"Just read like you're talking to me".

This familiar plea of news directors is well intentioned advice for all on-air performers. But it's easier said than done. Conversational reads elude most young anchors and reporters and can hold back even seasoned pros from truly breakthrough performances. Why is it so hard to achieve?

You don't read aloud like you speak. When you read written language aloud, even language you wrote, you use a small part of your cerebral cortex over your left ear -- and very little else. It's just a processor: garbage in, garbage out. Which is why people sound so weird even when they read aloud stories they're familiar with. But when you generate language, as in speaking in conversation, you use many parts of your brain. And that hooks you up to what really creates conversational delivery: emphases.

More than other languages, the American language uses emphasis to give meaning to words. To illustrate this, read this sentence 5 times but emphasize a different word each time:

Barry gave Gary his money.

The meaning of sentences changes dramatically depending on the word(s) you emphasize. But the system isn't foolproof. Notice how the money could be Barry's or Gary's even when you emphasize HIS. Your brain resolves issues like these with grammar and construction, as in, Barry gave Gary his money BACK.

Emphases are most often used to signal newness or contrast with something that came before. Because spoken language is sequential, one word after another, one sentence after another, you tend to emphasize the new thing or the different thing in your sequence of thoughts. The emphases in these second sentences are driven by the meaning in the first, in other words, what came before:

BARRY gave Gary his money. But none of Gary's OTHER friends DID.

Barry GAVE Gary his money. And he didn't even ask for an IOU.

Barry gave GARY his money. Which irritated Barry's OTHER friends bigtime.

Barry gave Gary HIS money. Now Gary can afford to EAT, or, Gary is happy to have it BACK.

Barry gave Gary his MONEY. But NOT his APPROVAL.

Here are ways to achieve more conversational reads through emphases.

Write as you speak: with emphases. Remember, you're preparing thoughts to relate, not writing words to read. So speak the sentence and listen for your emphases. You can check your choices by asking whether the emphasis you’ve chosen implies the contrast you intend with what came before. "What the press secretary DIDN'T say was how the bill would be rewritten." "What the press secretary didn't say was HOW the bill would be REwritten." What the PRESS SECRETARY didn't say... And so on.

Electronically mark your copy for emphases. By linking prompter to closed captioning, the industry killed off a a valuable tool for anchors and reporters to mark their prompter copy with caps or asterisks. We recommend putting those marks back in. First, there are very few hearing impaired viewers using the system. Second, the marked emphases help them understand the copy better because they can't hear spoken emphases!

Hand mark your paper script for emphases. Review your markings in down times on the desk or when you look down to your script mid story.

Tap out or gesture for emphases when you're reading. This is critical. When you think about it, the push in your torso when you emphasize a word is a gesture. It's just that you don't move your hands. Research has shown that gestures usually precede speech. For evidence of this, wag your finger as you scold an imaginary pooch with, "Bad dog!" Notice how far your arm and your hand had to move before you spoke the B in "Bad". Researchers say that the movement actually leads the changes in rhythm that characterize conversational speech.

On prompter, read the second line from the top. All human beings read ahead. The higher the line on the prompter screen, the more opportunity you have to see pauses, punctuation and breathing times ahead.

Break gaze with the prompter frequently. Even this momentary act makes you read ahead as you transition to the copy or back to the prompter. Even in this short time span, speaking from memory forces you to ditch the processor and speak with the rest of your brain, ras in conversation. Be careful not to break the audio track between lookdowns and looks up. It should be as though you seamlessly speak as you glance briefly at your watch.

Finally, duh, know what you're talking about. This means not just being familiar with the copy itself but with the context of the story behind it. Even on a cold read, emphases come easier with knowledge of context. But on a read where you know more about the story than anyone in the newsroom, you can react to that story BEFORE you begin speaking. For details, see "Staying Sharp Story by Story" elsewhere in Thinking Out Loud.