live folder.
Press and hold the [Command+i] keys on your keyboard.
In the Info dialog box, look for Open with and select TextEdit from the menu.
Click the [Change All] button.
In the window that opens click the [Continue] button, then close the Info window.
Now when you double-click your copy of the 00-ANCHORS-Template-COLOR.rtf file it should open in TextEdit.
With a copy of the template open, open the TextEdit File menu and click on Duplicate.
This will make a copy of the file. Return to the File menu and click Save.
In the Save As box, replace the zeros with the show date, using this format YYMMDD, and eliminate -Template-COLOR from the name. For example, if today is December 21, 2019, your anchors script file will be named
191221-anchors.rtf
In this example, the date is September 23, 2019, so the file name is 190923-anchors.rtf
Make sure the name of your script always starts with the date in the proper format, and ends with the .rtf extension. When you are done naming the file, click the [Save] button.
LibreOffice should be open with the edited version of today’s bulletin. You may use the [Command+Tab] keys to switch to it.
If LibreOffice is not open, use it to open your edited version of today’s bulletin.
With today’s edited bulletin open in LibreOffice, use the [Command+A] keys to select all of the text.
Use the [Command-C] keys to copy the text.
Return to TextEdit (You may use the [Command] + [Tab] keys to switch to it.)
Click after INSERT BULLETIN.
Use the Edit menu to Paste and Match Style.
You should now see the text for today’s edited bulletin in your copy of the prompter template.
Find the first red [Name] block and change it to the first anchor’s name.
Copy the entire block including the space right after it.
Paste a copy of the red name block just before the start of the first announcement. Repeat the process with every other announcement.
Go back to the top of the script and change the first green [Name] block to the name of the second anchor.
Copy the entire block including the space right after it. Paste a copy of the green name block just before the start of the second announcement. Repeat the process with every other announcement.
Highlight, then delete the portion of the script that includes [INSERT BULLETIN] and the bulletin header and date.
For the script open, replace each NAME with an anchor’s name.
Replace DAY, MONTH DATE, YEAR with today’s information. In this example:
Monday, September 23, 2019.
Replace INSERT-TEASE-TEXT with something coming up later on today’s show. Since this is a Monday, the tease could read:
Coming up on today’s show: Weather and Words of Wisdom.
Go the the =CLOSE section of the script and update the [Name] blocks and date information.
When your script is complete and all corrections have been made, save it.
Open a browser window in Chrome, log into your Google Drive folder and navigate to the LL-Prompter folder shared with you.
From your computer’s My Logan Live folder, drag today’s prompter script into the LL-Prompter folder.
Once the file has uploaded, confirm with the prompter operator that they have your file.
Print Your Script and Practice
After you have confirmed that the prompter operator has receive your script, use TextEdit to open the file in your My Logan Live folder.
With the file open, use the Format menu to Make Plain Text.
When asked to “Convert this document to plain text?” click the [OK] button.
With the plain text version of your script open, use the File menu to
Print 3 copies: one for each anchor, and one for the show’s Director.
Give the Director one copy of your script.
Sit behind the anchor desk on the set and practice reading your script while you wait for the show rehearsal to start. You will need your script during the rehearsal and show in case the prompter stops working.
If necessary, as you practice reading each announcement, mark up your paper to indicate which words need emphasis and where you should pause.
When the rehearsal starts, make sure you smile and read each announcement with full energy. Remember, each announcement is important to many students and staff members on campus, even if the message may not seem to be something important to you.
If you are uncertain how to pronounce something, or you have been told of something to correct during the rehearsal, make sure you make note of the correction and practice the change so you are ready for the live broadcast.