Sunday 29 April 2012
Just passing the time - 92 year old DVD bandit
This is one hell-of-a-way to pass the time in retirement. The New York Times reports on a 92 year old man copying bootlegged DVD's and sending them to US soldiers overseas.
Friday 27 April 2012
The Art Of Compromise
This is a good if dense review of a two new books on compromise, or the lack of it, zoning in on US politics. The books are called 'On Compromise and Rotten Compromises' by Avishai Margalit and The Spirit of Compromise: 'Why Governing Demands It and Campaigning Undermines It' by Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson. Both books explore the idea of compromise, when it is a good thing, and when they should never be made (Margalit more so).
There's more to it than that - have a read of the review in The New Republic, written by Paul Starr, a professor at Princeton University - publishers of both books.
Important ideas at a time when US politics has struggled to find middle ground.
There's more to it than that - have a read of the review in The New Republic, written by Paul Starr, a professor at Princeton University - publishers of both books.
Important ideas at a time when US politics has struggled to find middle ground.
Wednesday 25 April 2012
My Breast Fell Off, Can You Reattach It?
This is a fascinating article to read. It's in The Atlanta Magazine and is mostly an excerpt of Dr Otis Brawley's new book "How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America" (by Otis Webb Brawley M.D., with Paul Goldberg).
But I'm glad it is a lengthy excerpt. Dr Brawley a leading oncology expert and offers a revealing insight into the American medical system and an indictment of it as well. It explains so much of what we've wondered about US healthcare. It also offers an insight into the real meaning of race too. Worth a read.
But I'm glad it is a lengthy excerpt. Dr Brawley a leading oncology expert and offers a revealing insight into the American medical system and an indictment of it as well. It explains so much of what we've wondered about US healthcare. It also offers an insight into the real meaning of race too. Worth a read.
Tuesday 24 April 2012
Australian Women's Writers Challenge
This is a fabulous challenge and site that's gaining interest in Australia and beyond:
http://www.australianwomenwriters.com/
Highly recommend taking a look and sourcing some manuscripts by women writers so you can get reviewing!
It's basically a way of increasing awareness of Australian female writers and some of their great work.
ANYONE can take the challenge - male or female!
http://www.australianwomenwriters.com/
Highly recommend taking a look and sourcing some manuscripts by women writers so you can get reviewing!
It's basically a way of increasing awareness of Australian female writers and some of their great work.
ANYONE can take the challenge - male or female!
Shakespeare Speak
One of the most fascinating voice lessons I had was with the voice over artist and actor James Hagen in Sydney, Australia. One day he asked me to bring in my favourite Shakespeare play for a lesson, which confused me as I was learning to read news scripts and voice over announcements, not improve my acting abilities. But it soon became clear why Shakespeare had become involved - my lesson was all about learning to, as James put it, love words and love language, to feel its beat and rhythm.
What better way to do that than to look at a little Shakespeare.
I brought in A Midsummer Night's Dream and James taught me about iambic pentameter and caesura and something wonderful happened. I started to feel how magical the written word could be when it is written to be spoken. It was an exercise that helped me feel the key words in a news script - rather than just speak those words with no sense of how to relay them to a listener.
The lesson took place at a time when I had just started out in radio. I had developed a rather annoying sing-songy sound to my scripts when I read them which suggested I didn't really know what I was doing.
James also rather horrifyingly would mimic my news reading which showed me how unnatural I was sounding. A rather necessary, but confronting part of our lessons!
Exercise 1:
Grab your favourite Shakespeare play and a pencil (not a pen - you may not want to mark your copy permanently!).
In Shakespeare, the rules of Iambic pentameter state that there are five beats to every line - and it's true!
Read out the first line of the stanza (paragraph) from the Shakespeare play you've chosen.
Then read it again, but put in a stroke (/) after every second syllable, even if that stroke happens twice in one word, stick to the rule - put a line in after every second syllable.
You should find that you have 5 marks across every line in the paragraph - and this will happen in every line without fail!
Here's an example from A Midsummer Night's Dream:
The fair/yland/ buys not/ the child/ of me/
That beat is hitting every second syllable, and there will always be 5 beats per line. Magic!
Here's more examples:
And ne/ver, since/ the mid/dle su/mmer's spring/,
Met we /on hill/, in dale/, forest/ or mead/
Exercise 2
Now the weak/strong rule:
Every first syllable will be a 'weak' syllable, and every second syllable will be a strong one. That's because in the rhythm of Shakespeare, the beat lands just after the second syllable. You'll notice when you read it out loud and clap the beats - the second syllable between every beat is stronger than the first.
Try reading this and clapping when ever the syllable is in capitals:
The FAIR/yLAND/ buys NOT/ the CHILD/ of ME/
And NE/ver, SINCE/ the MID/dle SU/mmer's SPRING/
Met WE/ on HILL/, in DALE/, forEST/ or MEAD/
You should be starting to feel the the consistent rhythm in every line.
Exercise 3:
Caesura:
This is the word that stands out the most in every line of Shakespeare.
I would say the Caesura of the first line of Shakespeare above is the word not. That's what seems to stand out the most.
The FAIR/yLAND/ buys NOT/ the CHILD/ of ME/
With the same lines of Shakespeare that you've marked in the beats, circle what you think is the Caesura - the word that seems to stand out the most.
Mark in both the beats and the Caesura in a few more lines of your Shakespeare play until you're comfortable with how it works, making sure you say each line out loud so you can hear where the Syllables* are, then saying the line out loud again and circling the Caesura.
Don't forget - once you've marked in the beats say the line again feeling the weak strong syllables. You do this by clapping in the beats at the same time.
Exercise 4
Back to the script:
Now put your Shakespeare play aside, and pick up your script or whatever you've been working on and do the SAME thing with your script.
Mark in a beat at every second syllable. Of course there won't be 5 beats per line because presumably your script won't be written to the rules of Iambic pentameter.
The Prime /Minis/ter has /resigned /after /admitt/ing to /an af/fair with/ a fel/low pol/iti/cian/.
Now read that script with the beats in, getting that sense of each second syllable being strong, and the first being weak, clap at each second syllable (beat) to help.
Then circle what you think is the Caesura of each sentence, the word that stands out the most. I would say the word resigned stands out the most here.
The Prime /Minis/ter has /resigned /after /admitt/ing to /an af/fair with/ a fel/low pol/iti/cian/.
Now, after doing this to your script - read the script naturally, as you normally would. Record a before and after, one recording before you tried the exercise, and one after. You should hear a difference for the better, one that gets you reading naturally and articulating as well.
Doing this exercise is a great way to develop a deeper appreciation for the words in your script and what goes into making those words and sentences in the English language. It also gets you on the path of hearing and feeling what words stand out and are important, rather than artificially trying to mark them.
These sets of exercises may seem a bit of an indulgence when you're working on perhaps more pertinent things such as articulation - but it can really help to give you a deeper appreciation of the English language when it is written to be spoken aloud. It really transformed my presenting technique.
*Having trouble with Syllables? Not everyone is great at hearing them in words. The trick is to clap in time with the word. So clap as you say each part of the word and each clap will be on a Syllable Eg: jour-na-li-sm. Without clapping, hearing where one syllable begins and the other ends can be tricky.
What better way to do that than to look at a little Shakespeare.
I brought in A Midsummer Night's Dream and James taught me about iambic pentameter and caesura and something wonderful happened. I started to feel how magical the written word could be when it is written to be spoken. It was an exercise that helped me feel the key words in a news script - rather than just speak those words with no sense of how to relay them to a listener.
The lesson took place at a time when I had just started out in radio. I had developed a rather annoying sing-songy sound to my scripts when I read them which suggested I didn't really know what I was doing.
James also rather horrifyingly would mimic my news reading which showed me how unnatural I was sounding. A rather necessary, but confronting part of our lessons!
Exercise 1:
Grab your favourite Shakespeare play and a pencil (not a pen - you may not want to mark your copy permanently!).
In Shakespeare, the rules of Iambic pentameter state that there are five beats to every line - and it's true!
Read out the first line of the stanza (paragraph) from the Shakespeare play you've chosen.
Then read it again, but put in a stroke (/) after every second syllable, even if that stroke happens twice in one word, stick to the rule - put a line in after every second syllable.
You should find that you have 5 marks across every line in the paragraph - and this will happen in every line without fail!
Here's an example from A Midsummer Night's Dream:
The fair/yland/ buys not/ the child/ of me/
That beat is hitting every second syllable, and there will always be 5 beats per line. Magic!
Here's more examples:
And ne/ver, since/ the mid/dle su/mmer's spring/,
Met we /on hill/, in dale/, forest/ or mead/
Exercise 2
Now the weak/strong rule:
Every first syllable will be a 'weak' syllable, and every second syllable will be a strong one. That's because in the rhythm of Shakespeare, the beat lands just after the second syllable. You'll notice when you read it out loud and clap the beats - the second syllable between every beat is stronger than the first.
Try reading this and clapping when ever the syllable is in capitals:
The FAIR/yLAND/ buys NOT/ the CHILD/ of ME/
And NE/ver, SINCE/ the MID/dle SU/mmer's SPRING/
Met WE/ on HILL/, in DALE/, forEST/ or MEAD/
You should be starting to feel the the consistent rhythm in every line.
Exercise 3:
Caesura:
This is the word that stands out the most in every line of Shakespeare.
I would say the Caesura of the first line of Shakespeare above is the word not. That's what seems to stand out the most.
The FAIR/yLAND/ buys NOT/ the CHILD/ of ME/
With the same lines of Shakespeare that you've marked in the beats, circle what you think is the Caesura - the word that seems to stand out the most.
Mark in both the beats and the Caesura in a few more lines of your Shakespeare play until you're comfortable with how it works, making sure you say each line out loud so you can hear where the Syllables* are, then saying the line out loud again and circling the Caesura.
Don't forget - once you've marked in the beats say the line again feeling the weak strong syllables. You do this by clapping in the beats at the same time.
Exercise 4
Back to the script:
Now put your Shakespeare play aside, and pick up your script or whatever you've been working on and do the SAME thing with your script.
Mark in a beat at every second syllable. Of course there won't be 5 beats per line because presumably your script won't be written to the rules of Iambic pentameter.
The Prime /Minis/ter has /resigned /after /admitt/ing to /an af/fair with/ a fel/low pol/iti/cian/.
Now read that script with the beats in, getting that sense of each second syllable being strong, and the first being weak, clap at each second syllable (beat) to help.
Then circle what you think is the Caesura of each sentence, the word that stands out the most. I would say the word resigned stands out the most here.
The Prime /Minis/ter has /resigned /after /admitt/ing to /an af/fair with/ a fel/low pol/iti/cian/.
Now, after doing this to your script - read the script naturally, as you normally would. Record a before and after, one recording before you tried the exercise, and one after. You should hear a difference for the better, one that gets you reading naturally and articulating as well.
Doing this exercise is a great way to develop a deeper appreciation for the words in your script and what goes into making those words and sentences in the English language. It also gets you on the path of hearing and feeling what words stand out and are important, rather than artificially trying to mark them.
These sets of exercises may seem a bit of an indulgence when you're working on perhaps more pertinent things such as articulation - but it can really help to give you a deeper appreciation of the English language when it is written to be spoken aloud. It really transformed my presenting technique.
*Having trouble with Syllables? Not everyone is great at hearing them in words. The trick is to clap in time with the word. So clap as you say each part of the word and each clap will be on a Syllable Eg: jour-na-li-sm. Without clapping, hearing where one syllable begins and the other ends can be tricky.
Saturday 14 April 2012
One Big Breath: Broadcast Breathing
Breathing is one of the most natural things in the world - something we rarely think about - but when it comes to broadcasting suddenly we're very aware of it. We can be confused about where to put the breath in a sentence, or find that we take loud breaths which are magnified by the microphone and distracting to the listener.
When we speak naturally we breath at all the natural 'commas' in our sentence, but when we're reading a script, we can end up putting the breath in the wrong place, breaking up the sense of the sentence. We'll come to that element of breath in a moment - but first, let's look at how to breath quietly and unobtrusively as we broadcast.
There are many exercises you can do and voice coaches from different backgrounds will tell you to do all sorts of exercises every day in an effort to breath more 'quietly' and effectively.
But when I had this problem, the brilliant Arch McKirdy told me to do one thing:
Just open your mouth a little wider.
Loud breathing or breaths that can be heard come from your tongue and teeth getting in the way. When you take a breath, the sound that can be heard is from your teeth and tongue getting in the way. When you take a breath - try opening your mouth wider - drop your jaw - you'll find that when you breath in, it will be soundless.
Exercise:
Try to hear the difference - record yourself breathing in normally with your mouth slightly open, then try it again with your jaw dropped and your mouth open wider - it should be much quieter and also encourage you to breath from the diaphragm.
Breathing for sense
Knowing where to put the breath in a sentence is crucial, as it helps convey the correct meaning. If you breath in the wrong part of the sentence, you can interrupt the flow and the sense.
One breath per sentence.
As a script writing and reading rule - this is what you want. To be able to deliver one sentence in one breath.
However, if your sentence is longer and you have a comma, make sure the breath is in the right place so that you don't break up the sense or distract the listener.
Not good:
The Prime Minister has announced his resignation after admitting he profited /from shares he failed to declare to parliament.
/ = breath
Much better:
The Prime Minister has announced his resignation /after admitting he profited from shares he failed to declare to parliament.
You could in fact read the whole sentence in one breath - but if you must take a breath and are unable to rewrite the script so the sentence is shorter, make sure you take the breath in the right place.
At this point I'll introduce you to what should be a rather simple concept, but something that new broadcasters can easily forget about:
If you understand what you are reading, you are far more likely to read it naturally, as if you're speaking in a normal conversation. This sounds simple - but many new broadcasters don't think about what the script they're reading is actually about. If you don't understand a sentence - ask the writer! Make sure you understand every idea that is being transmitted.
As an exercise - try reading the script, then putting it down and without looking at it, explaining what the story or item is about. This will help you internalise the ideas you're trying to communicate.
Then - pick up the script and read it again. Record yourself doing a before and after.
If you understand what you're reading, you'll find you'll naturally put the breaths in the right place and emphasise words naturally . You should sound much more like you're not reading.
It's a great way to communicate beautifully with your listener without having to do a bunch of exercises, or circle all the 'important words' - something that you can do, but can often lead to more problems than it solves.
When we speak naturally we breath at all the natural 'commas' in our sentence, but when we're reading a script, we can end up putting the breath in the wrong place, breaking up the sense of the sentence. We'll come to that element of breath in a moment - but first, let's look at how to breath quietly and unobtrusively as we broadcast.
There are many exercises you can do and voice coaches from different backgrounds will tell you to do all sorts of exercises every day in an effort to breath more 'quietly' and effectively.
But when I had this problem, the brilliant Arch McKirdy told me to do one thing:
Just open your mouth a little wider.
Loud breathing or breaths that can be heard come from your tongue and teeth getting in the way. When you take a breath, the sound that can be heard is from your teeth and tongue getting in the way. When you take a breath - try opening your mouth wider - drop your jaw - you'll find that when you breath in, it will be soundless.
Exercise:
Try to hear the difference - record yourself breathing in normally with your mouth slightly open, then try it again with your jaw dropped and your mouth open wider - it should be much quieter and also encourage you to breath from the diaphragm.
Breathing for sense
Knowing where to put the breath in a sentence is crucial, as it helps convey the correct meaning. If you breath in the wrong part of the sentence, you can interrupt the flow and the sense.
One breath per sentence.
As a script writing and reading rule - this is what you want. To be able to deliver one sentence in one breath.
However, if your sentence is longer and you have a comma, make sure the breath is in the right place so that you don't break up the sense or distract the listener.
Not good:
The Prime Minister has announced his resignation after admitting he profited /from shares he failed to declare to parliament.
/ = breath
Much better:
The Prime Minister has announced his resignation /after admitting he profited from shares he failed to declare to parliament.
You could in fact read the whole sentence in one breath - but if you must take a breath and are unable to rewrite the script so the sentence is shorter, make sure you take the breath in the right place.
At this point I'll introduce you to what should be a rather simple concept, but something that new broadcasters can easily forget about:
If you understand what you are reading, you are far more likely to read it naturally, as if you're speaking in a normal conversation. This sounds simple - but many new broadcasters don't think about what the script they're reading is actually about. If you don't understand a sentence - ask the writer! Make sure you understand every idea that is being transmitted.
As an exercise - try reading the script, then putting it down and without looking at it, explaining what the story or item is about. This will help you internalise the ideas you're trying to communicate.
Then - pick up the script and read it again. Record yourself doing a before and after.
If you understand what you're reading, you'll find you'll naturally put the breaths in the right place and emphasise words naturally . You should sound much more like you're not reading.
It's a great way to communicate beautifully with your listener without having to do a bunch of exercises, or circle all the 'important words' - something that you can do, but can often lead to more problems than it solves.
Friday 13 April 2012
The Radio Voice: Speaking in Tongues
One of the first passions and attractions to broadcast journalism for me was the use of the voice. I originally started in student media co-editing campus magazines and newspapers, but my passion was really set alight when I entered community radio.
I was excited by what a voice reading a radio script could communicate. All at once I could be transported to wars in Sudan, a cricket match or someone eating chocolate cake. But I wasn't just interested as a listener - I became passionate about what goes into a broadcasters ability to communicate the words and make the listener forget about everything but the ideas being transmitted.
So at about the age of 21 or 22, I started voice lessons. One of the first things I learnt was that a well practised ability to read and communicate a script enabled the listener to forget about the broadcasters voice and simply listen to the words. If the script itself was beautifully written, then the duo of voice and words in radio would come together and produce that magical result: compelling radio.
After 13 years of singing lessons (many with the Alexander technique queen in Sydney, Jenny Vergison) and about 6 years of private voice coaching with two wonderful teachers, James Hagen and Arch McKirdy, I started to pass on what I had learnt by voice coaching beginner broadcasters in community radio.
In the interest of open information and education, I'd like to leave some of the basic voice coaching techniques here on this blog for you to use. I'll try and go through different topics in voice coaching over the weeks and months so that together they take you through the basics and give you something to work with.
But these posts are somewhat of an experiment. The difficulty is - voice coaching is done face-to-face for a reason - it requires the student to listen to sounds and sentences and practice them during the session. It's rather hard to translate those sounds by text alone. But I do love sharing these tid-bits of information, so let's give it a go.
First though - the best voice coaches have time and again relayed to me this one core rule: Voice coaching is not about getting our voices to sound beautiful so all will marvel at our brilliance.
It is about learning to communicate the meaning of words without our voices getting in the way of the listener. We don't want to draw attention to the sounds we're making, rather than the ideas we're communicating. The best broadcaster sounds like nothing at all and keeps you fixated on what she/he is saying.
To start with:
When we communicate with our friends, such as telling them a funny story or talking about the day we've had - we naturally emphasise the important bits. Try recording yourself talking about walking to the shops and buying something or what you did on the weekend - you'll find you highlight the important words and underplay others and get the inflection and tone right without having to think about it. You're a natural!
And that's the genius of an excellent broadcaster - they do all of that, but while reading a script. Being able to read as if you're speaking naturally is what we all strive for. We do all the exercises and practice and learn all the tips and tricks so that we sound one thing - natural. A little counter-intuitive I know, but stay with me.
At this point I'll insert a note - a large part of voice coaching is diagnosis. A teacher will have a student who might have nice, clear articulation, but struggles with reading naturally - or she'll have someone who reads naturally and emphasises all the right words - but finds the student mashes parts of words together so that it's hard to understand some of what's being said. Because these notes aren't tailor made for a specific person - they can only be a guide.
If you're in broadcast media or any arena where you use your voice and want to improve it - it's a good idea to seek out a voice coach who can go further in depth with these principles.
The tongue:
Tripping up on words as a broadcaster is a problem - not because it makes us look bad - but because it gets in the way of the listener soaking up the meaning of the script we're reading, and draws attention to ourselves and away from the what we're saying. It is one of the most common problems for new time broadcasters. The solution is rather simple: strengthen the tongue!
Here's a basic one:
Red lorry, yellow lorry, red leather, yellow leather.
If you do nothing else, do this 10 times in a row, a few times a day - or even ten times at night - you'll hear and feel an improvement in the flexibility of your tongue and its ability to get around letters. Make sure you articulate the whole phrase - don't let yourself get away with sloppiness!
I remember being told about one famous and talented broadcaster in Australia who does nothing else but this exercise. So if you do nothing else - do this one! The first 5 might be easy.. but as you try and hit ten in a row without pausing, you may find you trip up, or stop articulating the 'l's or other letters. This will get better the more you do it.
What else can I do?
Stay tuned for the next post!
I was excited by what a voice reading a radio script could communicate. All at once I could be transported to wars in Sudan, a cricket match or someone eating chocolate cake. But I wasn't just interested as a listener - I became passionate about what goes into a broadcasters ability to communicate the words and make the listener forget about everything but the ideas being transmitted.
So at about the age of 21 or 22, I started voice lessons. One of the first things I learnt was that a well practised ability to read and communicate a script enabled the listener to forget about the broadcasters voice and simply listen to the words. If the script itself was beautifully written, then the duo of voice and words in radio would come together and produce that magical result: compelling radio.
After 13 years of singing lessons (many with the Alexander technique queen in Sydney, Jenny Vergison) and about 6 years of private voice coaching with two wonderful teachers, James Hagen and Arch McKirdy, I started to pass on what I had learnt by voice coaching beginner broadcasters in community radio.
In the interest of open information and education, I'd like to leave some of the basic voice coaching techniques here on this blog for you to use. I'll try and go through different topics in voice coaching over the weeks and months so that together they take you through the basics and give you something to work with.
But these posts are somewhat of an experiment. The difficulty is - voice coaching is done face-to-face for a reason - it requires the student to listen to sounds and sentences and practice them during the session. It's rather hard to translate those sounds by text alone. But I do love sharing these tid-bits of information, so let's give it a go.
First though - the best voice coaches have time and again relayed to me this one core rule: Voice coaching is not about getting our voices to sound beautiful so all will marvel at our brilliance.
It is about learning to communicate the meaning of words without our voices getting in the way of the listener. We don't want to draw attention to the sounds we're making, rather than the ideas we're communicating. The best broadcaster sounds like nothing at all and keeps you fixated on what she/he is saying.
To start with:
When we communicate with our friends, such as telling them a funny story or talking about the day we've had - we naturally emphasise the important bits. Try recording yourself talking about walking to the shops and buying something or what you did on the weekend - you'll find you highlight the important words and underplay others and get the inflection and tone right without having to think about it. You're a natural!
And that's the genius of an excellent broadcaster - they do all of that, but while reading a script. Being able to read as if you're speaking naturally is what we all strive for. We do all the exercises and practice and learn all the tips and tricks so that we sound one thing - natural. A little counter-intuitive I know, but stay with me.
At this point I'll insert a note - a large part of voice coaching is diagnosis. A teacher will have a student who might have nice, clear articulation, but struggles with reading naturally - or she'll have someone who reads naturally and emphasises all the right words - but finds the student mashes parts of words together so that it's hard to understand some of what's being said. Because these notes aren't tailor made for a specific person - they can only be a guide.
If you're in broadcast media or any arena where you use your voice and want to improve it - it's a good idea to seek out a voice coach who can go further in depth with these principles.
The tongue:
Tripping up on words as a broadcaster is a problem - not because it makes us look bad - but because it gets in the way of the listener soaking up the meaning of the script we're reading, and draws attention to ourselves and away from the what we're saying. It is one of the most common problems for new time broadcasters. The solution is rather simple: strengthen the tongue!
Here's a basic one:
Red lorry, yellow lorry, red leather, yellow leather.
If you do nothing else, do this 10 times in a row, a few times a day - or even ten times at night - you'll hear and feel an improvement in the flexibility of your tongue and its ability to get around letters. Make sure you articulate the whole phrase - don't let yourself get away with sloppiness!
I remember being told about one famous and talented broadcaster in Australia who does nothing else but this exercise. So if you do nothing else - do this one! The first 5 might be easy.. but as you try and hit ten in a row without pausing, you may find you trip up, or stop articulating the 'l's or other letters. This will get better the more you do it.
What else can I do?
Stay tuned for the next post!
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