Unfiltered Thoughts

2022.04.10 – 0465 – Your Audience Reminder That person should be:·        A specific person·        A real person – so not a character in a film·        Someone to whom you have some connection – so not a celebrity·        Not someone who might be disapproving or with whom you have a parent /child relationship – such as your actual parent! ·        Not someone who is too supportive and in whose eyes you can do no wrong – so again, maybe not a parent·        Someone you know well and respect – such as a sister, uncle, old university lecturer·        Someone who is encouraging and can give constructive feedback and who will be interested in what you are saying – like… well, that’s up to you! It’ll be a different for each of us depending on who we know and our relationship with them·        If you can’t have a real person who you know, then have a clear idea of your ‘composite listener’ But ideally it will be someone to whom the message you are giving will have some kind of resonance, someone who will find it interesting and of use. Your aunt may fit the criteria above, but it’s no good ‘talking to her’ if you’re in a voice-over booth trying to sell a new pair of sneakers. If you are lecturing to a theatre of undergrad chemists, it’s probably not helpful to picture your grandmother. If you are speaking with a board, then it may not be appropriate to picture an undergrad chemist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.04.09 – 0464 – 4 – Talk To Them One To One 
4 – Talk To Them One To OnePart of feeling comfortable is also being able to continually monitor the audience, their face, body language and voice for signs of agreement or understanding, or other emotions such as disgust, anger, humour or enthusiasm. But that’s difficult when we are in an environment such as a studio, or with a microphone pointed towards us recording every word we say. Or to a camera or to an auditorium of people. Or when the event is being recorded and there’s no live audience anyway. There is no single person who we can talk to, and we get nothing from the ‘feedback loop’ when we speak to tell us how the message is being received and whether it needs to be altered in some way.  If we are not comfortable then we are to some extent likely to be nervous and nerves cause tension which can be felt in the body and heard in the voice. Nervous tension can muddle the message. So, to be conversational, don’t talk to the microphone or think of the huge number of people listening or watching, just be yourself and imagine talking with one single person - perhaps like you’re talking on the phone to them. (After all, most people listen to audio while they are alone.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.04.08 – 0463 – 3 - Know Who Your Audience Is  3 - Know Who Your Audience IsWhether it’s a news bulletin for a radio station, a YouTube video or a voice over, you need to know who you are talking to. We have already seen how we change our voice, tone, language, speed … everything! – when we speak to different people in our everyday life. So we need to do it with a script as well.  Your tone and style will need to change so there is no ‘relationship disconnect’: you want to sound appropriate and not be perceived as patronising or too deferential, or too unfeeling or emotional. You won’t engage your audience if you don’t know who it is. That’s from the writing (the angle, the words) to the presentation (speed, tone and so on). Over time you will become adept at adapting to different styles, formats, audiences, stations – a great skill for a freelance scriptwriter or presenter. So, it’s Ok to imagine you are talking to a friend – but not if that friend has no interest in what you are talking about. Instead imagine someone for whom the content is appropriate, who will listen and respond, react and act on the message.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.04.07 – 0462 - 2 - Be Comfortable  2 - Be Comfortable You will sound more natural, conversational and as though talking to a friend, if you are feeling confident and comfortable, warm and relaxed. It’s easy to work your way up to the state of a ‘fairground barker’[1] announcer, but less easy to pull back, step back and sit back, relaxing into a conversational tone. (We have more on how stress affects the voice and how relaxation in your mind and body also relaxes the voice, later in the book/series.)  A lot of ‘sounding good’ is down to confidence. Part of that comes from knowing what you’re reading and being comfortable where you’re sitting. So, take every chance you can to become familiar with the script and the studio. It’ll make you sound so much more relaxed, which will be heard in a more relatable voice. Good preparation and breath control will calm you and you will hold your body more confidently and a natural smile will break out – where appropriate (you don’t want to appear like a Jack Nicholson character about to sneer “Here’s Johnny!”[2]). Relax and react naturally, and your emotions and expressions will follow suit with a relaxed and natural voice and a more conversational style.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barker_(occupation) [2] "Here's Johnny", the catchphrase used by the Jack Nicholson character in the 1980 film ‘The Shining’  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.04.06 – 0461 – 1 - Study Natural Conversations In The Wild
1 - Study Natural Conversations In The WildTo sound conversational, you need to give the impression that you are talking without a script. If the audience has the perception that you are reading pre-written, edited, and rehearsed words then that sheet of paper or computer screen has come between you and the message. You need to give the impression that you are talking to them unimpeded, with adlibbed fluency. If you want to replicate the sound of naturalness in your reading, then it makes sense to study that ‘nature’ in the wild. Listen to other people’s conversations, and monitor your own. How do they speak (is it in sentences?). What is their pace and use of the pause? What is their level of intonation, the rise and fall in pitch of their voice as they speak?
For example, consider the naturalness of talking to a friend, live, perhaps about a great new ‘potential partner’ you just met:·        Your pitch rose when you talked about the excitement of seeing them for the first time.·        It dropped when you mentioned how you got closer for a kiss and a cuddle.·        You spoke faster over the ‘bits you don’t want to mention’ (“anyway one thing led to another and yadda-yadda-yadda…”)·        You elongated words just before describing what happened next, to build drama (“… and the next morrrr-niiiiing….!”)·        And you increased volume and pronunciation to emphasise certain facts (“it was like …. OH. MY. ACTUAL. GOD!”) If you can hear and understand what natural conversation then you will be better able to replicate it in the studio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.04.05 – 0460 – The Keys To Conversationality
THE KEYS TO CONVERSATIONALITY or ‘Tips To Make It Sound Like You’re Making It Up’or ‘ABCDE: A Better Conversational Delivery for Engagement’.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.04.04 – 0459 – Does A Conversational Read Lessen Your Authority? VOICE BOXThe best reads are a combination of intonation, volume, speed, pause, pitch – all slightly dialled up or down depending on the story, the sentence, the word, the situation, the audience… But does being conversational lessen one’s authority? For example, in news reading. Presenting ‘the facts’ you are the voice of authority, the trusted conveyor of important information. But if you sound too official, your message (arguably) won’t be received as well as it might were you to have a more accessible, engaging and authentic style. There’s a balance to be struck:·        Informal formality·        Familiar but not overly·        Relaxed but not lazy·        Loose but in control “Good radio speech should be:Warm but not smarmyFriendly but not intrusive or too cosyClear, but not over-elocuted or preciseNatural but not undisciplined, authoritative but not aggressiveFluent but not unbelievableSympathetic but not patronising”BBC Local Radio Training Manual, 1987 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.04.03 – 0458 – BBC Presentation Advice ‘Be yourself. Keep your style natural, conversational, lively and engaging. Try to help the listener feel they’re part of the discussion. Address the listener in the first person — this is more intimate and encourages a sense of belonging. Use the present tense wherever possible — it gives a sense of immediacy. Five Live vocabulary should be accessible, jargon-free, simple, clear and intelligent. Be careful not to overcomplicate things and don’t be unnecessarily formal in your delivery. Try to avoid becoming too predictable or repetitive, particularly at regular junctions. It’s easy to get into habits such as repeating the same expressions e.g.: “to be fair”, “you know”, “I have to say”, “I mean” or starting your programme, strand or bulletin with exactly the same phrase every day.1BBC Radio Five Live Style Guide Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.04.02 – 0457 – Don’t Be A Micro-Phoney Radio presenters talk to millions of listeners, one at a time and yet the best ones still sound natural. But some new (and young) presenters hide behind an artificial ‘radio persona’ of what they think a presenter ‘should’ sound like. They sound ‘micro-phoney’.  In the following pages/podcasts, learn how to read aloud and sound as though you are not reading, but talking, as though the words are just coming to you spontaneously: Levels 2 and 3 of the guide above. You will learn how to tap into your own natural sound (albeit enhanced with the advice you have heard so far), rather than emulating another broadcaster or celebrity. You will sound truthful, simple and authentic: conversationality without compromising credibility. You will sound relaxed and in control, and the show or script will be an easy listen for your listeners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022.04.01 – 0456 – The ‘Level 1’ Read Level 1Style: A very loose style, more ‘street speak’ perhaps. The style may be almost ‘throwaway’. Further contractions in the script, and the ‘slurring’ of words (not in a drunk style, but meaning looser articulation). The pace may be quite fast, or changeable, the projection might be more, the voice having a variety of tone and life, possibly with some up-tone at the end of sentences, and maybe some other vocalisation such as a chuckle, a sigh, or a stammer. If level 2 is ‘family’, this is ‘two mates with a beer’ or ‘BFFs with a bottle of wine’. It’s certainly not a ‘hard sell’. Brand: Like the other extreme Level this is rarely used, but can be heard in such areas as video games and animations, but unlikely to be heard on air. Level 0Completely flat. No intonation or speed or life. Robotic, Flat and AI-like. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.