I’ve been reading Valerie Geller’s encyclopedic “Creating Powerful Radio”, which is updated to incorporate Internet communications, such as podcasting, here.
As comprehensive as it is, I can’t help but think I learned most of this while earning my DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster) certification. While I don’t have experience with Radio-specific mechanics and vocabulary, I do know how to:
- Avoid distracting silence
- Skip pause-words
- Use pauses for emphasis
- Use inflection to convey emotion
- Use vocal variety to keep attention
- Use humor (especially self-deprecating humor) in speech of all types
- Organize my thoughts
- Use repetition and callbacks (for inclusion as well as reinforcement)
- Use I/you diction to personalize and relate
I need to find a way to “ride-along” with an experienced broadcaster. At the same time, maybe I ought to start something asynchronous, like a VLOG or podcast, to dip my toe…
