When “awkward” goes off the rails on live TV. This is some great television! Continue reading ONE OF MOMMY’S TOYS
Category Archives: Storytelling
“SWITCHING GEARS” HURTS MY EARS
There’s a 5 & 6pm newscast here in Cincinnati that I find myself watching… because it’s so bad. From anchors sporting the latest Wal-Mart fashions and looking as disheveled as a hooker who had a productive night, to a weatherman who, literally, yells at you throughout his forecast, thinking he’s sporting a sexy, booming FM radio voice, but in fact, is just, plain yelling. The anchors start to mirror his absurd volume and the whole show becomes a big yelling fest. But let’s switch gears for a second as there’s one pet peeve I have that gets me yelling back at the TV screen. The anchors are constantly ad-libbing that cliche phrase “switching gears” between stories. It’s a verbal device they use to bridge two unrelated stories to make the transition feel a bit less awkward. As an example, going from a double fatal car crash story to the birth of a new elephant at the zoo is an obvious “switching gears” story. The problem is easily avoided by a producer who understands the art of stacking stories in a newscast. Continue reading “SWITCHING GEARS” HURTS MY EARS
SAVVY STORYTELLING
Ever notice how your favorite celebrities who are guests on Ellen or Jimmy Kimmel or Stephen Colbert share stories about their lives? That’s because producers ask the stars to come armed with a few stories the host can lead them into. Producers know that storytelling is an essential device to connect viewers to the show and to its hosts and guests. Continue reading SAVVY STORYTELLING
AUNT VIOLET’S ASKEW WIG!
COMPELLING STORYTELLING
Storytelling is that oh so overly used industry buzzword you hear everywhere. But I ask you: When was the last time you actually heard any news anchor or reporter tell a compelling story? You’d certainly remember it if you heard one. So let me bring you two simple examples of storytelling that pop. Oliver Tull was one of the hosts of the Dallas version of Eye Opener. In this first clip, he tells a story about an old man who fights off a grizzly bear who was after his dog: Continue reading AUNT VIOLET’S ASKEW WIG!