Presenting for TV and Screen E-Book

Brian Naylor

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 292

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

The myriad TV stations, streaming platforms and social media channels available today make it an exciting time to be an up-and-coming presenter. Yet many people struggle to find their natural charisma and confidence, which can hinder their professional development. Presenting for TV and Screen is a step-by-step guide to how to understand your audience and communicate effectively on camera. Guiding the reader through key principles and essential techniques, experienced presenter Brian Naylor offers an in-depth look at why tonality, facial expressions and body language are vital for effective and engaging communication. Additional topics covered include: scripting vs ad-libbing, and how to do both effectively; mastering the teleprompter, and how to make it look effortless; self-shooting and creating professional homemade videos; working in a TV studio and the tools of the trade; how to make interviews informative and entertaining and, finally how to brand yourself and become a professional presenter. With personal insights from industry experts including agents, casting managers, presenters and BAFTA winning director Helen Sheppard, this practical guide is an essential tool for anyone who wants to become a natural, confident and engaging on-screen presenter.

Leseprobe

PRESENTING

FOR TV AND SCREEN

The Essential Guide

Brian Naylor

PRESENTING

FOR TV AND SCREEN

The Essential Guide

First published in 2021 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

[email protected]

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2021

© Brian Naylor 2021

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 952 5

Cover design by Maggie Mellett

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

1 EFFECTIVE AND ENGAGING COMMUNICATION

2 THE PERFORMANCE OF A PRESENTER

3 TV AND VIDEO PRESENTING TECHNIQUES

4 TOOLS OF THE TRADE

5 INTERVIEWING

6 PIECE TO CAMERA (PTC)

7 SHOW FORMATS AND PRODUCTION CREW

8 CAREER STRATEGY

GLOSSARY AND JARGON

ONLINE RESOURCES

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to all my professional colleagues and friends who have contributed content and images to help make this book possible. Contributing presenters, directors, agents, models and casting professionals include: Annabelle Knight, Ant Webb, Gemma-Leigh James, Karen Witchalls-Plunkett, Octavia Alexandru, Ruth Warrilow and Sam Darlaston.

I would particularly like to thank Helen Sheppard, not only for her contribution but also for her ongoing support and involvement in The TV Training Academy.

My gratitude and thanks also go to Abby Aron for her expertise and help with the editorial.

PREFACE

Understand that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.

(Arianna Huffington)

A couple of decades ago, when working as a freelance presenter, I landed a job with a company that ran TV presenting courses. On the first day I sat in on one of my new colleague’s training sessions, in order to get a sense of how things were done.

My colleague was working with a young man, getting him to imagine that he was broadcasting live from outside a rave. He was not explaining clearly what he wanted the young trainee to do and seemed more interested in the camera and lighting equipment than he did in directing or guiding the novice presenter. Even I was confused, and I had done my fair share of outside broadcasting.

Just before the camera began to roll, the young trainee said, ‘Excuse me, but I don’t understand what it is that you want me to do?’

Instead of explaining his requirements in a coherent way, my colleague simply turned to the young lad and in a condescending voice replied, ‘Look, you’ve either got it or you haven’t.’

Luckily, the studio lights were low so no one could see my jaw drop.

That simple phrase, ‘You’ve either got it or you haven’t’, went on to change the course of my life. I knew that statement simply was not true. To be fair to the director, his experience of working in television would have conditioned him into thinking ‘time is money’. In a television studio, there are rarely any spare minutes to start training or nurturing new presenters, or ‘talent’, as they are often referred to. This belief inspired me to devise my own TV presenter training programme, to provide new talent with the techniques, skills and confidence needed to turn up to a TV studio and deliver a performance.

How can I be so certain that anyone can present, as long as they are given the right guidance? Because I am living, breathing, proof of the fact. Aged 17, I was full of life. Like most young men, I enjoyed joking around, but what I dreaded perhaps more than anything else on earth was having to communicate with anyone I did not know, especially on the telephone. I was unable speak up in a group of people and, if the focus of attention was ever on me, I would feel myself blushing and my heart pounding. The thought of ‘public speaking’ literally sent shivers down my spine.

Aged 19, I concluded that this introverted behaviour around strangers would severely limit my chances of achieving any of my life goals. There was nothing else for it: I had to face the enormous challenge head on. So, when I saw an advert for ‘Holiday Reps’ in the paper, I applied and, with the help of my older sister, who was already working in the tourism industry, I managed to impress someone enough to give me a job. I found myself working in Spain as a tour rep for Thomson Holidays. As a key part of the job, I was required to present Thomson’s range of activities and trips to an audience of holidaymakers, not once, but five times a week. I was so terrified about the prospect that I was packing my bags for home on a near daily basis.

When it came to my turn to perform, I was shockingly bad. My supervisor walked out halfway through one of my first presentations, shaking his head, and I remember thinking, ‘OK, that is it, my time working within the tourism industry is over.’

A short time later, I was relocated to a larger hotel, with a team of more experienced tour reps. With their guidance and encouragement, I was able to pull off my presentations, not only the first time but the second and all subsequent times. After several successful ‘performances’, my confidence began to grow as I discovered that I had a knack for engaging with a crowd. In turn, this spurred me on to improving my methods for hooking my audience in.

A few months later, a twist of fate led to me having to step in at the last minute for one of the Thomson nightly entertainers, who had broken a bone in their foot playing football. With barely a moment to think, I found myself in the spotlight, and was amazed to discover that I loved every minute of it. The positive feedback from the audience led me to my decision to forge a career as a performer. With this is mind, when the summer season ended, I headed to London, with the aim of becoming a TV presenter.

A year later I found myself back in Spain, with a job as an entertainer in the holiday hotels. I had spent my time in London working in call centres and bars and as a delivery driver, but had done very little in the way of presenting. I could not understand why, after such great feedback from the hotel audiences, I had not been discovered, so I had headed back abroad to massage my bruised ego. This was one of the many mistakes I have made over my presenting career: blaming other people for my own shortcomings.

Another holiday season came to an end in Spain, and we began to prepare for the next. A new management team took over the entertainment, and I found myself working with an experienced director called Tom. He had worked in Hollywood, the West End and on television, and he was the one who gave me my first professional industry feedback: ‘Hate to break it to you, Brian,’ he said, ‘but you’re not a great presenter.’

Ouch.

Painful as it was to hear, this damning assessment taught me a great lesson: friends, family and holidaymakers spending a few weeks in the sun will all give you positive feedback because they like you, but in the wider world it does not count for much.

‘You could be good,’ Tom went on to say, ‘but you need to get professional training. Learn to use your voice and get familiar with the tools needed to present.’

What I had hoped was that someone in the industry would spot my talent and invest their time and effort in me, when I had not even bothered to invest my time in my own development. This was a turning point for me. I promptly resigned and headed back to London.

I filled every spare moment I had building my presenting career and it was hard work. I attended every presenting course I could find, along with some acting courses. I took on a number of student projects and I worked for free. Carving out a successful living as a presenter requires commitment, dedication, astuteness, tenacity and, most of all, a thick skin. Every moment of toil was worth it.

Fast forward ten years and I was working in front of 10,000 people at Wembley Arena. I was also presenting live TV and even having a go at stand-up comedy. As I said before, I am living proof that everyone, even the shyest human being on earth, can present.

I have loved many aspects of my presenting and training career as every contract is different. I have travelled the world, met people from all walks of life and watched hundreds of trainees step up to the mark and set forth on highly successful careers of their own. I truly believe that, with effective and engaging communication skills, professional training and an unstoppable attitude, everyone has the potential to achieve great results.

This book is a culmination of my many years of experience presenting, directing and running the TV Training Academy. Its purpose is to give you all the techniques, tips, insights and practical skills you need in order to become a TV or video presenter, so that you can go confidently into the increasingly big wide world of opportunity. Do not be one of the many who sit back waiting for their presenting dreams to come true; sitting back is not going to make it happen. Seize the day and make your dreams a reality because, regardless of what anyone tells you, you have got what it takes.

INTRODUCTION

The harder I work the luckier I am.

(Jack Nicholson, Hollywood actor)

One of the greatest features of TV and video presenting is that anyone can do it. Seriously. There are no hard and fast rules or qualifications required and no career ladder that is set in stone. In fact, there are endless potential ways of getting into the industry. So, if you want to be a TV presenter, a YouTuber or maybe you just need to present videos for a work project, this book can help you become a professional on-screen communicator. It will provide you with all the insights, techniques and professional tips that will help you communicate effectively on camera. It will cover all the inside knowledge and know-how for getting work and, from there, help you develop a career strategy so that you can take advantage of all the possibilities that are out there waiting for you.

If, however, you are looking to become an overnight ‘star’ through becoming a presenter, you might be in for a shock. There are far easier ways to become rich and famous. Think of all the politicians, sportspeople, entrepreneurs, authors, astronauts and chefs – the list goes on – who have achieved fame and fortune and are now household names. Almost every industry and sector has its fair share of notably successful people and generally the only common theme is that they have all worked hard, and have been focused and 100 per cent committed. Working as a TV or YouTube presenter is no different from engaging in any other profession. It can take years to build a career, but with a little bit of hard work and practice anyone can significantly improve their on-screen communication and increase their chances of achieving that success.

As with other professions, there are certain characteristics that will stand a person in good stead in their search for success. They may have a particular level of expertise, like the physicist Brian Cox. They may be endowed with bundles of natural energy and enthusiasm, like the historian Dr Lucy Worsley. They might be particularly calm under pressure or excellent at communicating. Maybe they have a very thick skin. Being in the public eye or even just posting videos on a social media channel often attracts unwelcome feedback that can be very upsetting, especially if you are sensitive to criticism. Anyone can air their views on an online forum with complete anonymity and as a result comments are often disproportionately harsh.

Some of the unforgiving criticism of presenters may be down to a common assumption that they have an easy job. This is because, when it is done well, it appears that they are simply chatting to their audience. Few people are aware of the skills and talent needed to achieve these results. It is only when things are not done well that it becomes noticeable; at that point, the seamless illusion is broken.

The more time and effort you invest into developing your presentation skills, the quicker your on-screen confidence and talent appear.

One vital personality trait that is needed by a presenter to achieve the illusion of ‘chatting’ is confidence. Being well prepared, knowing what to expect and understanding studio terminology and equipment goes a long way in building that confidence, but the most important thing is a belief in your own ability. If a presenter doubts themselves or is nervous, the audience will associate that doubt with what is being said and assume that the speaker does not know what they are talking about. Although this may be a million miles from the truth, as soon as the audience loses trust in a presenter, they may simply turn off. When that happens, all is lost.

This book is set out in a way that will give you an in-depth understanding of how effective communication is achieved. It will show you how best to adapt that communication to ‘fit’ the screen using performance and technique. Following on from this, it will cover the ‘tools of the trade’, such as teleprompters, talkback, interviewing and working to time, before providing you with all the inside knowledge and know-how for breaking into the wide world of TV and video presenting. Expect to find career strategies, tips for meeting producers face-to-face, business plans, interview hints and advice for putting across your best audition.

Learning how to present is only a small part of the presenting journey. The real work begins when you start putting everything provided in this book into practice. Desire, drive and ambition is what will set you apart from the many thousands of ‘wannabes’, who let the dream escape their grasp.

Although this book will provide all the practical knowledge, as well as offering routes and advice for going forward and forging a career, you do need to bear in mind that this is a tough industry to crack and the competition is fierce. If you are to become one of the few who achieve success, that will be down to you, but you should never forget that you have as much right to be a part of it as anyone else. If there is such a thing as a good time to be cutting your teeth in a rich, diverse, burgeoning industry, that time is now.

Good luck!

NEVER A BETTER TIME

With a myriad of TV stations and new streaming platforms launching on an almost monthly basis, this is a heyday time for TV and video presenters. A recent poll by global research company TNS of 55,000 internet users found that 75 per cent of the worldwide population still watch television as their main form of entertainment. Admittedly, many people watch multiple screens at the same time, so presenters need to work doubly hard to keep their audience’s attention. However, that audience is a global one, made up of a huge number of digitally connected citizens, so there are no limits on the range of opportunities available in presenting.

1

EFFECTIVE AND ENGAGING COMMUNICATION

Communication comes naturally to human beings. From the moment a baby draws its first breath and lets out that cry, it is communicating, and will continue to communicate at varying levels of effectiveness throughout the course of its life. It is no wonder then that communication is often cited as the most important life skill a person can possess. It is our means of acquiring knowledge, of progressing, of asking for help and, on an extreme level, our survival may depend on it.

In the vast majority of job adverts, ‘excellent communication skills’ are listed as an essential requirement. Employers know that those who are good at expressing themselves in an articulate way have a far greater chance of succeeding in the workplace. It goes without saying that the ability to communicate well is at the top of every aspiring presenter’s tick list, because it is pivotal to their purpose. Presenters who are unable to communicate are as effective as doctors who are scared at the sight of blood. It is therefore helpful to understand the different elements that are at work when people communicate with each other.

WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?

The word ‘communicate’ comes from the Latin communicare, which means ‘to share’. In its simplest form, the process of communication consists of three main elements:

1. The sender who generates and imparts a message.

2. The channel through which the information is conveyed.

3. The recipient receiving the message and decoding it.

The sender generates a message that is sent via the channel (words, tonality and visual signals), to be interpreted by the receiver.

The TV or video presenter is in the position of sender, as they are generating the message to send. The channel through which they are imparting their message is their speech and/or expressions. The recipient is the viewer. The channel should be a presenter’s main concern and a full, in-depth understanding of how it works is a distinct advantage for a communicator.

THREE-DIMENSIONAL COMMUNICATION

When formulating words, sentences and questions, the sender’s main focus is on the message they want to convey. For example, when they say, ‘Would you like to go out for dinner with me?’, in their mind, they are thinking about their desire or need. The words, expressions, tone of voice and movements that convey that need are formed largely on a subconscious level. The recipient hears the words, but is also aware of the tone of voice in which the message is being imparted, and is watching the way the sender looks as they say it. They use all three factors to ascertain the meaning or intent of the invitation. Is the ‘dinner’ just an opportunity to eat and discuss work, or is the offer something more complex, multi-layered and potentially romantic?

The true meaning of the message – the intention, sentiment and feeling – is carried mainly in subtle tonal and visual signals.

If the sender has no real meaning, or is just trying to remember a script and get the words out in the right order, the tonal and visual signals will conflict with the words being said.

Only by taking into account all three dimensions – words, tone of voice and visual signals – can the recipient properly interpret the sender’s true intention. A presenter is in the position of sender, but very often they have interrupted the natural process of formulating messages, by removing any need or desire and consciously preparing the words they are going to say. It is no wonder, then, that first-time presenters can feel awkward and nervous. If the normal desire or need to communicate a message has been replaced by consciously scripted words and an unnatural feeling, this is what will be formulated on a subconscious level and this is what the recipient will receive.

Part of the job of a presenter is to make it as easy as possible for the viewer or listener to understand the message. Sending awkward, unnatural signals gets in the way of that process, so it is vital to eliminate any of those and master the art of formulating consciously prepared messages and scripts. To do that requires an understanding of the concept of three-dimensional communication.

PARALINGUISTICS

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Professor of Psychology Albert Mehrabian, from the University of California, conducted a number of studies into the ways in which different forms of communication imparted by the sender are interpreted by the receiver. One of these studies dealt with paralinguistics, which is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as ‘communication through ways other than words, for example tone of voice, expressions on the face and actions’. From his findings, Mehrabian formulated what has become known as the 7-38-55 Rule. This states that only 7 per cent of the underlying meaning, the feel or intent of what we communicate occurs by way of the words, while 38 per cent comes through tone of voice, or tonality as it is known, and 55 per cent through visual signals such as facial expressions and body language.

The true or underlying meaning of what is being said is carried in facial expressions, body language and tonality.

The way in which Mehrabian conducted his research has been the subject of much criticism over the years. However, the concepts offer some useful insights into and understanding of the importance that presenters should place on the different aspects on non-verbal communication.

Words (7 Per Cent)

If you are new to presenting, chances are you are going to find yourself overly focusing on the words you choose to say. You might worry that you will miss out words, forget the lines or lose your place. You might worry that your tongue will freeze, and you will not be able to get the words out, or that you will be judged for what you say.

These are all very natural worries that tie in with ten greatest fears public speakers have:

• Fear of being judged.

• Fear of coming across as stupid.

• Fear of being ‘found out’, aka imposter syndrome.

• Fear of making a mistake.

• Fear of forgetting what to say.

• Fear of freezing or becoming-tongue tied.

• Fear of saying something politically incorrect.

What is interesting about the words, however, is that they prove effective only if they are in alignment with the way you say them, and the way you ‘come across’ as you say them. If you do not believe the words you are saying, or you are unsure of yourself or unclear about what they mean, you will not be able to deliver the words in a convincing way, as your unconscious communication, tone of voice, facial expressions and body language will let you down. The viewer will become preoccupied by what you are not saying as opposed to by the words coming out through your lips. It is for this reason that being comfortable and well-practised with the words and messages makes all the difference to how you come across when you present.

Tonality (38 Per Cent)

Everyone has had the experience of sitting through a talk, class, lesson or speech, where they are a captive audience for a speaker droning on (and on), to the extent that all they can do is keep their eyes on the clock and will the time to speed up. The main reason for this sense of tedium is generally a lack of any variation in the tonality of the speaker’s voice.

Tonality is the way you sound when you speak and is determined by your volume, pitch, pace and rhythm. Making adjustments to any of these individual aspects of tonality can completely change the meaning of the words. Take the simple sentence, ’It is really great to be here.’ First, try saying the sentence with an upbeat pace, mid-to-high tone and a good variety of pitch, placing strong emphasis on the ‘really’ and the ‘great’. Second, try the same phrase but with a low pitch, in a monotone and slow.

The first example is more likely to sound as though it is genuinely meant and that it is actually really great to be there. The second may well be interpreted as sarcastic, bored or cynical, changing the feeling and therefore the meaning of the message.

Your tone of voice can help the viewer ascertain whether you are being serious or fun, teasing or genuine, worked up or calm. People who are new to presenting often lack the confidence to ‘play’ with their voice and see what they can do with it to create maximum impact. At first, they will tend to keep the voice within a narrow tonal range as this will be their comfort zone, where they feel safest. The problem with keeping the tone of your voice at one level is that it runs the risk of sounding monotonal.

The very word, ‘monotonal’, implies the flat mood it creates. When the range of tone is limited to just one level, the audience will perceive the presentation as repetitive and so tend to switch off and stop listening. Nine times out of ten, a speaker who has the ability to engage with an audience will be doing so not only because of the words they say but also because of the way they are expressing them. They will work their voice to emphasize certain points; they may pause, increase volume, decrease volume, raise the tone, lower the tone. All these have an enormous impact on the quality of the presentation. You can have the punchiest, most amusing, hard-hitting words to impart, but if you recite them in a flat deadbeat way, your audience will not stick around.

One way of improving the range of your pitch is to practise vocal exercises in advance of your presentation. Starting on ‘Ah’, sing the notes up and down the scale. Prepare the words you intend to say in advance by highlighting areas of emphasis and changes in tone. Reading your words aloud several times beforehand is also useful. Through familiarity, you become more comfortable with what you are saying and become better able to add colour and style.

Visual Signals (55 Per Cent)

Most people have some kind of daily interaction with another human being, so generally they are pretty well practised at reading facial expressions and body language. Through this, they can tell what someone is thinking, as well as reading their emotions to assess the nature of the thought – is it happy, sad, worried or excited? They may very quickly work out whether someone is about to laugh or cry, and they are pretty attuned to recognizing surprise, disgust, horror, and so on.

Let us go back to that simple phrase, ‘It is really great to be here.’ Initially, you might think that, with a sentence such as this, there is no room for confusion. True, if it is said with warmth, enthusiasm, open body language and a genuine smile, then its sincerity need not be doubted. If, on the other hand, it is said with a frown, closed body language and no eye contact, the perceived meaning of the phrase can change. This is because the true dynamic, feel or intent of the phrase lies predominantly in the visual signals that are subconsciously being transmitted by the speaker. Someone watching and listening will respond most to the biggest percentage of the three dimensions of communication. If the speaker is succeeding in getting the words out correctly (7 per cent), with the appropriate tone of voice (38 per cent), but their visual signals (55 per cent) are reflecting a conflicting message, it is the latter that the audience will pick up on. It is vital to align tonality, visual signals and words, so that they are all sending a congruent message, thus making it easy for the audience to understand.

The orbicularis oculi muscles around the eyes contract when a person smiles in a sincere way.

The orbicularis oculi muscles are largely controlled on a subconscious level, so they are not engaged by a smile that is not genuine.

Certain feelings such as sadness, anger and concern can be reflected in very subtle facial expressions, as the person is often trying to hide them.

Pulling a face to express an emotion in acting is known as ‘ham’ acting and can be comical.

The eyes are the windows to the soul. If you believe it or genuinely feel it, your audience will be able to see it in your eyes and expressions.

When a person makes a conscious effort to manipulate the muscles in their face to express an emotion, the results are often exaggerated and come across as artificial.

The following pictures show the difference between some genuine and insincere expressions, where the facial muscles have been either used subconsciously or deliberately manipulated. If you can identify the ‘fakes’, you, like the vast majority of the population, are an expert at reading facial expressions. When a fellow human being tries to produce an expression by manipulating the muscles in their face, most observers will instantly read them as insincere. The mouth may be smiling but the eyes remain expressionless. This is the ‘cheesy’ smile that anyone with an ability to read facial expressions will straight away identify as disingenuous.

THE POWER OF FACIAL EXPRESSIONS IN POLITICS

It would not be far off the mark to say that the media has the power to make or break a person, depending on their body language. During the 2008 presidential debate featuring Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama, McCain’s inability to make eye contact with Obama was interpreted by the media as him ‘looking down his nose’ at his opponent. In the 1976 US presidential election, research by Friedman, Di Matteo and Mertz found that news presenters displayed more favourable facial expressions (nods of the head, smiles, relaxed reporting) when discussing candidate Jimmy Carter than they did when talking about his rival Gerald Ford (blinking, head thrusting, more aggressive stance). Other studies found news presenters showing positive facial expressions when discussing Ronald Reagan over Walter Mondale, and a correlation between viewers’ choice of candidates and the TV news channels that they watched.

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS THE WORLD OVER

There is widespread support for the theory that there are six basic emotions, which, when genuinely expressed, use the same set of facial muscles among all human beings. In 1969, Professor Paul Ekman travelled the world studying the connection between facial expressions and emotions. Focusing on five different cultures – from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Japan and the United States – he discovered that the facial expressions reflecting anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise are universally recognizable. He also found that it takes an observer less than one-twenty-fifth of a second to determine what an expression means and whether it is genuine.

Facial expressions are an important part of communication as they express sentiment, feeling and underlying meaning. They are also the way an observer judges an individual’s reaction to what they are saying.

One area of concern for Ekman centred on whether the expressions were learnt or inherent. He was aware that all the participants had access to television and magazines, and that they might simply be recognizing the expressions through being exposed to them. In order to eliminate this possibility, he travelled to a remote part of Papua New Guinea to work with an isolated tribe called the Fore, who had never been exposed to Western civilization. He found that this remote group of people recognized the various facial expressions in the same way as their Western counterparts. The studies were then repeated with test subjects who were blind from birth; again, the same results were recorded. Clearly, human beings are proficient at reading emotions and adept at recognizing when facial expressions are being forced or fake.

BODY LANGUAGE CAN SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

How many times have you thought to yourself, ‘I don’t believe a word that man says’? You may not have noticed anything particularly suspect in what he is saying, but on a subconscious level you may have spotted a bouncy knee, fiddly hands or a repetitive shift of weight from one leg to the other. These almost imperceptible modifications may leave you with a feeling or perhaps just a vibe that something is not quite right. This is body language communicating from behind the scenes of the words being spoken.

The phrase ‘gut reaction’ refers to the bodily response that gives us an indication of whether to trust in somebody or something. ‘It just does not feel quite right,’ we often say, when instinct tells us to be suspicious. Every time the brain triggers an emotion to play out in a facial expression, it also triggers a response in the gut or, more delicately, the digestive system, which can reflect every kind of feeling. Where the facial muscles register as angry, the digestive system constricts, increasing the production of acid, which slows down digestion and produces an element of discomfort. Equally, fear will cause the digestive system to feel as though it is tying itself in knots.

First impressions of another person are often picked up by way of the gut – maybe just a feeling, again. It will initially be mirrored in our facial expressions, but these can be adjusted quickly to register neutrality. However, the feeling in the gut may linger.

If the viewer feels ‘safe’ in the hands of a presenter, they will be able to sit back and listen to what they have to say. However, if there is any element of discomposure on the presenter’s behalf, the audience will pick up on this and the words will be lost. Body language is an important topic when learning presenting techniques (seeChapter 3).

As viewers and listeners become increasingly adept at multitasking, it is all the more essential for a presenter to impart their message in an engaging, authentic manner. They must ensure that all three dimensions of communication are aligned, so that the viewer is given the full opportunity to receive and interpret the message loudly and clearly.

VOCAL TECHNIQUES AND EXERCISES

Breathing

Although breathing is pivotal to our ability to communicate, it is often overlooked. This is most likely because, whether we actively think about our breathing or not, we still breathe, so that we have a tendency to take it for granted. The power we exert in the voice is, however, completely dependent on the quality of the sound that we produce, which is in turn dependent on the breath.

When we are relaxed, breath flows freely through our lungs. Conversely, anxiety creates tension and tightens the throat, forcing us to strain our voice, so that the sound comes out high-pitched. One of the best ways of relaxing the throat is to yawn, allowing the jaw to drop as far as is comfortable.