What I learned from my experience with WAVY 10 was a life-changing knowledge of what it means to do broadcast journalism. WAVY 10, News Channel 10, is an ABC/FOX affiliate and the top-rated station in the Hampton Roads area, a coastal region in southeastern Virginia. It is here that I learned the art of telling a story. I was able to learn how to write my scripts and also learned how to speak confidently and conversationally.
Scriptwriting and Storytelling
I was responsible for scripting sports and news segments. But if you learned to write a good script, you learned the rhythm of saying things clearly, concisely and with meaning, because you don’t want your viewers, your listeners, to have to rewind or look it up. The challenge, especially in sports segments, was capturing the excitement and intricacies of the game and then laying an interesting narrative track on top of it. How do you present a ‘replay’ in a cogent fashion? What was happening in the overall game, and what were the key plays? How do you break down a three-hour basketball game to the five things viewers should know about it? Now a news segment was an objective, fact-filled report. The audience needed to know what was happening accurately and succinctly. I still learning how to write a precise and accurate script but I am getting better each and every day I cover news.
Learning from Experienced Reporters
The most helpful part of the WAVY 10 experience was the opportunity to learn from professional reporters. Watching them was invaluable. Their voices were so much softer than mine. Whereas I was blasting my voice, they communicated like they were having a conversation. They had the advantage of practice, but I gained a lot from observing. Simple things I would have overlooked, like they would barely speak and be just fine. I used to think I needed to project my voice more than it needed to go, but those reporters I worked with made it sound so easy. They were like, “See? The viewer doesn’t have to be right up there. You guys are right here. Talk like you’re talking and it’ll be just fine.” I also watched how they combined presenting the facts of a story with the perspective and voice of a storyteller.
Building Confidence and Confidential Skills
Becoming a confident and conversational reporter was a process of overcoming initial nervousness and the practice of public speaking. I am still progressing to the point where I would rehearse my scripts out loud in front of the mirror, record myself and play the finished product. I would rewatch it, try to improve on phrasing here, on inflection there to become more natural and fluid.
