Lecture Review Week 4

This week's (well last week's as Blackboard prohibited me from listening to it) lecture was an interview conducted on ABC radio with Radio Presenter, known for his show 'Conversations', Richard Fidler. The Interview was based on the topic Telling Stories Through Sound and there were a few important points I gained from Richard's advice.

He began by saying that radio as a medium is an entirely different concept to television, therefore one has to approach it differently. Some ways that radio differs from television (apart from the fact that it relies wholly on sound) include: radio is more intimate as the voice is almost in your head and you can multitask more with radio than by sitting watching television.

Secondly, he discussed some advice to gain an audience, which was ultimately allowing your listeners to feel included. Apart from making the audience feel comfortable there is also one other group the interviewer has to worry about - their guests. Richard explained that making the guest feel like they are in a safe environment is key for the guest to open up and be honest with you. He mentioned to avoid the prosecutorial/'tricked you' style as it has the opposite effect on them and they clam up. He mentioned that personally, he doesn't like to step on them but instead let them do the talking (unless the are veering off track)

He then went on to focus on talk-back callers and how you have to remain friendly and never to put yourself 'above' your listeners rather remain a facilitator for debates and discussions. This will prevent 'angry-callers' and encourage positive listeners wanting to voice their opinions and add to the discussions.

The last question the interviewer left Richard with was  - 'How do you maintain your warmth, energy and empathy? to which he replied that he pictures his listeners as someone who is stuck at home (e.g. new mum) who uses radio for an outlet or a source of information to share if someone comes over or older people who want to keep up to date or someone who has had a bad day and wants a laugh. Doing this will make you feel that your are useful to listeners, almost like a public service which makes his job more worthwhile.