Preparing a news bulletin can be daunting, but there are some simple techniques which will help you get it right. Firstly, you must consider your audience. They will be listening for news that interests them, and they expect a balance of stories which are serious and light, some about significant events and others about ordinary people.
You also need to consider the pace of the bulletin. Some stories have a fast pace, such as reports of fires or road traffic accidents. Other stories have a much slower pace, such as those explaining complicated political controversy. The lead story in your bulletin should have a dramatic impact. If it is obvious or dull, listeners may not stay tuned.
Putting stories in the correct order is important too. Listeners will have a sense of how important each story is from the ranking given to it in your bulletin, and if they hear three minutes of party argument stories at the start of the bulletin, they may assume that the rest of the bulletin will be boring too.
A good tip is to use grabs – short segments of recorded actuality – wherever possible. This can add variety, break up a long section of reading by one voice, and give the newsreader a chance to take a 30 or 40 second rest. It can also help to convince listeners that you are telling them the truth if it is a grab of someone they know, or a voice they recognise.
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