As a writer by trade, I was “raised” to think that the only way to grab an audience’s attention is with a great lede: beautifully crafted paragraphs that played on a reader’s emotions and all but forced them to read on.
So when I decided to add broadcast journalism to the KnightMedia program about a decade ago, I quickly learned that words are only a small part of the storytelling equation … and that there was an even more effective way to reel in a viewer.
And it takes all of three seconds — when done well.
Nothing puts someone directly into the middle of the story like nat sound. It is evocative, making us stop what we’re doing and pay attention because we know precisely where we are when we hear that sound.
I first saw — well, heard — this at Dave Davis’s famous ASB Workshop when he played for us the now-legendary story “The Chariot.” When I saw the power of a tight shot combined with perfect nat sound to grab an audience — who will ever forget the engine revving on that old lady’s car? — I knew that this type of lede would be a trademark of KnightTV stories from that point forward.
All it takes from us as teachers is this: when your students are brainstorming their broadcast stories, they need to hear their story just as much as they are seeing it. The days of only brainstorming questions for sources and possible great b-roll shots are over. Add to that equation what sounds they most associate with the person, place or event they are basing their story on, and they will be on their way to even better broadcast stories.
They can and should also be hearing their story when they are on the scene shooting all of their footage — close their eyes and really listen. What sounds tell them where they are at that moment? Once you’ve identified those, go get great shots (typically tight) of whatever is generating those sounds and you suddenly have yourself a lede for your story.
To reinforce for your students just how powerful nat sound can be, you can play what I have dubbed “The Nat Sound Challenge.” Have each of your intro-level students record 5-7 seconds of audio and then play it for the class. One catch: black out the screen. Let them all guess what the sound is and where it was shot. By the end, you will have two sets of winners: students who guessed the most clips correctly, and those who recorded the most clear and evocative nat sound.
I also play for my students a broadcast piece created by one of my students a few years ago as part of a contest where she had to build an entire story with no voiceovers to speak of. Students can hear the power of nat sound and see how large a role it can play in the telling of a story — in this case, of a cross country race day from start to finish.
This all leads up to my Intro to Multimedia Communication students creating their first full broadcast stories, with the general rule being start with your best piece of nat sound, and finish with your second-best. This takes the pressure off of them to generate a clever or witty written lede and lets the audio do the heavy lifting for them.
Stories about a Salvation Army volunteer outside our local grocery store, a temporary ice rink down the street from our school, and a student who was ranked internationally in Rubik’s Cube (of all things) all came to life thanks to the opening nat sound recorded by students who had only been in our media program a few months.
The stories are good, but their openings are great, and they all show the power of hearing your story so you can grab your audience pretty much every time … and all in just three seconds.
Written By: Jason Block
