There are few things that inspire viewer loyalty like great anchor chemistry, and nothing proves chemistry like the way anchors listen to each other.

Learning how to share the screen and listen attentively and appreciatively to a coanchor is as important as learning how to read with conversational conviction. An anchor who truly knows how to listen knows how to raise the level of viewer respect and appreciation for everyone at the newsdesk, including himself.

Great listening is powerful because it 1) proves the anchor is comfortable enough with her own authority that she can relax and let others take center stage and 2) viewers assume the way the anchor treats his coanchor is the way he would treat them. Show respect for the person sitting next to you, and viewers assume you would show respect to them. In fact, few things say as much about your role and personality as the way you listen on the air.

Follow these steps to begin listening more powerfully, and reaping the related benefits, on your next newscast:

• On the 2-shot, sit at a distance that gives you room to listen and move comfortably. You both look more comfortable when you sit slightly farther apart. You should be able to look at and listen to your coanchor comfortably, and without leaning away. In fact, when you give yourself space to lean in, the position becomes a choice and reinforces your work as a team. And there is room to move and gesture as you address your coanchor and the camera.
  
  
• Keep the two-shot symmetrical. You and your coanchor should be sitting at the same angle, and you should both be angled toward the center of the screen.
  
  
• Manage your eye contact like you would in normal three-way conversation. In general, this means you should spend most of your time looking at whomever is speaking, but checking in with the other “listeners” (in this case, the camera) to support the conversation as a shared experience. There is no exact formula for this. The best anchors learn to feel what’s right. One key: when you do look at the camera, be sure to look long enough to feel that you actually have made a connection, just as you would if a person were standing there instead.
  
  
• Relax and react. Being in emotional synch with your coanchor is more important than always having something clever to say.
  
  
• Assign responsibility for the transition to whatever is next. When you and your coanchor have agreed ahead of time who will be responsible for moving the newscast to whatever is next, you can both relax and focus on the interaction that leads up to the transition.
  
  
• Allow your gestures to flow out of the gestures of your coanchor. Communications experts call this “interactional synchrony.” Teams with good chemistry have it. Teams with no chemistry don’t.
  
  
• Match your volume level to your coanchor’s. And avoid changing it dramatically when you transition to talk to the camera.
  
  

If you have any additional thoughts or questions about any of this, we’d love to hear from you.

The Coaching Company offers a day of free coaching to stations that have never used our services. If you work for a station that would benefit from the industry’s best training, ask your News Director to contact us about free coaching.