One
of the most effective ways to structure a live shot — and
ensure a strong and conversational performance — is to map
your conversation and movement using environmental “touch
points.”
 A
touch point is simply something in your reporting landscape that
you can see and move toward and talk about. String a series of
these points together, and you have everything you need to tell
a compelling visual story without the worry of memorizing copy.
You simply look, let the touch point prompt you, then look again
and move on to the next point when you’re done.
The link below features a live lead by Ross Cavitt, long-time
reporter at WSB-TV, in Atlanta. Using the environment to guide
them, Cavitt and his photographer turn what would have been a
garden-variety lead in most hands into an energized, easy-to-remember,
captivating statement.
He does almost all of those things we noted in last
week’s piece. In particular:
-
He speaks with his entire body. Notice how
large and open his gestures are — entirely appropriate
to the story he’s telling and the landscape he’s
in. Everything around him is big, he’s in a big space,
and he needs to be big to fill it. Also note how he doesn’t
just gesture to the trash container. He touches it.
-
He makes — and breaks — eye contact.
He does exactly what we all tend to do in conversation. We make
good contact, we look away from time to time to think or to
reference something in the environment, and then we make contact
again.
-
His voice is as animated as his physical presentation.
Listen to him speak with your eyes closed. Note the variety
in the pitch and pace of his voice. It works because it’s
absolutely consistent with the other dynamics of his performance.
-
And he integrates a prop, adding an additional
visual dimension to make his point right before he tosses to
the package.
This
is bona fide standout work. Plenty of talent would have thought
to stand in front of the trash container or in the parking lot.
Few would have done what Ross did — finding a way to integrate
both, energize and motivate his delivery, and reinforce the message
that supports it.
Until
then, 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 look for the information
on free coaching on TCC’s homepage.
Or,
contact Barry Nash at
any time to learn more. Just be sure to put Talent Coaching in
the subject line of your message.
|
