Unfiltered Thoughts

2022.05.10 – 0495 – 17 - Lead in Lines 17 - Lead in LinesBy creating the atmosphere of a conversation, it’s easier to pretend you’re in one.
Most commercial copy sets up a problem, and then provides a product, brand or service as a potential solution. For example, “Want to get your laundry whiter than white?” After that you will presume that the answer will be “Yes I do, but how?” Acting is re-acting to the response that you got. You are having a conversation albeit a one-sided one. Do that and you will sound less robotic.
Sometimes I like to surprise my friends by calling them up and just launching into a conversation. No preamble of “how are you?”, “have you got a moment?” or “I wanted to tell you about so and so…”. I may, as soon as they answer, simply say “You free Sunday?” or “Unbelievable!”. It throws them, because I’ve destroyed the ‘conversational expectation’.
Similarly, if you start a script-read going straight into the first sentence, then mentally you are unprepared. It’s unnatural to just say “The all-new Pontiac Mercury has all-round safety buffer zones” or “Got a stubborn stain that you just can’t shift?” or “The port of Dover is closed tonight and hundreds of lorries and their drivers are queued-up through Kent…”. Logically and naturally, you need to have a reason to start saying those things, ‘permission’ if you like, from your listener, to get into the ‘zone tone’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.09 – 0494 – 16 - Rhythm Nation 16 - Rhythm NationA formal script will sound ‘script perfect’. Each phrase and sentence will come with the regularity of waves on a shore, every one much like the previous one. Think perhaps of a documentary style of presentation or an announcer. It sounds like a script has been written, read, rehearsed and recorded.  But that’s not how we speak in real life. In real life our utterances have ebb and flow. We don’t really talk in sentences at all, but a series of phrases, of different lengths, with rises and falls in pitch and intonation, and yes with pauses as we search for the right word and stumbles as we correct ourselves. As though you’re discovering the thoughts as they occur to you.  Your story will have natural pacing if the thoughts and feeling in your script or story influence how you express them. Listeners should be able to hear different rhythms as the thoughts and feelings unfold. A ‘read read’ tends to be quite consistent and definite. A natural conversational read has more variety, more ebb and flow.  What are the rhythms?·        Some words and ideas should come quickly, while others - usually the important words – will take more time, more care and deliberation. As we search for the word, there’s a suspension or a stumble.·        There should be natural pauses between thoughts – after all, even though you can’t see your audience and have no verbal or facial feedback from them, it is still a dialogue and not a monologue that you are trying to achieve. And what a pause does, is that it creates a moment when they can inject their own thought, or nod or a nod or a shake of the head. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.08 – 0493 – Sounding Like An ExpertBe conscious of how you sound when you explain something to a friend and try and capture that feeling, mood, zone and so on to sound conversational on air.Here’s an example[1] Read the following aloud as if you are reading it to someone:
“The future behaviour of America as the current lone superpower is terribly important to China not only because America can disrupt China's vision of a harmonising world by doing its own thing in the Middle East and elsewhere, but also because a recession in the American economy (caused by debt, deficits etc) would immediately have a knock-on effect on the Chinese economy.” Now read it as it is written below but·        Pause for a breath at ‘…’ ·        Intonate a word when it’s in bold·        Speak more quickly where words-are-run-together·        Slow down where a phrase has underlining "The future behaviour of *America* as the *current lone superpower* is … *terribly important to China* … not only because America can disrupt China's vision of a … harmonising world by … doing pretty-much its own thing in the-Middle-East-and-elsewhere … but also because a recession in the *American* economy would of course immediately have a knock-on effect on the *Chinese* economy.” Just by pausing and emphasising certain words and changing the pace you now sound as if you’re thinking about what you’re saying; as if you’re drawing on your vast general knowledge of China’s macroeconomic policies. You’ve also been bit sneaky and thrown in a word or two: “pretty-much” and “of course”, suggesting you’re familiar with the economic relationship between the US and China.
[1] From https://www.mindofafox.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.07 – 0492 – 15 - Pausing 15 - PausingPut pauses in different places - as you ‘search’ for the right word or phrase (just don’t make it too often). These may be silent, or vocalised (“errr”). I have heard (but been unable to verify) that Ira Glass the producer/presenter of the podcast “This American Life”, does not use commas or full stops/periods in his scripts … he uses ellipses. When you listen to him, he sounds as though he is talking and yet he’s actually reading … phrase to phrase to phrase. And with ellipses you can decide how long the pause should be: a beat, a pregnant pause or suspension before the final phrase…
If it sounds as though you are reading an item, you are doing it wrong. You should sound as though you are telling a friend something of interest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.06 – 0491 – 14 - Gestures 14 - GesturesBig gestures and facial expressions can be ‘over the top’ in a conversational presentation. Reign them back to sound more real and believable. But still keep doing some kind of gestures. ‘Talking with your hands’ will help you talk with your voice. Sitting on them will make you sound stilted. Don’t be afraid to smile or laugh where appropriate, shake your head as you read something worrying or surprising. Use ‘air quotes’ to help you lift certain words or phrases and give you the micro-beat to set it apart from the rest of the read. If you are in a voiceover booth and the script shows your character is in a bar, then lean on the edge of the desk as though that’s exactly where you are, with a drink in hand, to get your voice where it would sound in that situation.  Incorporating even minor physicality will subtly engage your voice to sound more authentic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.05 – 0490 – 13 - Conversational Intonation 13 - Conversational IntonationFlattening out your intonation (but keeping it in the correct place) will, usually make your sound more conversational and move away from the ‘announcery sound’, or as though you’re on stage or to a room full of people. Look back at the section when I brought you the barbecue story and how you change your intonation and loudness levels depending on who you are talking to, how familiar you are with them, how many people there, where they are in relationship to you, and the subject matter. As we saw before, we often either going up at the end of a sentence (to indicate a question or hesitancy or an incomplete thought), or down (showing certainty and finality). But in a conversational read, your sentence inflection at the end is somewhere right in between those. It's in the middle: "It's the best floor mop on the market." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.04 – 0489 – 12 - Volume and projection
12 - Volume and projectionA conversational read is low key, subtle, friendly, authentic and so the voice you need is one of sharing not shouting. You need to engage not enrage. It’s a ‘closer’ voice, one you use when someone is near you and when you are giving calm and reassuring help or advice. Not the voice you use from the other side of a crowded pub when you spot a ‘long lost’ schoolfriend.  
Consider either taking your headphones off altogether or taking just one ‘ear’ of the headphones (that is, moving the cup from one ear slightly to nearer the back of your head). Doing this will help you hear yourself naturally rather than through the artificial construct of the microphone, and its boosted-level of every breath and mouth click, and through the headphones. You’ll be concentrating more on what you’re saying and who you are saying them too, rather than how you sound. If you hear yourself as you usually do naturally, then there’s a good chance you will talk more naturally too. (Obviously in a recording session you will need at least one ear on so you can hear directions from a producer. And in a live radio studio you need at least one ear on to hear any other source that you bring ins, such as music, or a caller…)  Let the microphone do the work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.03 – 0488 – The ‘Word Merge’As we saw much earlier, stringing words together can be good because talking too precisely leads to a clunky script. Another issue is, and again we touched on this before, the ‘glottal stop’ – where the last letter of one word is the same as the next word starts with:·        You never forget your first time·        It’s often a good idea to keep pet insurance·        It’s silky smooth and soft to touch·        It’s a red danger zone·        She’s the Parks Supervisor I’m sure you can think of several more examples, where saying the words ‘properly’ would cause a mini-pause mid-flow and a clunky read. Did you spot where they were in the sentences above? I’ve underlined them for you:·        You never forget your first time·        It’s often a good idea to keep pet insurance·        It’s silk smooth and soft to touch·        It’s a red danger zone ·        She’s the Parks Supervisor If saying those sentences spontaneously, we’d naturally merge the two words together:·        You never forget your firs-time·        It’s often a good idea to kee-pet insurance·        It’s silk smooth and sof-to touch·        It’s a re-danger zone (although you may separate ‘red’ and ‘danger’ to make it clear that it’s not an ‘amber’ zone for example, as the context suggests the information is important)·        She’s the Park-Supervisor (although you may separate ‘Parks’ and Supervisor’ to make it clear that she is the supervisor of several parks – Parks’ Supervisor - rather than one – Park Supervisor.) Remember, remove some letters to keep a smooth flow, to be ‘conversationally clear’, as long as that style fits with the request, the target audience and the brand. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.02 – 0487 – 11 - Contractions and Elisions
11 - Contractions and ElisionsEnsure you have natural conversational contractions in your delivery: “they’ll”, “couldn’t” and (if appropriate for your programme or podcast) “coz”, “wanna”. (Obviously check with a director for ‘signed off’ scripts that you can make these kinds of changes.)
We saw earlier how elision makes a read sound more natural. That is, the slight running on of words into one another, with a less choppy presentation that comes with sounding, each, individual, word. In English, we often don’t say a word exactly as it is spelt, because we want to sound natural and fluent for a way to make your read conversational, ‘every-day-of-the-week’ kind of read.
For instance, look back at that previous sentence:·        Not everyone pronounces the ‘t’ in “often” (and say “offen” instead).·        Hardly anyone would say “exactly” with a clear ‘t’’, but smooth it out to say “exacly”·        We are likely to say “nd” or “n” rather than “and” (how do you really say “fish and chips”? I bet it’s close to “fishnchips”? ·        “For a” is often said “frer”·        “Your” could be changed to “yer”·        “Every” is said “evry”·        “Day of” would become “day’ve”, “kind of” changes to “kind’ve” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.05.01 – 0486 – A ‘Stream Of Consciousness’Ad-libbing is a way to inject some personality into a read, to humanise it. You’re not supposed to be just releasing the words, you are meant to be like the listener, so (if allowed) make the script your own, different and interesting. In the ‘stream of consciousness’ that makes a script sound conversational, maybe:·        Chuckle - as though something just occurred to you “Pfff – remember when you were as young as your grandkids are now…?”·        Ponder – if you’re confused by something – “Eh, why is it that with more tech, the world just seems to get more complicated?”·        Laugh – “and you know what, with this medication, life feels yeahhhhh!, great again!”  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.