The way you sound has never been more important, especially in dayparts when viewers listen more than they actually watch.

We've known for decades that the sound of the voice actually influences an audience at least as much as the words themselves, if not more. Now research is showing exactly how emotions change the voice, and how the management of pitch, tempo and emphasis is likely to impact the way that viewers feel about your anchors and reporters.  

SOUNDING GOOD:  KMGH'S LANDESS AND TRUJILLO

In a new blog posting, The Coaching Company's Barry Nash shares some of the important findings and offers suggestions on what talent and their managers should do about them.  The posting features the work -- and voices -- of veteran Denver anchors Mike Landess and Anne Trujillo.

(If you link to the TCC blog and see an old post instead of the one above, please try refreshing your page view.  Some systems revert to the last post you accessed instead of to the newest one.)

A lot more, it turns out, than you might think.  In fact, the scientists that study these things have identified over 100 distinctly different human smiles.  When you smile on the air you’re doing lots more than simply showing whether you’re happy or not.  As a professional communicator, smiling authentically may be one of the most powerful things you can do on the air.  In addition to showing how you feel, there are smiles that suggest how attentive you are and smiles that encourage others to open up and talk to you.  There are smiles that show understanding and smiles that show approval.  There are broad, obvious smiles and much subtler and complex ones.

In this post, TCC Head Coach, Barry Nash, takes a serious look at the power and importance of the smile -- and of facial expression in general.  Just smile and click here.

Some years ago, an experienced TV news researcher was ticking through the list of things that most influence viewer opinion about talent: visual image, body language, sound of the voice, teamwork, and community involvement. Then she pointed out that there was this one thing with the power to trump them all, but she couldn’t even name it, much less measure it. She called it  “the X factor.” “All I can really tell you,’ she said, “is that some people have it and some people don’t.”

Well, research has come a long way and as a result the old X factor is not such a mystery.  This week's post from TCC Head Coach Barry Nash features a couple of legendary communicators from Atlanta and focuses on what research is teaching us about really standing out from the crowd.

WSB-TV's Pearson and Pruitt:  X Factor²

Click here to access TCC's blog and read Barry's detailed comments -- and to add your own.

Looking for your next hire on Collective Talent?  The Coaching Company provides free coaching for any talent you hire out of the Collective Talent talent gallery.  You can contact Michael Bille at CT or Barry Nash at TCC for details.

WBBM staff greet their new old (or should that be "old new?") anchor team.

Whatever your opinion about cbs2chicago bringing back the anchor team of Bill Kurtis and Walter jacobson, you can't blame them for trying.  Few things generate viewer loyalty as powerfully as truly great chemistry between anchors.  And that begs a big question:  Can chemistry be coached?  There is research that strongly suggests that the answer is  “Yes.”  We’ve seen it first-hand, especially in metered markets where we can observe shifts in viewing pre- and post-coaching.

People who like and respect each other coordinate their behavior — their movement, in particular — in specific and observable ways.  And what you observe on the outside generally reflects what is going on inside.  A team that is mentally on the same page will work together differently than a team that is at odds in one way or another.   And viewers can see it, hear it, and sense it. 

Read what TCC Head Coach Barry Nash has to say about the research on rapport and chemistry, and what the results mean for you and the way that you coach your anchor teams.  You can also watch the Kurtis/Jacobson reunion newscast and stretch your coaching muscles by posting your thoughts at You Be The Coach, The Coaching Company's facebook page for the coach in all of us!

Looking for your next hire on Collective Talent?  The Coaching Company provides free coaching for any talent you hire out of the Collective Talent talent gallery.  You can contact Michael Bille at CT or Barry Nash at TCC for details.

KATU's Brian Wood and Angelica Thornton balance the demands of scripted copy and breaking news.

Thanks to advances in what we call Performance Science, we know more than ever about how human beings capture and keep the attention of others. 

Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have pioneered a way to measure the effects of gestures, tone of voice, body language, etc — and the results are startling!  In everything experts have measured — job negotiations, business proposals, sales pitches, speed dating — success correlates directly to the ways that people use their voices and bodies independent of the words they are saying.

It seems we observe and trust how people say things more than what people say.  The MIT folks call these non-linguistic elements of performance "honest signals." 

Bottom line:  To work as effectively as Brian Wood and Angelica Thornton — the anchors featured in this TCC tip -- you have to be doing a lot more than just saying the right things.

Study the video and read what Barry Nash, Founding Partner and Head Coach at The Coaching Company, has to say about the latest research and what it means for anchors and reporters on a day in, day out basis.

News Managers:  The Coaching Company is fully equipped to coach individuals and teams via the internet.  No waiting to schedule a visit when you have a concern about talent, and no travel expenses.  Call Barry Nash at 214-520-2000 or email him at bnash@coachingcompany.com for more information.

TCC is also proud to be the home of The Desktop Coach, the only on-line DIY coaching site for TV news managers.  Critique your talent and generate customized coaching recommendations, track their progress over time, and automatically schedule in-house coaching sessions.  Call Barry Nash at 214-520-2000 for a tour, or go directly to The Desktop Coach registration page to sign up and test drive the system.

Talent:  Want to know how you really stack up?  Use The Desktop Coach for News Talent to critique your own performance, confidentially compare your work to others like you, and find out what you need to do to take your work to the next level.  Go to The Desktop Coach registration page to register.  There is no charge for individual talent to register and use the system.

WSET-TV's "real" anchor, Noreen Turyn, leads and tags a story about this restaurant owner donating tip money to Haiti.

Breaking through begins with bringing your “real” self to work, as opposed to your “best” self.  Too many anchors (maybe most?) choose one style of "serious" for every serious story...trying to portray every story’s heart with a deepened voice and stoic one-size-fits-all non-expression in their faces.  It's no wonder that, to viewers, they all begin to look and sound alike. 

For the "real" anchor or reporter, there's more than one flavor of "serious." Real talent tell stories like they really would, not based on some arbitrary idea of how they “really should.”

See more video and read what Nick Dalley, Master Coach at The Coaching Company has to say about being your real self as opposed to being your best self on-air, and why understanding the difference matters so much.

The Coaching Company is fully equipped to coach individuals and teams via the internet.  No waiting to schedule a visit when you have a concern about talent, and no travel expenses.  Call Barry Nash at 214-520-2000 or email him at bnash@coachingcompany.com for more information.

See someone in the Collective Talent gallery that you think might be right for you as long as they can improve in an area or two?  Call The Coaching Company!  We will take a look and talk with you candidly and confidentially about the strengths and weaknesses of anybody you see on CT .  Hire anyone in the gallery at the time you do the deal, and we will provide a session of in-depth coaching to your new employee at no cost to you or to them.  All we ask is that you keep us on the radar when you're ready to invest in coaching for the rest of your staff!

The Coaching Company is home to the world's only online do-it-yourself coaching system for managers and talent:  The Desktop Coach. 

The manager's version of The Desktop Coach includes everything you need to assess, coach and manage performance of each of your on-air talent.  The heart of the system is TCC's Breakthrough Performance Tracker, which enables you to evaluate every critical aspect of performance, create customized coaching reports, and track progress from one review to the next! 

The Desktop Coach rates performance in relationship to others like you, and tracks your progress from review to review.

TCC Head Coach Barry Nash describes the coaching tools for news managers at The Desktop Coach.

Whether you are a beginner or the most seasoned professional, the talent version confidentially evaluates your performance and provides a customized roadmap for taking it to the next level. 

Visit The Coaching Company website to learn more and register for a trial subscription. Or contact TCC's Head Coach and Desktop Coach developer Barry Nash at 214-520-2000 or bnash@coachingcompany.com for a guided tour.