Master Class Tip 15

Reading Conversationally:
It's A Rhythm Thing

One of the hardest things about reading conversationally is getting the rhythm right, because conversational speech is characterized by lots of rhythmic variety.

When you are working with teleprompter, it's easy to fall into the rut of reading everything at approximately the same speed — and to fall into the trap of "fixing" bad reading by simply going faster or going slower.

The fact is, if you're reading conversationally you will go both fast and slow. The key is knowing how to work back and forth between the two.

In the clip below, CNN's Gerri Willis does a great job reading easily and naturally. Notice these things:

• The pace is generally aggressive. Overall, she moves pretty quickly through the copy. This is consistent with most conversational speech. We speak pretty rapidly, building momentum to the points we want to emphasize.
  
  
• She uses emphases to slow the pace. When she comes to an important word or phrase she makes a real commitment to emphasizing it — and the effect is to slow her down just a bit. So when varies the pace the changes are content-driven, just like they would be in conversation.
  
  
• She varies her approach to emphases. Sometimes she just hits the word a little harder than the words around it. Sometimes she draws the word out. Sometimes she changes pitch level dramatically. (Note how she almost "sings" her response to one question.")
  
  
• Her conversation reinforces the headlines in the lower third, it doesn't mimic them. So the impression is that she is talking about each headline and not just reading it.
  
  
• She breaks eye contact from time to time. When you do this effectively, it is as if you are looking away to gather a thought, just as you would in everyday conversation.

CNN anchor Heidi Collins is also worth study here. Note how she reacts from off camera a couple of times, in effect reminding us that she is there and she is listening.

As always, let us know what you think. In difficult and confusing times like these, when more and more people turn to help them make sense of things, your ability to communicate powerfully and authentically is more important than ever.

We'd love to hear what is working for you! If you have additional questions or thoughts, please contact us.

Be sure to ask us about TCC's Desktop Coach, the industry's first online talent development system for News Directors. Call Jonathan Knopf at 214-520-2000 for more information.