Be The Guy Who'd Say That

So much of radio today consists of people saying things that no human being would ever utter in real conversation. And then they wonder why their ratings aren't higher. A lot of this, of course, is because of the station's agenda to constantly promote, promote, promote -- never leaving much room to actually ENTERTAIN, which is why people listen to the radio in the first place.

But it's also because of extremely poor copywriting. You can't put a bunch of "print words" into people's mouths and have them come out sounding natural.

However, since I'm a Talent coach, let's concentrate on how this can be corrected.

There's a famous story about Marlon Brando (the best actor of my lifetime) doing his first movie role. Brando was already a hot item, getting rave reviews for his stage performances, but after his first movie scene was completed, the movie's director came over to him and said "Marlon, can I talk to you about a couple of things?" Brando agreed, and the director told him two things that he perceived as problems: (1) "You never look into the camera; I can't get a shot of you," and (2) "You mumble."

Brando then asked him if he had a camera operator, to which the director said yes. Then Brando asked "And you have a 'boom' guy - the one who can move the mic?" The director answered that he did, and Brando then wrapped the chat up by saying "Well tell 'em to move them. I'm just being the guy."

He was just "being the guy." The guy who would actually SAY the dialogue ... like in real life. Not staring meaningfully into the camera to pull attention to himself; not "orating" in a loud voice (like so many "announcers" we hear today).

So maybe you should try this. Just be the guy who would say whatever it is you're talking about. If it's written poorly, then RE-WRITE IT to where it sounds and feels natural.

I can hear the complaints now: "But that would take so much time. I'm already busy enough."

Right. Too busy to sound good, apparently. So after you get fired, try to say, "Would you like fries with that?" in your next job as naturally as you can.