Probably the most difficult thing for air talent to latch onto is how something starts. Many breaks are dead in the water before the second sentence is uttered.
I teach several core techniques to master really compelling beginnings. Here are 3 of them:
- Don’t talk about yourself the first thing out of your mouth. Constantly leaning on “I – me – my” beginnings sounds self-absorbed, to say the least.
- Don’t ask a Question – especially a rhetorical question. As George Carlin said, “Why do people ask rhetorical questions? And do they expect an answer?” The answer to any question, if you could hear it, is almost always “No.” Questions sound weak and disingenuous. Make Statements to make Impact.
- Don’t be too abrupt. Way too often, I hear someone just launch into a subject for apparently no reason, just plopping it down like somebody walking up to your desk and dropping a squid on it. While that first thing you say CAN be thought of as a “headline” (which is what a lot of people are taught), remember that it should be a “spoken word” headline, not a “print” headline. We want it to be concise, but it also has to sound like something you’d actually say to a friend, not a quote from an article or book.
Like peeling away the layers of an onion, there are many more techniques to learn, but with just those 3 goals in mind, you can separate yourself from all the babbling across the rest of the media choices.
It’s always about ENGAGING the LISTENER.
