Recently, we published an article called Your Producer Voice written by an anchor to explain how crucial it is for producers to stay calm in the booth, especially when talking in IFBs. Anchors simply need producers to calmly explain what needs to happen during newscasts, so the anchor can calmly execute the plan on live television. Problem is, many producers really struggle with how to stay calm when things are falling apart and/or the boss is breathing down your neck.
So here’s how to control your voice, even when you are not in control.
- Have a plan
- Boil the plan down
- Restrict who is in your booth
- Trust your director
You cannot walk into the booth for a newscast without a plan, period. Yes, things will blow up even if you have plan. No, your plan cannot be to just watch the rundown play out and hope you time the show correctly. When I say you must have a plan, I mean you have scenarios in your head to fix many common issues. These include, reporters not making slot, a reporter not turning in scripts and their live shot dying, the computer freezing up and your video doesn’t roll, the meteorologist running long, expert interview and/or reporter doesn’t get into position for newsroom shot in time. As a producer you are paid to know what potential pitfalls you will face each day. The ones listed above are super common. When you are calm, think of go to plans for these scenarios, so if one happens you have an automatic fix.
Now let’s talk breakers during the show. Breaking news is even a bit formulaic when you really think about it. You will execute one of these scenarios:
1) Breaker information comes in, anchor reads copy (or adlibs-if that’s person’s strength) and you will move on.
2) Breaker information comes in with a graphic, anchor will voice over.
3) Breaker is live picture anchor voices over.
4) Breaker is live shot, anchor pitches to live crew.
5) Breaker is reporter live with vo or vosot, anchor pitches, reporter voices over the video and possibly pitches to sound.
Have dummy scripts for these scenarios that your studio crew is familiar with. I am not saying you have to format everything. If your anchors are great ad libbers, you would put a few facts in the script for prompter if you want (see See It Rather Than Say It, remember anchors are often primarily visual and need to see what’s going on). The point is, make it crystal clear how you will format these scenarios so you aren’t getting questions like, “Now should I start the pitch, then let so and so take it from there?” “Will there be double boxes and an animation?” This is crucial if you are a new producer learning the ropes at a station. Do not mess with 2 anchor pitches and creative ways to wrap up the coverage. Keep it simple and make sure your director and anchors know your plan before there is breaking news to deal with. The dummy scripts help. These “go to” formatting scripts eliminate most of the questions the anchors, director and production crew would have. This is part of learning what your crews needs are so you can execute quickly. The more you all understand each other, the more you, as the producer, will eventually be able to change things up. Whenever I started a new producing job, I did these type of backup scripts initially so my studio crew knew my expectations. (see Right Hand Meet Your Left.)
Having clear cut breaking news templates your studio crew can count on is the first part of boiling down your plan. Now let’s talk about how you will deliver the message. You need to know exactly what you are going to say to your anchors and director before you say it. You need a clear cut order of who you will tell first. As a rule of thumb, the director is told first so she/he can do what is needed to get the information on the air. This is especially true if you are taking a graphic or a live shot. The director will need to talk with several people to pull this off cleanly on air. Now you will run into issues with the production crew “tipping off” your anchors unless you make it crystal clear to your director that only you tell anchors about breakers. The studio crew is not trying to screw you. They often just get anxious. Let the director take ownership of them, and make sure they know you are the only one talking to the anchors about a new breaker.
When you tell your anchor, make sure he/she isn’t reading copy at the time unless it is so huge, that it absolutely cannot wait. Anchors need to concentrate while on the air. During commercial breaks they are trying to read ahead, get their bearings, and pump up their energy for the next block. Every word you say to them counts. Do not use throwaways. Your goal is to give them 1 sentence commands when making changes. Examples for common issues are: “Wx long, wrap quick,” “Wrong vid, apologize,” “Shot died, stretch.” “Video not coming.” “Go to teases (page number) now.” You can get into the why in the discrep meeting after the show. After these breakers and last minute changes happen, have conversations in debrief meetings (see Anchor’s Away: How to Handle A Combative Anchor. ) so these key players know how you think. This also helps you see if you are giving them information effectively and succinctly.
The next piece of advice can sometimes be tricky, but will make a world of difference for you to stay calm and in control in the booth. I had a rule from my second producing job on, that no one came into “my booth” (yes I did phrase it that way) except one immediate supervisor. If my supervisor was a screamer, I went to the ND and said someone else would have to come in or that supervisor had to call me in the booth only. No more in the booth privileges. Yes, I occasionally ticked off a manager for a short time. Then a big breaker came and the show executed smoothly, and I got what I wanted. I also threw people out of “my booth” if they were interrupting. I had a production manager that hated me for it at one station. Too bad! The newscast comes first. That was my mantra and you can tell from my writing I did not compromise on this. Most well run newsrooms have this rule in place already. If you are in a newsroom where multiple managers wander into the booth during shows all the time, ask the ND if you can have one designated manager coming in or at least a rule where only one manager at a time comes in so you can focus. When managers come into the booth, the production crew defers to the manager, and it makes it much harder for you and the director to execute quick commands. Most managers will understand this and that this request isn’t just you being a control freak. Your director needs the number of people in the booth limited as well. People tend to bug the director even more than you when, frankly, the director is busier than you are during most of the newscast. Your director will appreciate you making this request as well.
Trusting your director is also a key element to staying calm in the booth. Many times I had managers coming in during huge breakers and fighting about what live picture to take or various philosophical issues. I would try and ignore, but often wound up caught in the middle, before I could send them into the hallway to have their debates. In these cases time and time again my director took over and saved the newscast. I trusted my director to know how I would phrase things like “go to break,” or “live pic next” and I let the director run with it. I had to. My bosses got in the way. Trusting your director also is a benefit when you are dealing with smaller level changes like floating a story or popping in a quick breaker. My rule of thumb again was tell the director first, then let him/her tell the production crew while I told the anchors. This means I used my headset to talk to director only a lot. Calm voice, to help the other calm leader in the room take control as well. Too often I saw producers feel the need to use the “all call” button for every change in the newscast. This button should only be for huge breakers where you have to get on the air immediately. And you should have conversations ahead of time so everyone knows if you use “all call,” it’s a big deal, no questions asked.
If you still think that anchors or directors are whiney about you, the producer, staying calm and in control, consider this: How many news people have you seen lose their cool during crisis situations in the newsroom or in the field? Do you respect those people? Chances are you don’t. Losing your temper is a sign you are in over your head and you will lose respect. You will get people on the news and production staff questioning everything you try and do during a live newscast. You must lead authoritatively during a live show. When you make mistakes, and we all do, take ownership and keep calm. You will win over a staff of people who will count on your calm direction, when the sky is falling.
