0934 – If It *Does* Go Wrong

2023.07.23 – 0934 – If It *Does* Go WrongIF IT DOES GO WRONG The Number One Rule Never swear anywhere near a studio. By keeping to this, the chances of you swearing on air are greatly minimised. It is not just main studios that have microphones and the ability to ‘go live’ - many production booths where producers answer phones can also be put to air, so do not let down your guard. Live-read fluffs Sometimes, you simply get something wrong. It might be your fault because you mis-read the copy, or someone else’s because their mistake was not seen in time. If you know as you say it that something is wrong, an immediate correction is best: “...that should be forty-two thousand ...”; or “...I’m sorry, that should be Watford football club ...” If you trip up over a word, just carry on as though nothing has happened. Only in the most serious of stories, where a mispronunciation would render the story incomprehensible, should you apologise. On most occasions dismiss the fault immediately and move on with the same tone of voice as before. If you sound worried or thrown off your stride, the listener is likely to take it more seriously too. Many trip-ups come from speaking too fast, so if you’re not live the first step might just be to take a breath, reset and slow down. Breath, smile and concentrate.  Recorded read fluffsNo need to keep apologising profusely if you slip up over a word in a recording session. There’s no need to point it out or give a running commentary of what happened, everyone knows you’ve done it, just stop and take a breath and start over again at the beginning of the sentence or phrase in which you made it. Make sure when you do so that you keep the melody, pitch, pace and tone the same through, so there’s a flow in the edit. “I’m sorry, let’s go again on that” is fine. (Hear episode #618) Sometimes people will do a perfect record and then near the end of the session say “I’m sorry that was rubbish, can I do that again?” There’s a balancing act between wanting to give your very best performance (and giving a few versions for the client to listen to and choose from or edit together), and coming across as lacking confidence. Try not to convince other people that you are not as good as deep-down you know you are. Do: smile. Don’t: whine “is that OK?”, or snivel “this doesn’t usually happen…”. Show you’re a pro, with no drama. (Well, yes, drama if you’re doing animation or gaming acting, but… you get it!)We all have good days and bad days, but the trick is not to let the studio staff know which is which! Try and identify why you’re having an off day and try and fix it. It may be that there’s underlying stress that you have to dig deep to identify, say having to do the home decorating this weekend that you’re not looking forward to. Or it may be really obvious – that the cat was sick on the carpet just now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Year THREE of short daily episodes to improve the quality of your speaking voice.Through these around-5-minute episodes, you can build your confidence and competence with advice on breathing and reading, inflection and projection, the roles played by better scripting and better sitting, mic techniques and voice care tips... with exercises and anecdotes from a career spent in TV and radio studios. If you're wondering about how to start a podcast, or have had one for a while - download every episode!And as themes develop over the weeks (that is, they are not random topics day-by-day), this is a free, course to help you GET A BETTER BROADCAST, PODCAST AND VOICE OVER VOICE.Look out for more details of the book during 2024.Contacts: https://linktr.ee/Peter_StewartAudio recording script and show notes (c) 2021, 2022, 2023 Peter StewartPeter has been around voice and audio all his working life and has trained hundreds of broadcasters in all styles of radio from pop music stations such as Capital FM and BBC Radio 1, the classical music station BBC Radio 3 and regional BBC stations. He’s trained news presenters on regional TV, the BBC News Channel and on flagship programmes such as the BBC’s Panorama. He has written a number of books on audio and video presentation and production (see contacts clink above) and presented hundreds of radio shows (you may have heard him on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, Virgin Radio or Kiss, as well as BBC regional radio) with various formats. He has read tens of thousands of news bulletins and hosted 3,000+ podcast episodes.The podcast title refers to those who may wish to change their speaking voice in some way. It is not a suggestion that anyone should, or be pressured into needing to. We love accents and dialects, and are well aware that how we speak changes over time. The key is: is your voice successfully communicating your message, so it is being understood (and potentially being acted upon) by your target audience?This podcast is London-based and examples are spoken in the RP (Received Pronunciation) / standard-English / BBC English pronunciation, although invariably applicable to other languages, accents and dialects.The 'Peter Stewart' show is perhaps of great interest to those in broadcast voice overs, the broadcast voice, how to start a voice podcast, broadcasting voice training, your speaking voice, breathing technique, and conversational speaking. You may also find it useful if you are searching for information on voice coaching, voice training, voice overs, podcasting, broadcasting, presenting, being a voice over actor and newsreading, audio branding, public speaking, the recorded voice, vocal tips, performance, vocal health education, vocal technique and voice over training.Music credits: all Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license "Beauty Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5025-beauty-flow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.