Cobi Smith was a correspondent and newscaster for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She has kindly agreed to answer vocal and communications related questions that will be of interest to Executive Voice readers.

Please could you tell me about any vocal training you have received?

During my journalism degree I did a unit on radio broadcasting, within this we had a couple of sessions with a voice coach. Later, when I became a radio newsreader for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, I had informal training from more experienced presenters. Though possibly the best training is listening to yourself with headphones on and experimenting with your voice to find what sounds good.

How did you prepare for a newscast broadcast?

With hourly broadcasts, when you’re expected to chase stories in between, there’s no time for preparation! Sometimes 2 minutes before going to air I would be printing off the stories I was to read that came in 10 minutes before. I always tried to read stories through at least once before going to air as you’re much less likely to make errors – and read the story in a flowing and logical way – if you know in advance what you’re saying. Also I always keep hydrated – lots of water means a much smoother voice.

When you read the news, were you given a script? How did you prepare your script or what you were going to say?

As a newscaster in a regional newsroom I prepared the script myself! It was a combination of stories I had chased myself and those taken off the ABC network, prepared by other journalists with similar deadlines and responsibilities. I think only television newsreaders are given scripts; part of being a radio newsreader is deciding what news goes out.

When you delivered a newscast, are you thinking of communicating with the audience there in the studio, or beyond the microphone to the people ‘out there’? Do elaborate.

I was always most conscious of my audience as the people I had interviewed. I was the correspondent and newsreader for a rural area (although, as this was in Australia, I was covering roughly the area of Wales). It’s especially important to develop trust and respect in smaller communities, so I was always conscious that the local emergency services, politicians, development agency, farmers and so forth were listening, and the issues I covered mattered to them.

When doing packages for state or national media I kept in mind I was communicating with a much broader audience.

Please share your top tips for speaking and communicating in a newscast.

Keep it short and succinct – people lose interest after about a minute. You need to be articulate and convey a sense of urgency and interest

What are your top tips for communicating with others generally?

Look and listen. Everyone has something useful to say. Often people need to chat for a bit before telling you what you really want to l know – don’t expect someone to feel comfortable with you immediately. You should show you’re interested through body language and eye contact, and questions that reflect what they’ve said so far.

How do you modify your body language for news casting? (For example, do you have to sit in a particular way?)

It’s important to sit up straight, so you can breathe properly. You need to be comfortable and relatively still, certainly no rustling papers, as moving around will change the sound levels.

What are your tips for vocal warm ups prior to broadcasts?

I learnt some proper warm ups through voice coaching, but never used them news reading! Warming up was reading the stories beforehand.

Do you have any physical and mental preparation routines you do before broadcasts, and if so, please share them with us!

Not beyond what I said before.

Do you have any vocal or communication skills ‘gems’ you are prepared to share with Executive Voice readers?

Drink water consistently. Practice by listening to yourself read.

Thank you very much Cobi; your responses were very informative. I am sure my readers with gain some more knowledge of this area of communicating.

Cobi Smith was a correspondent and newscaster for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She has kindly agreed to answer vocal and communications related questions that will be of interest to Executive Voice readers.

Please could you tell me about any vocal training you have received?

During my journalism degree I did a unit on radio broadcasting, within this we had a couple of sessions with a voice coach. Later, when I became a radio newsreader for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, I had informal training from more experienced presenters. Though possibly the best training is listening to yourself with headphones on and experimenting with your voice to find what sounds good.

How did you prepare for a newscast broadcast?

With hourly broadcasts, when you’re expected to chase stories in between, there’s no time for preparation! Sometimes 2 minutes before going to air I would be printing off the stories I was to read that came in 10 minutes before. I always tried to read stories through at least once before going to air as you’re much less likely to make errors – and read the story in a flowing and logical way – if you know in advance what you’re saying. Also I always keep hydrated – lots of water means a much smoother voice.

When you read the news, were you given a script? How did you prepare your script or what you were going to say?

As a newscaster in a regional newsroom I prepared the script myself! It was a combination of stories I had chased myself and those taken off the ABC network, prepared by other journalists with similar deadlines and responsibilities. I think only television newsreaders are given scripts; part of being a radio newsreader is deciding what news goes out.

When you delivered a newscast, are you thinking of communicating with the audience there in the studio, or beyond the microphone to the people ‘out there’? Do elaborate.

I was always most conscious of my audience as the people I had interviewed. I was the correspondent and newsreader for a rural area (although, as this was in Australia, I was covering roughly the area of Wales). It’s especially important to develop trust and respect in smaller communities, so I was always conscious that the local emergency services, politicians, development agency, farmers and so forth were listening, and the issues I covered mattered to them.

When doing packages for state or national media I kept in mind I was communicating with a much broader audience.

Please share your top tips for speaking and communicating in a newscast.

Keep it short and succinct – people lose interest after about a minute. You need to be articulate and convey a sense of urgency and interest.

What are your top tips for communicating with others generally?

Look and listen. Everyone has something useful to say. Often people need to chat for a bit before telling you what you really want to l know – don’t expect someone to feel comfortable with you immediately. You should show you’re interested through body language and eye contact, and questions that reflect what they’ve said so far.

How do you modify your body language for news casting? (For example, do you have to sit in a particular way?)

It’s important to sit up straight, so you can breathe properly. You need to be comfortable and relatively still, certainly no rustling papers, as moving around will change the sound levels.

What are your tips for vocal warm ups prior to broadcasts?

I learnt some proper warm ups through voice coaching, but never used them news reading! Warming up was reading the stories beforehand.

Do you have any physical and mental preparation routines you do before broadcasts, and if so, please share them with us!

Not beyond what I said before.

Do you have any vocal or communication skills ‘gems’ you are prepared to share with Executive Voice readers?

Drink water consistently. Practice by listening to yourself read.

Thank you very much Cobi; your responses were very informative. I am sure my readers with gain some more knowledge of this area of communicating.