Lecture 4: Telling Stories for Radio

Here are some important notes I took from Week 4's online lecture:

Source:
http://www.dynamicsyndications.com.au/listings/detail.asp?iNews=528&iType=47

This first half of the lecture starred guest speaker Richard Fidler  from "Conversations" and "Evenings":

• radio is very different to television - people listen to the radio to feel included in the conversation, so the interviewer's job is to help facilitate that 
• "Conversations" is a structures with interviews of a more biographical nature and runs for an hour. 
• to maintain successful interviews - you must be personally interested and enthusiastic or otherwise you may end up sounding over-the-top or overexcited 
• 90% of the guest must be known before the interview - you must do some  preparation 
• the subject/guest must feel safe and comfortable and also trust the interviewer 
• try not to probe people with questions - they may end up sounding defensive
• great feeling when speaker's remembers something for the first time

What I learnt:

1. Maintaining successful interviews is hard but still achievable, you must make sure your guest is comfortable, relaxed but most of all that they trust you. 
2. Silence can be a tool that shows power and revealing. I found this surprising but then again, we can convey so much information with a silence. It can also be an emotional tool as well.
3. Always make sure that you are delivering for your listeners, even when you cannot see them.

The second half of the lecture was with guest speaker Steve Austin from "Evenings":

• in radio, enunciation and pronunciation is very important
• radio is like "creating pictures with words"
• it is important to reflect with who you are speaking with
• the audience at later periods are of a more broader range, although there are more men than females
• listeners can pick up many things - especially when a question has not been answered
• listeners can detect many things from the radio - including when speakers are lying as the visual aspect has been taken away, the wavering or the pitch of the voice can identify their lies
• you must empathise vocally to your guest
• it is important to "be human" - we are not rational creatures but emotional beings

What I learnt:

1. How important it is to connect with various people. You must allow them to continue in their own style and they may end up sharing something very personal and special.
2. Listening to others implies respect and this helps maintain a successful interview. 
3. Posing questions to listeners can help them connect with the conversation/topic and can bring more ideas and opinions. But it is always important to empathise with them, even if they share a different opinion. Everyone matters.

I thought Steve Austion has a wonderful description of the radio. He said it was,

"The theatre of the mind."

Both guest speakers demonstrated this - there is much more than just mere speaking between people being recorded. It is how we connect and share our moments together on the radio that is important. How mere words can provide enough information to know what is happening or how it looks like. Steve Austin mentioned how people are "time-poor" and that radio was a great medium to quickly catch up. He is right, news radio is a great way for so many people to get their daily dose of the latest news. Both speakers also showed how adaptive radio is, as with podcasts people around the world can listen to other countries radios.

This lecture helped demonstrate the importance of radio in our life and how people can share special moments over the air.