Getting past performance — no matter how perfect and polished — and into a real conversation with viewers is the brass ring of on-air performance. Many reach for it, but few grasp and make it their own.

One key is the conversational context you create in your own mind for each story you read or report. In other words, imagine a certain kind of conversation with the viewer and you’re much more likely to have it.

Try this:

Grab a couple of pages of copy, and head into the studio with them loaded into the prompter. First, read the copy the way you would all the way through. Then, say these words before EACH sentence: "As we both know...". Finally, think but don't say the words as you read the copy.

The "we both" is designed to connect you to the viewer that is, in effect, the camera. The "know" is designed to put the story into the context of shared knowledge that you're recounting matter-of-factly, naturally, as you would in conversation with a friend.

You'll notice that you'll have difficulty saying some of the lines or parts of the lines when they're preceded by "as we both know". This is because they're written differently than you would say them, that is, the way you would generate them as in a conversation.

When that happens, you can either ad lib your way through those lines (a bit risky), or rewrite them as you would say them (much better).

Speak those words with conviction, and at the same relaxed volume level you’d normally use in conversation, and you’ll soon find yourself talking to viewers and instead of performing for them.

And they’ll soon find themselves wanting to see and hear a lot more of you!