Voice Training Techniques for Broadcasters

The Radio Day

• Radio output is a carefully considered blend of audio designed to cater to a particular audience's needs at a specific time of day.
• The day is broken into segments or zones based on Scanell's model, which matches the daily life of most people.
• These zones are designed to provide content that suits the listener's needs at a particular time and circumstances.

Breakfast Shows

• The most important program at most stations, aiming to hook listeners for the rest of the day and promote other shows and the station itself.
• 14 million listeners tune in to breakfast shows.

Day Time Shows

• The pace of programs tends to slow down after breakfast shows, assuming most people are at their destinations by 9-10 am.
• Traditionally, these zones were aimed at housewives, but now they cater to a wide variety of listeners, including office workers tuning in online.
• Day time shows often feature requests, competitions, and phone-ins, serving as "chewing gum for the brain" to keep listeners engaged.

Drive Time Shows

• The pace picks up again as the traditional workday comes to an end, serving the same function as breakfast shows but in reverse.
• These shows provide information about traffic or travel, news, and serve as a bridge between breakfast and overnight shows.

Functional Listeners

• Listeners who tune in to get specific information, such as weather forecasts or traffic updates.
• Functional listeners are often younger people who come to radio for specific needs.

Evening or Overnight Shows

• The audience for radio after 7 pm is generally small, with 4 million listeners.
• These shows often feature music, such as jazz, dance, or alternative music.
• Overnight shows were previously used to trial new presenters and formats.

Week End Shows

• The pace is more relaxed, with a focus on leisure activities.
• Traditionally, sports features are aired on Saturday afternoons, even on music-based stations.

Music

• Most radio stations in Britain are music-based, and the style of music played is crucial to the station's identity.
• Music policy is developed to appeal to the target audience, and even popular music may not be compatible with the station's overall sound.
• Music is selected to reflect the time of day and the sequence in which it is played.

Voice Training

• Voice trainers teach new broadcasters how to breathe deeply using the diaphragm to prevent nervousness and sound more resonant and authoritative.
• Techniques such as sitting up straight, relaxing shoulders, and doing mouth exercises help to improve voice quality.
• Voice training is useful, but practice is essential to release the full potential of one's voice.

Writing for Radio

• Writing for radio requires a different approach than writing for reading, focusing on how it sounds rather than how it looks on paper.
• Radio scripts should be conversational, engaging, and inclusive, using language like "we" and "us".
• Scripts should be logically and evenly paced, with one idea per sentence, and should grab the listener's attention from the first sentence.