Unfiltered Thoughts

2023.06.24 – 0905 – The Physical Effect Of Mic Fright Physically:·        Sweating under the arms, down the back and clammy hands·        A stomach somewhere between a butterfly house or churning like a cement mixer and in extreme cases, vomiting (or a feeling of it) and diarrhoea or a feeling to rush to the toilet·        A racing heart, or sometimes a rapidly-dropping heart rate ·        Blurred vision·        Trembling or in-chair fidgeting, shuffling from foot to foot as though wanting to run away Skeletally: ·        Your physique becomes defensive, small and tight·        Tension is created across your body from your face to your frame  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.06.23 – 0904 – The Mental Effect Of Mic Fright The effect of nerves and stress on the body  psychosomatic/ˌsʌɪkə(ʊ)səˈmatɪk/adjective1.   A physical illness or condition caused or aggravated by a mental factor such as internal conflict or stress2.   relating to the interaction of mind and body.  Extra adrenaline upsets your natural hormonal equilibrium causing ‘microphone-itis’. It’s not a nice list of symptoms and side-effects to have one or more of these. Mentally:·        Concentration evaporation - a ‘foggy’ brain, or feeling light-headed and losing an understanding of time (it either dragging or speeding[1])·        Feelings of apprehension, fear, dread or panic·        Feelings of failure, inadequacy or lack of skill·       Negative and self-critical thoughts “it’ll go badly”, “I won’t cope”, “I’m going to be found out” …
[1] Some presenters experience losing a ‘sense of self’ during a performance (not quite in the moment and viewing themselves from a third-party point of view), and a strange ‘sense of self’ afterwards (having lost a sense of time, the event either super-slow, tortoise-like and tortuous or a racing rollercoaster and over all too soon). It’s thought this is because our perception of time depends on rhythms which are regulated by adrenalin, which at moments of stress, we have too much of. Actor Arthur Darvill: "I've been so nervous during shows that I've walked off-stage at the end and immediately forgotten everything that I've just done.” (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/sep/21/stephen-fry-stage-fright)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.06.22 – 0903 – The Studio ‘Caveman’This survival mechanism developed so humans could react quickly to life-threatening situations. But even though we don’t experience many saber-toothed tigers down the high street, our mind can still perceive some unusual situations as stressful, triggering the original reactions. Of course, very often we can neither fight or flee: our ‘caveman brain’ tells us to attack the interviewer or rip the mic off the stand – but our ‘modern brain’ tells us we can’t. Our ‘caveman brain’ tells us, OK, if we can’t fight, we have to run, but our ‘modern brain’ reminds us that if we want to keep our job we can’t! So, as well as fight and flight we have another ‘f’… we may freeze. And that possibility of ‘behavioural avoidance’, together with the adrenaline (and noradrenaline and acetyl-choline) now coursing through our veins, is what causes the problem. Whether it’s squaring up to start a fight, or preparing to ‘flight’, our body is getting us ready for quick response. ·        And that means holding everything. ·        And a holding pattern creates unnecessary tension·        And unnecessary tension leads to inefficient vocal function·        And that over a long period can cause vocal problems Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.06.21 – 0902 – Mic ‘Flight and Fight’Mic fight and flight[1]The ‘fight or flight’ response is well known: an automatic physiological reaction that’s perceived by the ‘caveman’ in us as stressful or frightening. The sympathetic nervous system is activated, triggering an acute stress response that prepares the body to confront it, or get away from it. A cascade of adrenaline, noradrenaline and acetylcholine make the heart pound, pupils dilate and breathing quicken. Muscles tense with the increased blood flow and beads of sweat appear. The stomach can feel nauseous or full of ‘butterflies’. “Adrenaline plays an important role in the fight-or-flight response by increasing blood flow to muscles, output of the heart, pupil dilation response and blood sugar level.” (Source: Wikipedia)  “Noradrenaline production reaches its higher levels during situations of stress or danger, in the so-called fight-or-flight response. In the brain it increases arousal and alertness, promotes vigilance, enhances formation and retrieval of memory, and focuses attention; it also increases restlessness and anxiety. In the rest of the body, norepinephrine increases heart rate and blood pressure, triggers the release of glucose from energy stores, increases blood flow to skeletal muscle, reduces blood flow to the gastrointestinal system, and inhibits voiding of the bladder and gastrointestinal motility.” (Source: Wikipedia) “Acetylcholine is the chemical that motor neurons of the nervous system release in order to activate muscles.” (Source: Wikipedia)
[1] A good write-up of the fight-or-flight response is here: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.06.20 – 0901 – Lack of Prep Time
·        Lack of time or effort to prepare mentally – perhaps you are tired, ‘under the weather’, in pain or returning after a break. There may be distracting ‘life events’ in your head: deaths and illnesses, relationship breakdowns or financial pressures. Even if you can’t step away from these physically, try and do so mentally, from the editorial process in the newsroom or studio: the talk and the technicals. Prepare for your performance: the message and the mood, the pace and pronunciation… and all of the other keys to communication Research[1] suggests that how much we experience mic-fright, can be down to factors such as: ·        Anxiety partly inherited through the mother’s hormone levels·        Parental obsession with one’s practice, exams and career success·        Parental criticism or demands to be quiet
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/08/how-classical-musicians-cope-with-performance-stress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.06.19 – 0900 – Confidence And Self-Esteem·        Lack of confidence – most of us have a fear of failure, but we can only survive and thrive by putting ourselves in a situation in which we are tested, and you can’t easily replicate being on air without actually being on air. You’re also more likely to experience performance anxiety if by nature you’re a ‘worrier’ and tend to get anxious or upset in everyday situations·        Lack of self-esteem – that we subconsciously seek immediate approval from the non-existent feedback loop, our perceived vulnerability – who we are, what we have to lose by making a mistake. Modesty is a virtue but self-effacement can be debilitating. Respect yourself, your subject and your audience to help you heighten the conviction in your communication of your unique perspective or experience. You may have an unhappy memory of a previous performance – which may itself have been because of some of the issues here, but maybe you didn’t cope (or weren’t helped to cope) in the best way, told it was “experience”, “a learning curve” or “these things happen”. None of which are terribly helpful. The incident may’ve led to comments by colleagues or threads on social which’ll be around ‘forever’, leading you to mull, muse and ruminate and giving yourself a metaphorical kicking. Not the greatest ingredients for confidence. We may be uncomfortable with how we sound or look. We hear ourselves differently from how others do, and evolutionarily, seeing ourselves in any way other than a reflection can still be disconcerting.[1] Additionally we don’t usually see ourselves close up and in HD, and the famous line that “the camera adds ten pounds”[2]. But remember, how you look and sound are only a surprise to you. Everyone else has known you like this for years, and they still accept you, know, like and trust you…
[1] Seeing ourselves on a monitor is not like a reflection that we are ‘programmed’ to accept. For millions of years, we only saw how we looked in a reflection in still water, and then in mirrors. It was only comparatively recently in evolutionary terms that we saw ourselves from the perspective of how others see us, via still and then video cameras. [2] https://www.businessinsider.com/cameras-can-make-you-look-fat-2016-7?r=US&IR=T Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.06.18 – 0899 – Underlying Reasons For Mic FrightWhat the underlying reasons could be So, just why are some broadcaster-performers exhilarated and energized in front of the mic, while others feel a crushing sense of fear and dread, and sometimes see studio work as something that must be endured rather than enjoyed? These can be summed up by:[1]·        Lack of experience – you simply need more ‘on-air miles’ especially if you’re working with new people, especially ‘difficult’ or ‘famous’ people·        Lack of preparation - there hasn’t been much time to prepare, practise and rehearse. Maybe the live or recording is ‘high profile’ or ‘important’, perhaps technically or creatively challenging, (maybe a big audience, a major brand). And what of this prep? Perhaps you’ve set rigid and unrealistically high standards for yourself which you (or anyone else) would rarely be able to achieve.Even though you cannot rehearse for every specific sports match, news story or studio conversation, you can get prepared for them. For instance, watching previous matches and preparing notes on all the players will help, as will really listening to similar news commentaries and noting what is described and how, and swotting up on your adlibbing skills (check out episode 593 for more on this)
[1] With reference to “Television and Radio Announcing”, SW Hyde, publ: Houghton Mifflin (1983) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.06.17 – 0898 – Causes Of Mic Fright So, what’s going on?Extreme nervousness is one of the most unpleasant experiences to go through: physical and mental suffering that, if you are a broadcaster, may be in public and recorded and be played back - not just in one’s mind but also on social media for years to come.  glossophobia/ˌɡlɒs.əˈfəʊ.bi.ə/ noun The fear of public speaking (speaking to a group of people)Deriv: Greek glosso- (tongue, language) + -phobia (fear).   “Year after year in the UK, glossophobia claims the top spot as Britain’s no. 1 phobia, repeatedly knocking ‘fear of death’ down into second position. ... At a funeral, the average Briton would rather be in the casket than deliver the eulogy.”Richard O. Smith; The Man with His Head in the Clouds; Signal Books; 2015. What situations may cause ‘mic fright’?Nerves are usually quite normal. Even so there are some situations that may cause anything from butterflies to freezing:·        A radio or TV presenter, used to studio work, being asked to present ‘on the road’ or on stage in front of ‘real people’·        The ‘mic live’ red light coming on (sometimes it’s called, perhaps understandably, the ‘dread light’), and the accompanying sweating armpits, and shallow breaths·        Even working in a different studio, with a different format or with breaking news, perhaps with a new producer or co-host – all of these can cause usually languishing Lepidoptera to awaken…·        The audience – its size (twelve people is perhaps less daunting than 200), its importance, and how familiar we are with the members[1]. Before you know it, there you are, face-to-face with paying clients from major corporations who are looking to you to bring their message to the masses·        The difficulty of the subject·        Your familiarity, or not with the scriptFeeling a need to impress, perhaps it’s an audition or your first day [1] The size of the audience that you are in a room with, also affects how deliberate your enunciation must be. That’s because different frequencies and different types of sound, carry over distances with differing degrees of efficiency. Combined with ‘room noise’ and clarity or otherwise of the public address system and any reverberation, it means that some crucial letters may be missed and some words merging into others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.06.16 – 0897 – Studio Excitement ExcitementYes, finally, nervousness might be excitement in disguise[1]. Physiologically, they certainly have some of the same symptoms: knees shaking, heart racing, hands sweating, gut misbehaving… Nervousness is often seen as a negative experience to do with fear and potential survival, shying away from risks and limiting success. Excitement is a positive experience, in which we can take advantage of potential possibilities and opportunities by showing competence, enthusiasm and personality.  The difference is all in how you interpret the feelings. Swap nervousness in which you focus on what could go wrong, for excitement, and you’ll see what could go right and be advantageous. Again, some or all of these situations are potentially serious and may need to be addressed appropriately, but, like a mis-interpretation of ‘excited’ for ‘nervous’, it’s often best to take a moment and think of what is really going on, and the name for it, as a first step.  Because they are broadly similar with common roots, for the purposes of this podcast/book, let’s look at them in the round, under the heading of ‘Mic Fright’. This in no way dismissive of the seriousness of these thoughts and feelings, for which a qualified medical professional should be consulted.
[1] At the Royal Northern College of Music, Professor Jane Ginsborg asks students to write down what it feels like to fall in love, then, much later, write down what it feels like to stand backstage moments before a performance. Love and fear seem like contrasting emotions, but the descriptions most students will write for each are eerily similar. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/08/how-classical-musicians-cope-with-performance-stress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.06.15 – 0896 – Studio Sensitivity Sensitivity to snarkiness Like a physical issue any underlying emotion can also be ‘heard’ in your voice: angry or anxious, stressed or depressed, walking on eggshells or on cloud nine, your voice won’t be natural unless you are ‘centred’. All of these situations manipulate your mindset: how do I feel, how do others see me, am I letting them see the ‘real me’? and will affect your hormones, your physical tension and your body language.  Your emotions might be affected by:A colleague’s clumsy comment: “are you nervous?”A stupid studio soundman: “that’s not quite right, dunno why, can you do it again?”The insensitive intern: “can I just stand behind you and watch?”The flaky friend on the phone: “you care more about your stupid show than you do about me!”The messed-up manager who can’t manage to manage: who only feeds back when you f-up Try and give your ‘mind > body > voice’ connection a ‘reset’ to improve your performance and beat the invisible enemy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.