by Susannah Ross

Smile when you speak
Whether you're recording TV tracks or presenting a radio programme, remember to smile. Smiling lightens and animates your voice. As you are not in vision you can use your hands as well, to help dramatise what you say.

Wear headphones when recording
Remember that the human ear is far more discriminating than a microphone. It can focus on one sound and screen out others; the microphone can’t. Wear headphones when recording, so that you hear what the machine hears.

How to end a magazine programme
How you say goodbye is as important as how you greet your listener. Identify the programme and yourself once more and offer an invitation to the next edition. You do want your listener back.

Writing for radio
Imagine you are talking to one person, preferably a friend or relation. Tell them the story. You will automatically put yourself on the same level and write in a conversational way, rather than as if on a platform addressing thousands of people you can't see.

Interview questions
Ask the right kind of question. Open questions beginning "Who?", "What?" etc. invite information or an opinion. They open up a subject. Closed questions are those that expect the answer "Yes" or "No". They close down the conversation: use them to confirm information or stop an interviewee talking too much.

Don't cross the line when filming
Film as if the two people in an interview are on a stage: you can film from anywhere in front of them, but don't cross the imaginary line between the actors and the audience, or the viewer will become disorientated.