Chapter 9 Communicating with the Listener: Announcing

Communicating On-Air This has to do with being a disc jockey, talk host, all broadcasting Announcer must communicate with one person, not “everyone out there in radio land.” Pre-planning your show Planning takes place 24/7. Take notes constantly. “Keep it local” – anything that affects and interests listeners is “local”

Communicating On-Air (cont.) The Talk Clock Main planning relates to the stop sets, when you talk, play commercials, promos, etc. Read a newspaper Focus on listeners and their needs and interests. Be sure to read local papers.

Communicating On-Air (cont.) Brilliant Idea File (BIF): a file to put notes on “brilliant ideas” you get. May be organized as a “future file.” One stop set, one thought Cover only one topic or thought per stop set. Don’t ramble, stick to one topic.

Live Delivery Written show planner provides record of what you did, what worked and didn’t. Making the Human Connection Listeners have to know something about you before they can like you. Be careful not to put yourself “above” the listeners. Some things better not to reveal.

Live Delivery (cont.) Knowing Your Audience Who is the target audience? Demographic and psychographic information. Become a “local” yourself. Don’t depend on “osmosis.”

News Delivery Outside of news-talk, most radio newscasts are two minutes or less. Newscast may have 4-5 stories with a couple of sound bites. “News” is often rewrites of newspaper stories delivered by a non-news person; lacks credibility.

News Delivery (cont.) Credibility and Authority Upbeat and authoritative, but not pompous. Energetic, relaxed. Neat, clean introduction and start. Avoid “happy talk.” Crisp. Reading ability, pronunciation are critical. Inflection varies from story to story; interpret. Vitality; read lines per minute.

An announcer’s basic tools of communication Your voice: Not necessary for men to have deep, rumbling voices, or women low, husky voices; be natural. Developing your voice: Cigarettes and whiskey, contrary to legend, do not improve your voice.

Developing Your Voice (cont.) Your natural pitch: Say “mm- hmm” (meaning “OK”) then, “How are you?” at normal level. The pitch in which you hum and pitch of your speaking voice should match. Forcing your voice lower or higher strains your vocal cords.

Developing Your Voice (cont.) Breathing and breath control: Muscle control is required for good breath control. An exercise: Stand, relax, place your hands on your abdomen, breathe in deeply. You should feel your lower ribs and stomach move out against your hands. Another exercise: “ooh and ah,” p. 254.

Basic Communication Skills Reading: You must translate the written message into spoken words. Interpret. Read ahead of the words you are saying, four to six words. Punctuation marks give cues to interpretation. Slow reading: Read for 30 minutes, pausing a second between each word; “slow motion.”

Basic Communication Skills (cont.) Articulation: The way that you move your tongue, palate, teeth and lips. See exercises, p Smiling while speaking adds personality and friendliness (… news?). Pronunciation: the manner in which you say a word, often has to do with regional dialects. When in a new area, be sure to learn local pronunciations.

Basic Communication Tools Inflection: changing the voice by adding emphasis to certain words. “I want you to come here.” Three things to remember: (1) You’re talking to one person; imagine a friend, (2) Tell a story to your imaginary friend, (3) Smile.

Basic Communication Tools (cont.) Tempo: speed with which you read. Vitality: level of energy, related to tempo and inflection. Important to have others listen to you and listen to yourself. Phrasing: related to breathing and the copy. Volume: Think of mic as a friend’s ear.