Imaging guru Rich Van Slyke delves into one of the many facets of production in this week’s Programming To Win column. Van Slyke looks at the emotional impact that you can bring with your voice to a piece of production. What does the inflection or volume of your voice tell the listener about the message you are trying to convey? Van Slyke explains how to make the maximum emotional connection.
Rich Van Slyke
By: Rich Van Slyke
What is the universal goal of all imaging? And how does better imaging pay off for you in higher ratings? According to Gary Marince from Arbitron, the goal of radio branding is pretty simple. “Associate what people like, your station, with where they can get it the next time they want it.” It what happens when every time Mr. Listener says, “I’m in the mood for _________, and I know where to get it. I just go to ____________.” The payoff is more cume. Because when they remember you, listeners will return more often to get what they like.
Most radio stations accomplish this through Positioning Statements: Today’s Best Music, The Classic Rock Station, The Information You Need To Know, Todays Country Hits…repeat and repeat. Pure repetition helps your remember. Like flash cards in math.
But if the goal is to strongly link what listeners love, with where they can get it, how do we increase the impact of our imaging to make certain it is remembered?
One way is to use emotion to make a stronger imprint. Why emotion? Because memories linked with emotion are better retained. Why do you think so many national TV spots/promos/trailers pull at your emotions? Think back on your life, what are you most remembered experiences? I’ll bet they are the ones that had a big emotional impact on you. We never forget the thrill of our first kiss, the anger of our first fight, the excitement of our first rock concert. But we easily forget a trip to the post office to get stamps. So is your imaging the equivalent of a kiss, a fight, a concert, or a trip to the post office? If we can cause a slight emotional reaction, we can increase impact. And increase memory retention. Which leads to higher cume. Think of the radio station as one of many neighbors who lives on your street. You see him mowing the lawn every week, but he never waves or smiles. But every week he does say, “I have a mower if you want to borrow it.” But….there’s another guy across the street mowing the lawn every week, who always waves and smiles, making you feel welcome, and every week he says “hey, I have a great lawn mover, and I just love mowing my lawn with it! Would you like to use it?” When your mower dies, and you need to borrow one, which neighbor will come to mind first?
So how do we create emotional impact? One of the easiest ways to do it to inject emotion into your voice. The voice of your jocks. Your voice guy or voice girl. I’ve been working with a voice coach in New York named David Lyerly. He is helping me learn to read with more emotion. It is not something that comes naturally to radio people. Because it’s acting. Most of the time, voice guys pay attention to the sound of their voice. But not the emotion that is being communicated. Here’s what I mean. Take the phrase: “I am gonna give it to you” There are many ways to say it: Big Announcer: “I AM GONNA GIVE IT TO YOU!” with an inflection that says You’re a winner! But there’s also angry: “I am gonna GIVE it to you!” with a sound that says you pissed me off, I’m angry and I’m going to punish you. And then we have sexy: “I am gonna give IT to you!” Meaning I want to rip you clothes off. Or with a wink and a smile: “I am gonna give it to YOU!” meaning “I have something valuable, but instead of keeping it, I will give it to you.
Seems pretty easy right? I thought so too, until I recorded myself reading some copy.
I thought I was voicing it different ways, but when I played it back, they all sounded like the announcer guy with the “You’re a winner!” sound. Most of us have been doing that same sound for years, it hard to break out of it. But here’s the problem: This is also the same sound that is on most local commercials. “You’re a winner, call NOW!” But we know it’s BS, so we ignore it. It’s a sound the audience hears so often, they become numb to it.
When we speak with an emotion, ANY emotion, it goes from boring to connecting. Try this next time you voice a promo or the next time you send copy to your station voice. Include some emotional direction. Like this:
(angry threatening voice, grit your teeth and feel some pain) Commercials make us want to scream! (switch to relieved, peaceful voice, feeling free of pain) That’s why we go commercial free every day at Nine, Noon and 5. (switch to confidence) 94.7 CSX.
Be careful here. Because many radio voices will simple get louder when the say the first line. The feeling in their voice is not one of anger, but the standard “announcer selling me “ we hear on every other liner. The trick is to really sound angry, like if you were talking to someone who is sticking a needle in your arm. Think of the way you would say “that needle you are jabbing me with makes me want to scream!”
You would probably grit your teeth and speak. You might even get a bit of a growl, or a snarl. Some people would even speak softer, like Clint Eastwood. The point is to FEEL the anger as you say, “commercials make us want to scream.” If the tone of your voice is the same commanding tone you would use on a spot tag: “order now and get half price! Do it now!” then you’re not communicating with emotion.
Another example would be a liner promoting the morning show:
(sad, fearful voice, like you just crashed your best friends car) Some Mistakes…(switch to devious, fun loving voice with a naughty smile) …are too much fun to make only once! (switch to confident, calm, soothing voice like you are introducing the President) Lisle and Hahn, mornings on 99-5 KISS.
Rich Van Slyke is the voice of WBIG Washington DC, WCSX Detroit, WGRD Grand Rapids, KISS San Antonio, WRIT Milwaukee, WNWV Cleveland, WKQZ Saginaw, WKZQ Myrtle Beach, WRXW Jackson, KZOZ San Luis Obispo, KZND Anchorage, WIXO Peoria, KCBL Fresno, WSFM Wilmington, KKPL Fort Collins, WRZK Tri-Cities, XFM Nairobi, and 1037 The DAM in Kansas City. www.richvanslyke.com Want a free demo? 770.962.4788 richvs@bellsouth.net
