Conversation about anchor personality almost always focuses on reaction to stories – how the anchors choose to react, or not, as they manage the transitions from one story to the next. But, from a performance standpoint, the most critical point in their stories is not at the end -- but at the beginning. Why? Most anchors say far more about themselves in their leads to stories than in their tags:

The lead reveals whether they really know what they’re talking about. We have yet to meet an anchor who reads as well cold as she does when she has studied the story ahead of time. That’s because her ability to truly demand attention depends on knowing why attention to the story matters. Everything about her – voice, body language, the look in her eye – will be more commanding when she knows what you’re going for and why.

The lead reveals their level of sensitivity to viewer emotions. When her demeanor in the lead communicates the emotional quality of what’s coming, viewers get the pleasure of anticipation as well as reaction. And when what’s coming is unpleasant, she demonstrates that she’s paying attention and is sensitive to how the story will feel to them. Essentially, the lead is her opportunity to react to the story before it runs.

The lead reveals their understanding of the viewer’s perspective. The most powerful leads compel because they showcase the relevance of the story to the viewer. She is much more likely to attract viewer attention – and respect – when she consistently demonstrates that she knows how and why stories are relevant to them.

So, in a nutshell, the lead is your anchor’s opportunity to prove to viewers 1) that she knows what’s coming, 2) she knows why the story matters, and 3) she knows how viewers are likely to feel about it. To make the most of your newscast leads, we recommend you coach your anchors on these preparation disciplines daily:

Identify the emotional focus of every story. From the beginning, even before you speak, your demeanor should clearly communicate whether each story is generally positive, serious, negative, or light. For extra credit, assign it a specific emotion from one of 2500 adjectives in the Random House Dictionary (troubling, curious, skeptical, poignant). Once you’ve made this choice, the question is simply how committed you’re willing to support it on the air.

Mark the words and phrases that most deserve emphasis. This is the quickest way to assess if an anchor knows what she’s talking about. You may get lucky from time to time, but you cannot deliver a consistently powerful performance if you haven’t made these specific choices for every story. This is a powerful and important practice for anchors at all levels of experience and ability (translation: very experienced anchors occasionally need this the most).

Get clear about any relationship the lead story has to what comes later. Often, the sense and power of a lead depends on your understanding of the way it fits into the flow of the overall newscast and in particular the story immediately following it.

Finally, here’s a leading question: what do you think? Contact us and let us know your thoughts on anchor leads or any other performance topic.