Recently a veteran radio personality hired me to critique his show.
His identity and the critique are confidential.
But he followed up with a few questions that are broad enough to share with you.
Beginning with this one.
Less Announcer-y
I told him his longtime radio training was holding him back; he sounds like an “announcer” rather than a human being. Very smooth, polished…but not human.
(Hint: People to relate to other people, not to announcers.)
His follow-up:
This is tough…been working on it this week and frankly, I think I talk in regular conversations this way (lol)…I have worked on sounding so smooth for so long…I think I talk this way now, I have total strangers tell me every day “you should be on the radio.” After your comment, I’m starting to think this may be a bad thing. Any suggestions???
My Reply:
It will take time.
The fact that people tell you you should be on the radio suggests that to them you sound like a “radio announcer” — which is what you need to evolve beyond. That deeply ingrained habitual smoothness puts up a barrier between you and the individual listener.
Suggestion: Record yourself talking on the phone for, say, two weeks.
I don’t mean you should wiretap your conversations. Just put a mic next to your phone and have it record you whenever you talk to a non-business acquaintance (family member, close friend, etc.).
Then listen to those recordings and see if your tone differs from the one you use on-air.
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Took me weeks to learn how to talk like a radio announcer. It’s taking me decades to learn how not to.
Worst thing you could hear is someone telling you to act “Normal” when you say something, not that affected, dramatic way.
It’s like saying, “Here, this… this is love”. Then, after, everything is more, or less, approaching or falling away from, but will NEVER be exactly that unit of measure.
I know folks who grew up in Ivy League homes, and people who grew up in tenements who speak beautifully, with meaning, depth, feeling, and a pacing that’s pleasant with a base undertone of kindness and interest.
I also know people who learned radio-ese who can’t back off. They BELIEVE that they improved TO that level.
A few years ago in Houston, I got a callback on an audtion. It was a 15-sec. TV voiceover for Remco–one of those, pay-by-the-week, appliance rental stores. Well, it was a big deal beacause it was an annual at scale, so I was pretty elated. I had been taking lots of VO classes, including from Jerry Houston and Bob Macgruder–two of the best VO coaches in the biz, learning how not to sound “announcer-y” I gave it my best “real voice” read, only to have them stop me on take two. I noticed the director talking to the engineer and her assistant in the booth, and looking puzzled. The engineer popped the talkback and the Director said, “Uh…can you please do it like you did on your reel? Like an announcer…puke it and read it a lot faster…over the top, please.” Thankfully I was able to revert to my bad habit quite easily and I kept the gig for a year and a half!
Wow. One professional who works in radio tells another radio professional not to sound like he works in radio. What is the world coming to.
We disagree. Just like a singer can sing many genres of music, a professional voice can announce copy in many different ways. The non-professional cannot do this. Listen to most professional radio or tv spots or film trailers and tell me how many people you know who speak like that off mike.
It is getting old hearing the silly notion that professional voice actors are wrong. Who says so? Whatever the director asks for is where the money is. My ears hurt from all the ‘real’ people doing unlistenable reads. Now that is wrong.
A stereotype by any other name….
@Mitch: This was not a critique of a voice actor’s performance. There was no read, no director. It was a critique of a radio personality’s on-air delivery when attempting to communicate personally and casually with his listeners.
That is very true advice Dan. I remember I was told by a PD many many years ago when I sounded ‘jocky’ on air to put a telephone next to the microphone while I was on air. With hesistation, I tried this.. and before long, I was talking like I was ‘on the phone’ on air, not talking like a radio jock. It looks stupid when people walk past the studio.. but that’s radio for ya!