Get A Better Broadcast, Podcast and Voice-Over Voice

2021.10.28 – 0301 – More Intonation Confusion In a news item about the Kashmir earthquake, one presenter said that she was going to speak to “ someone who was in the country [Pakistan] at the time of the earthquake ”. But she highlighted “ country ”, which made it seem that this person had gone off to a quiet rural retreat. The new and newsworthy information is that that person being spoken to was...

2021.10.27 – 0300 – 8 – Beware of Potential Intonation Confusion   We have already seen how colouring different words in a sentence leads to a change in meaning of that sentence.   Therefore, if you colour the  wrong word, the meaning of the sentence becomes wrong too.   In 2021 there was a lack of lorry drivers in the UK which hit distribution companies and threatened to lead...

2021.10.26 – 0299 – 7 – Take Notice Of What Is Implied   When no contrast is implied There are some phrases in which to colour one part over another, suggests a contrast that does not or cannot exist.   On occasion you are able to rewrite the sentence so the anomaly disappears:   “Police have found a dead body on wasteland in the city centre”.   A ‘body’ in this context is by s...

2021.10.25 – 0298 – Purposeful Mis-Intonation It’s similar in this e-learning script: “Human beings inhales mainly oxygen and exhales mainly carbon dioxide…” – we might normally say ex-HALE, but because of its contrast with an earlier word we say EX-hale.   And on this government website: “… whether it’s national or international trade…” – instead of the more usual pronunciation of inter-NATI...

2021.10.24 – 0297 – 6 – Shades of Colour In your ‘vocal palette’ you: ·        slightly colour new information… ·        give slightly more colour to the first part of contrasting information… ·        and slightly more again to the second part of contrasting information.  ...

2021.10.23 – 0296 – Guiding The Listener It’s a complicated explanation, and your intonation will help the listener through who is doing what with who and when. And that of course is the point of intonation – to signpost the sense of a story.   Here’s another example. Read it aloud naturally and then look at the construction and with what you know so far, work out the contrasts and there...

2021.10.22 – 0295 – Contrasts Within Contrasts Let’s make it a bit more fun, because sometimes there’s more than one contrast, or contrasts within contrasts!   “Some dealerships give you a free vehicle wash with every service, we give an internal valet too … with every service and every winter tyre change.” Note the contrasts between “ some dealerships ” and “ we ” … “ free vehicle wash...

2021.10.21 – 0294 – 5 – Look For The Balance Look for the fulcrum in the story – what balances one side of it with another.   A story is often a story because the arc is based around an axis-point: ‘while this is happening over here, that’s happening over there . . .’, or ‘he says this, but she says that’. In your head you probably just read that sentence, slightly lifting the words “ this ”,...

2021.10.20 – 0293 – 4 – How Long Before An Old Idea Is New Again Yeah, good point. I mean, if you’re reading a longer script, a word, term or idea may keep reappearing. You can’t subdue every subsequent reference to it just because you said it two paragraphs or pages before.   Indeed not.   It becomes a new idea when other information has been introduced subsequently and taken the listen...

2021.10.19 – 0292 – 3 – Synonyms: simple and advanced We looked at the basic synonyms earlier. This is when “ the Prime Minister ” is then referred to as “ she ”, or “ The Green Fingered Gardening Group ” is called “ the business ”. And we discussed how, just because it’s a different word, the idea is still old: that person, organisation or idea has already been introduced and so a further referen...

2021.10.18 – 0291 – ‘Reading In’   In broadcast newsrooms, the person who writes the introduction to a story (the cue) may not be the person who goes on and actually records the script of the story itself. That’s because larger newsrooms might have specialist writer and those who are on-air. In smaller newsrooms it’s because the newsreader (who will read the cue on air) is usually the person...

2021.10.17 – 0290 – Grades Of Lifting And Subduing You will remember the musical stave earlier, and realise that it’s not a matter of rising up from and down to your ‘home tone’ of intonation, in many cases you need to go below that tone to ‘un-colour’ or ‘subdue’ a word or phrase, such is its insignificance.   I have used the word ‘subtle’ and ‘nuanced’ before, and that is deliberate, becaus...

2021.10.16 – 0289 – Subduing Old Information: Examples Let’s look at the idea of subduing old information with a few more examples: ·         “The England football captain and other members of the team” – you would not highlight “ team ” as you have suggested that is what you’re referring to (with the use of the words “ captain ” and “ other members ”), and...

2021.10.15 – 0288 – When Information Is Implied   VOICE BOX   This subduing of old information also, as I mentioned before, goes for information which – although never explicitly said – is implied:   A large fire has broken out at a coffin makers in Strabane, County Tyrone. The Northern Ireland Fire Service is at the blaze at O'Doherty's on Railway Street. Julie Journo reports. &nbs...

2021.10.14 – 0287 – The Synonym Intonation Substitution.  Here’s a quick way to work out whether you should be ‘colouring a synonym’: simply put into effect The Synonym Intonation Substitution.    This is: take a word or phrase that you think may be a synonym for something you have already said, and replace it with that first mention.  Then read those same sentences again – wit...

2021.10.13 – 0286 – What To Do About Synonyms The same goes when synonyms (other words which have the same meaning) are used: ·         “A man’s been stabbed on Epsom Common. He was attacked as he walked on wasteland near the Wells estate.” o  Colour “ stabbed ” as this is new information, but un-colour “ attacked ” as it is a synonym. The same pri...

2021.10.12 – 0285 – 2 - Un-colour Old Information Unimportant or old information (that is, detail which is already known or presumed to be known), can be ‘thrown away’ in your delivery and does not need to be highlighted. It can stay on your level tone or subdued.    “ The crash was between two cars. The blue car hit the red car .” We just saw how you would naturally slightly highlight “...

2021.10.11 – 0284 – What Are Meaningful Words?   VOICE BOX Meaning-ful words These are the words which help make the story, the story. They are the ‘magic key’ words to help the listener understand what is being said, rather than the (usually) shorter, more common words which are the ‘glue’ that holds the sentences together.   When talking conversationally, we instinctively lift these ke...

2021.10.10 – 0283 – 1 - Colour Important New Information   Here are then, some keys to a good read.   1 – Colour Important New Information In ad-libbed speaking we naturally highlight the detail that ‘makes the story, the story’ – the information that is new and important, the facts that we want to draw attention to, and which propel the message… the ‘meaning-ful’ words and phrases. &nbs...

2021.10.09 – 0282 – Intentional Intonation THE GUIDE to INTENTIONAL INTONATION Your intonation education and behaviour modification, starts here! Accurate intonation is the most important of all elements in spoken delivery. It allows your message to be communicated with precision. There is no point in reading if your listeners don’t understand the meaning. If you have any doubt in ‘how to read out...

2021.10.08 – 0281 – Emma’s Story If you understand the sense of the story, why it is relevant and interesting, then you stand a better chance of making it compelling when you read it.   Put yourself in the place where the story happened, see it as you read it to add to your conviction… – like Emma, the travel reporter…   I was called in by the manager of a radio station to train his trav...

2021.10.07 – 0280 – - How to Sound Like You Know What You’re Talking About. - How to sound like you know what you’re talking about. You can do this by actually knowing what you’re talking about. (You can’t fake sincerity.) If you don’t know the meaning of what you’re reading, then how will you will be able to convey the meaning to your audience? Good comprehension leads to good intonation. If you...

2021.10.06 – 0279 – The Bus Driver Analogy If you have ‘randomisation of intonation’ then it’s like travelling on a bus with a driver who keeps clipping the curb. You get so caught up with hanging on to the seat that you’re not ‘hanging onto their every word’. Your listeners have to be reassured where you are going with a script, so they can ‘enjoy the view’ of the message. That way they forget ab...

2021.10.05 – 0278 – Intonation Is Easier If… ‘Read intonation’ becomes easier if you: ·        Understand the message of the script or story ·        Realise its significance – if you are interested you will sound interesting ·        Know who the intended listener is · &nbs...

2021.10.04 – 0277 – Nervous Newbies This person is a beginner in reading, perhaps live on air. Their problem is that they start their read not on their ‘home pitch’ but one or two octaves higher, which means that when they need to intonate a word using a slightly higher pitch there’s little head room to move in to. It can sound painful for humans to hear – although dogs may be able to!   As w...