News Anchors

Mary and I have been making annual treks to see A Christmas Carol for several years at the Goodman Theater in Chicago.  We have never been disappointed with any of these performances – great Dickens’ tale and superb acting.  When we go, I try to stop by Channel 2 News to watch a portion of a live broadcast. I have enjoyed watching the news for decades. CBS is really close to the theater district and directly across from Daley Plaza.  One of my former athletes is one of the station’s meteorologists, so that studio is an easy choice. If you haven’t seen a live broadcast, there is a great deal that goes on behind the scenes from the green screen to anchors getting make-up repairs.  Actually, the job doesn’t appear to be that difficult as the majority of the news is read from a teleprompter.  There is one thing that I have noticed that is common among great new anchors; the ability to make their spoken words passionate at the right time.  For most of us, our daily conversations are pretty much the same tempo, volume, tone, and emphasis.  It doesn’t vary much…except when we are at an emotional point or a difficult message is about to be delivered.  Contrast that to a professional news anchors.  They use a “Punch” technique where words are emphasized to get the listener’s attention.  The speak with passion at the appropriate time to get the most out of the message and to reach the greatest audience.

Think about your oral presentations to your classes.  Do you “Punch” words or is it a monotone performance ending with, “Bueller…Bueller?”.  You may be thinking that this is not an important part to oral delivery to a bunch of adolescents…you would be wrong.  Remember the people that have engaged you when you were sitting in a classroom, in an audience, or maybe even at church.  There were probably other incidents where the polar opposite was true and the speech was a “Yawn Fest”.   Do you have inflection in your voice?  Do you vary your tempo?  Do you “punch” the key vocabulary?  Do you vary your rate of speech?  Do you verbally highlight the daily goal as well as connecting that with the long-term goals?  Are your students reminiscent of the kids in Charlie Brown’s class where the only sound heard from the teacher is “Wah, wah, wah…” or do they hang on every word? How about when the class period begins?  Are you excited about what the lesson will be?  Are you excited about the topic?  Are you excited about the opportunity to teach the concept or skill?  Do you make the material come alive simply because of your excitement?  The easiest way to get kids excited about learning is for the teacher to be excited himself or herself.  Speak with passion at the appropriate time. You do not have a television audience because your audience is in the studio with you.  Punch your words.