Lecture 4: Sound
‘Radio is the theatre of the mind’
Nowadays, because of the way people consume their media, online and legacy media have fluctuated. Radio, however, has remained steady and strong and kept on through the changes. Public radio is thriving in a new environment of podcasts, twitter plugs, and further avenues for audience participation and this medium still keeps its very unique strengths and power.
I very much enjoyed the approach both Richard Fidler and Steve Austin took to convey to us the power and use of sound, most notably from their experiences and careers in radio.
‘Conversations’ presented by Richard Fidler
As I noticed in my media production and usage log, radio listening is a type of media that does not feature heavily if at all within my intake of media. However, the insightful journey that I embarked upon whist listening to the stories of Richard Fidler has sparked a desire in me to delve further into the possibilities of journalism and radio. What Richard noted as imperative was to clearly distinguish the difference between TV as a medium for communication and radio as a medium, understanding that radio stands very much in its own as a powerful medium.
“Radio is a much more intimate medium”, Richard identified, and noted that it allows its audience to take an active part, particularly in his program, ‘Conversations’. It is the job of the presenter to be the facilitator of the conversation keeping it interactive, accessible and inclusive. The skill of radio as a type of media is that it has very individual strengths. When one can flick through TV channels, for example, until being grasped by image and sound, radio, can operate as a part of everyday life; in the car, in the background of the household, and it inspires thinking on the audience’s part thereby internalising their media.
So what makes a good presenter?
It was made apparent that no matter how good the interviewee, how much potential the conversation or story has, the presenter must be animated, enthused and above all interested and sincere in his/her questioning and conversations. The previously mentioned intimacy is conveyed to the audience because the interviewer and interviewee build up a basis of trust and allow the talk and ‘back and forth’ to flow easily. Moreover, it is the presenter’s duty to involve the listener but making the questions and possibilities for rebuttal both accessible and entertaining. Including the listener in radio is a must as it is one of the defining and appealing qualities of radio, competing with the perhaps easily conveyed entertainment on TV.
Richard listed questions he asks himself, such as:
· Is the audience coming on the journey?
· Does the conversation feel natural and comfortable
· Is there integrity in the questions and communication
· Is the interview prepared for? E.g. has pre-production research and pre-interview been undertaken?
All of these points encourage preparedness and trust in the program to run a true course that the interviewer, Interviewee and the audience can all relate to and be comfortable with. These are enabling factors that encourage a sense of sincerity and therefor and personal relationship with the audience.
Richard addresses the presenter’s role as “being a guide through the story” and allowing it to flow to ‘magical’ places where truths are revealed unwittingly. Skills that help to coerce such revelations are:
· Being able to read the moment
· Follow a natural structure of conversation
· Controlling tone, pitch and pace.
As one can imagine, a guest forgetting they are ‘on air’ is a priceless prize for the presenter. A statement Richard made that I particularly liked was “don’t be afraid of silence, silence is powerful”. It is fascinating to think that through this intimate media, a quiet moment could make for news or media history.
I am encouraged by the essential skill of being able to relate to people, empathise and understand what they need. On the talk back segment of the program, for example, Richard notes that possessing the “skill of listening to people” allows the presenter to respond and clear a path for insightful, entertaining, lively involvement from his audience.
Radio reaches out a wide, fairly unrestrictive net, for its demographic. It is engaging for almost anyone who is interested in what’s new and real and who would like to voice their own opinion through a medium with history and years of integrity. This medium helps to facilitate contemporary thinking and understanding in relation to our news and as Richard says, it is a “public service” where the presenter is a here and now story teller.
Steve Austin, ABC local radio
Steve Austin offered some very practical advice in regards to skills to acquire and ways to boost ones career in radio. Supplementary to the skills mentioned by Richard Fidler, Steve adds these to the list:
· Volunteer at community radio
· Train your voice! Annunciation, tone and presentation of speech matter!
· Be yourself
· Be respectful and courteous to your guest
Speaking from experience from his ‘Evenings’ radio program, Steve, identified that at that time of night particularly, you are competing with commercial entertainment. Consequently his news program is an amalgamation of commercial radio and conversation or talk back radio. It needs to be interesting and funny, to have a mix of people on board that have the talent to be entertaining, whether that be the presenter, interviewee or guest.
Steve acknowledges the importance of knowing you audience, not only in relation to what demographic they may fit into, but also their circumstance, for example why are they listening? Some possible factors that influence this are time and place. A late night program for example can be intimate, feature personal stories and show a vulnerability to cater for an audience that is inviting radio into their ‘down time’. Steve suggests that the human voice and human ear are interconnected, ‘married’ even. Therefore, it is up to the presenter to engage them with what they want to hear and to do it with truth and skill. An ear can tell when it is fake and can tell when you’re lying and when you reveal a truth.
A great rule to follow, Steve says is “don’t do anything on radio that you wouldn’t do in real life.” Pretty straight forward, that one! If one happens to be probing in real life however, it is in a programs prerogative to get people frustrated to get them to pick up that phone!
Although sound is the power in radio, that does not necessarily mean a talkative presenter is a good presents. Steve implores us to talk less and listen more! This affirms the respect you have for your guest and again allows free flowing and human, emotional responses and answers to come forth.
Truth and serenity is power.
Both our interesting hosts of this lecture are positive that Radio is surging. People being time poor allows this ‘easy to fit in’ listening medium time to get into your ear and spread that word!
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