Presentation Techniques for broadcasting
News presenters
News Presenters
are probably one of the stricter presenter jobs mainly because of the way they
have to speak, they need to be able to use correct terminology and
pronunciation this makes them a lot clearer in their speech and the audience
will be able to understand with ease, no slang words and sentences like “that
football match was so sick” as this would not be appropriate for the BBC’s
target audience, Fiona Bruce who is a news presenter for the BBC news she seems
good at talking directly too you rather than down to you, this is a lot better
for the audience rather than talking down to them as they will feel like more
comfortable and carry on watching, she sounds quite authoritative because of
the tone of her voice, the way she dresses in a smart outfit also gives you the
impression that she knows what she is talking about and that we can trust her.
News Presenters
can vary on their presentation style depending on the channel as they have a
different target audience, a lot of the rules that apply to BBC presenters
don’t apply to a presenter from MTV news, a presenter from a channel like this
will use slang as it connects them with their target audience which is mostly
teenagers, teenagers would expect that kind of presentation from MTV, they
don’t need to use proper pronunciation but will probably still need to use
correct terminology, the way they dress isn't very important.
The 60 second news
presenter on BBC three has to be able to deliver the information in a very
short amount of time, this appeals to the target audience as BBC three isn't a
news channel.
Continuity Announcer
A Continuity
Announcers job is to tell you what’s coming up next on that channel; they will
probably give you a very brief description of what happens in the next show,
their aim of their job is to keep the viewers watching and make sure they don’t
switch channel to do that they use phrases like “its radio ones big weekend Get
ready to bounce” a phrase like this is meant to connect with the BBC’s target
audience and make them stick around for a bit longer. Continuity announcers
also speak directly to you, they try and talk in a way that makes them seem
like you’re their mate, and they do this by using slang while talking about the
next show. BBC three now has a continuity announcement at the end of the 60 sec
news. At the end of show they will make a small comment on it then announce the
next program.
Broadcast journalists
Broadcast
journalists like Nick Robinson are part of the everyday BBC news. A journalist
like nick Robinson has to appear knowledgeable about the issue and have a deep
understanding of it, they have to speak in a similar way to a news presenter,
and the difference is they are presenting a lot more information than a news
presenter. A broadcast journalist will have to had researched all their
information before they are broadcast, they have to talk in a very serious
manner especially if you’re a political journalist, there expressions will
always be quite stern or serious, they are normally answering a question from
the news presenter this creates a debate style presentation, the way these
journalists dress is also quite important as it adds can subtly make them more
trust worth and informative.
Magazine programme presenter
Magazine program
presenters are not expected to have a deep understanding of what they are presenting
but they are expected to be knowledgeable across a range of subjects, they need
to be able to appear in control and link different bits of information
together. for example the top gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson is very relaxed
and laid back which makes the audience like him, he’s not a formal presenter as
he uses informal language most of the time, he nearly always appears to have a
good understanding of the topic which is cars, he has good interviewing skills
as he makes the person being interviewed very comfortable and sometimes not,
although that all part of his presentation style which is very jokey and
humorous, he always uses slang and correct terminology as he is expected to
give facts about the cars. As he is part of a 3 person presentation group with
James May and Richard Hammond, they are always joking together or ganging up on
one of them, they all use a very laid back presentation style it never really
gets very serious. The outfits they were are very casual which adds to their
presentation style.
Lifestyle shows
Lifestyle shows
cover a range of topic; presenters could be well known chefs, fashion designers
and famous presenters.
Cooking shows
always use a famous TV chef as it appeals to the target audience that watches
that type of program, for example Jamie Oliver has presented hundreds of
cooking shows over the past few years, the viewing figures will be high or low
depending on which chef presenter you have, it all revolves around the
presenter. The presenter has to be able to always be talking about the food
that they are making, while using descriptive words “crunchy and zesty” they
also tell you how easy it is to get hold of the ingredients and where to get it
from basically they will tell you lots of info about the different parts to the
dish, this is a good way of engaging with the audience as they will probably
write down the name of that ingredient or they will be cooking at the same
time. Jamie Oliver always shows and tells you how to cut things properly
reducing the risk of injury.
Home improvement
shows like grand designs use the presenter Kevin McCloud as he has been in that
area of television for years and years; having him present the show will probably
pull in more viewers than any other home improvement’s presenter. When he is
presenting he tries to talk to the viewer as if they were his mate, this builds
a good relationship between the viewers and the presenter, he has to “hold the
viewer’s hand” and show them these buildings, he tries to be on the viewer’s
side “I’m with you, not them, they’re mad, your safe and I’m making sure that
your safe” that is basically how he presents a show like grand designs, he
always dresses relatively smart except when he is on the building site.
Documentary Presenters
Documentary
presenters are quite different some are real some are fake, take Lois Theroux
his documentary’s seem very real especially the way he presents them, he is
never afraid to ask potentially offensive or uncomfortable questions, the way
he talks about the subjects he presents is always very casual this is to keep
the viewer comfortable as he does cover a few uncomfortable topics, he is very
open about anything that he presenting and is not scared to get involved but
only to a certain extent, doing these things make him very likable although to
the people he is talking to can find him annoying. His best technique is to
question without fear and he is very good at it.
One of the Best
wildlife documentary presenters of all time David Attenborough, his
presentation style is very unique in terms of wildlife documentary’s, he always
Gets right up
close to the animal he is filming, this makes it a lot more interesting for the
viewer, also the fact that many people have grown up with him presenting
wildlife shows, this makes his voice very familiar and easy to listen to, the
way he talks is very audience engaging especially when presented with amazing
imagery from the camera team.
DJ or VJ
In the world of
radio and especially mainstream radio like radio 1 having the right presenter
can make you ratings go up or down as they are the voice of that show for
however long there on for, radio 1 presenters are normally in their twenty’s as
they have to appeal to their target audience which is 12 – 14 year olds, they
can do this by speaking and using popular vocabulary that will appeal to their
audience, the presenter will be very chatty in the way they present the show
for example Nick Grimshaw who is like that is very popular at the moment.
Presenters don’t need to know the music that they are playing just be able to
connect with their target audience, although it would be better if they did.
Chat show host
Jonathan
Ross the presenter for The Jonathon Ross show on ITV is a good example of a
chat show host, he is very likeable to the audience and the person he is
interviewing, this makes the person he is interviewing more relaxed, his
presentation style is quite informal mostly with his speech, he always wears a
suit which is the more formal side of him. The fact that he can’t pronounce his
“r” adds to his likeable personality and makes his overall presentation very
relaxed. He has to always appear in control
this is where the suit helps as it makes him seem more important, he presents
himself as very fun character as he can always ask those personal questions
which the audience love, this is helped by the fact that he seems to be able to
come up with questions very quickly which is great as it keeps the pace of the
show at speed.
Game
shows
Game
shows are the type of program people like to watch when they get back from
work, quick easy watching that they can interact with. For example the game show
pointless on BBC One presented by Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, the
two of them together always presents themselves to be in complete control this
is because they are always very relaxed with the contestants who have never
been on a TV show before this makes them more relaxed as well as the audience. The
witty thinking between the two presenters is very good as it keeps the show
moving, they are both able to think very quickly which helps with the general mood
between the audience and contestants and viewers very light. They both wear
suits which presents them as clever and in control.
Verbal
tech
Discuss Verbal
techniques:
A
presenter like Brian Cox uses a lot of verbal techniques to engage the audience
with what he is talking about, if he didn’t he would just be talking seemingly without
any interest in the topic, it would be more of a ramble with no order to it. As
soon as he starts having a structure to his presentation it becomes a lot
easier to follow, the vocabulary he uses to his advantage to describe things
with grander words which is when he uses paraphrasing which is when he describes
something using different words to that all mean the same thing for example “this
star is massive, grand, a thousand times the size of our sun” he also puts
things into context for the audience. He uses illustrative language to describe
what he’s talking about this makes it easy for the audience to imagine what he
is describing. The tone and pace of his voice makes him seem like he is amazed
by it, he uses a lot of pauses to just stare and think, he is trying to make
the audience feel the same way he does, using all these techniques help him
make the show more appropriate to the target audience.
Another
program that uses a lot of verbal techniques is Master Chef, the presenters are
always using paraphrasing and Illustrative language to describe the food that
they are tasting, there trying to make the audience taste it with the words
they use as the audience can’t physically taste it, they have a large
vocabulary of words to do with food that help them present the show.
Visual
techniques:
Dress
and appearance is very important for presenters of all show genres, the way
they can show whether they are going to tell you something important or a bit
of obscure celeb news, it can tell you what type of show that you are watching
and who its aimed at, you can tell all this from the way a presenter dresses
formal or informal. On shows like the BBC news the presenters have to be
dressed smartly as they are delivering the latest and most important news, you
probably wouldn’t take them seriously if they were all dressed in beach cloths
or something like that whereas if you were watching MTV then that would be the
case as it’s a very informal channel, their target audience is mostly teenagers,
wearing suits wouldn’t really appeal to them. On a show like the Jonathon ross
show he dresses formally although he presents in a very informal way so there is a mix.
Body
Language is also important for a presenter especially if they interview people in
the show, their body language would include things like how they sit, their
facial expressions how they move and physical gestures.
Presenters
Physical gestures towards another host, contestant and someone being
interviewed are very important for example on the Jonathon ross show if the
main ignored an attempt at a hand shake from the person he is about to
interview, the lack of a physical gesture there immediately tells the that
person that he is un welcome. If a presenter put up a middle finger at the
camera that would be considered a very rude physical gesture and would be seen
as a rude person. If the presenter closed his eyes while someone was talking to
him or her and fell asleep that would tell the audience and the person they are
interviewing that the presenter is not interested. A presenter would be
expected to use appropriate physical gestures this would include handshakes
hands out of pockets.
How
the presenter moves can show how confident or unconfident they are to the
audience, if a presenter talks and looks at their feet you can tell they’re
very unconfident although if they were they wouldn’t have been a presenter in
the first place, a presenter should move with confidence and control.
A presenters Facial expressions can say a lot
about what they are talking about and what they think of it, whether they’re
shocked, happy, unhappy, sympathetic, scared, intrigued, serious, jokey basically
a lot of emotions that correspond to what they themselves have said or what
someone else has done or said, presenters have to be careful with how they
react to certain things for example if one of the BBC news presenters hated Justin
Bieber and they were announcing that he was unable to sing for the rest of his
life, the presenter should not show a biased opinion through their facial
expression as they would probably be smiling.
How a presenter
presents themselves in all aspects has to be appropriate to the target
audience, for example their dress, how they speak, facial expressions, movement
and vocabulary use.
Context:
production institution; (ITV, E4 BBC) has its audience expectations
There are a lot of
production institutions, they all have their particular target audience and
show genre and the target audience expects a certain type of show from that
institute. For example the BBC’s audience is very wide from toddlers to adults;
all these people expect certain types of shows to be on certain channels, for
example BBC One covers a lot of live events like F1 Wimbledon and the Olympics,
if any of these events were shown on say E4 they would hardly get any viewers
as people who watch E4 expect shows like the big bang theory, if you put the
big bang theory on the BBC it would be in the wrong context as BBC don’t show
shows like that. E4 is mainly a teenagers channel as it shows a lot of comedy
and action shows that are aimed at teenagers; these teenagers expect that type
of show from E4.
ITV show shows
like Britain’s got talent, jordy Shaw and The only way is Essex, the audience
that watches these types of shows wouldn’t expect any shows like Doctor who
they would expect that from BBC One.
Different channels
are aimed at different audiences.
