Five Tips to Become a Soundbite Genius

1. Speak in soundbites to everyone.

Getting key phrases for concepts and ideas across clearly is central to all communication. As a fun practice try to shave off any extraneous details during conversation in your everyday life. In Errol Morris' film *Fog of War* former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara said, *Never answer the question that is asked. Answer the question you wish were asked.* Begin to train yourself to speak only what you want others to hear. In this way you'll be shaping other's perception of you-which is the essence of good media.

2. Answer the first interview question with your sermonette.

In a 1989 interview on the NPR show Fresh Air veteran TV journalist David Brinkley said, *Everyone of them [his guests] will arrive in the studio with some little sermonette in mind, and determined to deliver it. So one thing I do is first ask them a dull, boring question like, what do you think about this. And let them deliver their little sermonette. And then we get to the hard core of what we're there to talk about.* Your first and last points have the most impact so plan and deliver your sermonettes no matter what you're asked.

3. Frame your ideas for your audience.

Jennifer O'Neil, a film producer and director, explained that when shooting background footage (b-roll) she uses a technique called *grounding.* To *ground* the camera must end definitively on an object or scene that signals the viewer that that segment is over. I suggested to her that she probably also used the opening footage to *ground* or shape the beginning of how she wanted a viewer to perceive the scene. In this way you orient your audience to the scene or the material you want them to focus on.

You can apply the same concept to soundbites. Your opening words set the stage for what you want to convey, your final words signify the close, how you want your audience to remember what you've told them. Use your opening and closing statements to anchor your audience to the information you want them to grasp. That way you shape the way they think about your product, service or cause.

4. Tell people what to do.

I love mystery, but this isn't the place for it. Don't leave your audience guessing. Be forthright about the action you want them to take by letting them know why your product or service is necessary for them to have a complete and happy life now. What gap does what you have to offer fill? Be direct in pointing this out so there is no doubt.

5. Live your words.

Get to the point with clarity and insight. The Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer said of composer Astor Piazzolla's music, *I don't think it's [the music] always about embellishment. I don't think it all can be expressed rightly just gliding on the surface of convenient rhythms. This music can't be in fact performed, it has to be lived. And I always can distinguish if someone is flirting with Piazzolla as a convenient item of our commercial industry or if someone really lives the life or the heartbeat of the music of this great composer.*

It's the same with you and your soundbites. Are you living the heartbeat of what you're saying, what you're representing? If not, we hear your false notes, your commercial intent. If so, we know in an instant when your music is true.

Learn how to use any interview, any time, on any topic, to get your business, book, product or cause the publicity-and fame you long for in this soundbite teleclass. http://www.prsecrets.com/

Copyright(c) 2004 Susan Harrow. All rights reserved.

You have permission to publish this article in its entirety electronically, in print, in your ebook, or on your web site, free of charge as long as no changes to the content are made and you include my byline, copyright, and resource box. Please notify me of publication by sending an email with a copy of your publication to: mailto:newslettereditor@prsecrets.com. Thanks!

About The Author

Copyright(c) 2004 Susan Harrow. All rights reserved.

Susan Harrow is a top media coach, marketing strategist and author of *Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul* (HarperCollins), *The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah*, and *How You Can Get a 6-Figure Book Advance.* Her clients include Fortune 500 CEOs, millionaires, best-selling authors and successful entrepreneurs who have appeared on Oprah,60 Minutes,NPR, and in TIME,USA Today,Parade, People,O,NY Times,Wall Street Journal,Inc.

prsecrets@publicist.com

---

WAV; Useful Applications; Recording Your Tapes or L.P.s to CD

My first article about digital recording that I have had published in various places on the net for some time, talks about the two main audio formats midi. and wav.I have decided therefore,... Read More

Add Audio to Your Web Site and Increase Your Sales up to 35%!

Ok, you've got your site built, you have traffic coming to it, a good product at a reasonable price.... hmmm... what else do you need?What else could increase your conversion rate?Audio!All right I... Read More

Streaming Audio Recorders

1. i-Sound WMA MP3 Recorder 6.x - On Sale www.abyssmedia.comi-Sound Recorder turn your computer into complete audio recording studio. You can record sound from internal or external source into MP3, OGG, WMA, APE,... Read More

The Ten Commandments To Creating Amazing Audio Products

1.Thou shall create audio products as the fastest way to come out with a product.Forget about e-books. They take to long to create especially if you're a slooooow typist. You can create an... Read More

7 Ways to Use AUDIO to Increase Your Web and E-mail Sales

Thought about adding audio to your Web site yet? You should. While great copy does a good job of selling your services and products, audio will amplify the effect of your words.Audio gives... Read More

Dont Use Web Audio The Wrong Way

Have you ever wrestled with a set of instructions, but then got so frustrated with it all that you threw them aside in a fluster and tried to figure out how to do... Read More

wav; Recording Voice or Instruments

A graduate student in Belfast wrote to me about a project he was doing. It is an inter-active instructional CD on the Tin Whistle.Obviously here is another application where you would record direct... Read More

7 Ways to Use Website Audio in Your Marketing Arsenal

Most visitors to your website are using computers with audio capabilities. Recently introduced techniques make it easy to take advantage of this capability.In the past, web audio was primarily decorative, consisting of musical... Read More

Adding Streaming Audio to Your Website

Adding streaming audio to your web site can help you enhance the message you send to your customers and can serve as a wonderful confidence-building tool. In the past, audio was used primarily... Read More

The Ten Commandments of Using Streaming Audio On Your Website

When it comes to placing audio on your website there are Ten Commandments you absolutely must follow. Break one of these Commandments and you can watch your website drive visitors away faster than... Read More

DVD Audio: An Introduction

DVD Audio is a music format that is designed to offer improved audio performance over CD. The new audio format can be used to provide listeners with Advanced Resolution stereo and/or multi-channel (up... Read More

Alternatives to MP3

Although MP3 is the most popular format for encoding music, it is by no means the only one. There are two basic methods for compressing audio ? lossless and lossy, and for each... Read More

How to Add Audio to Video

Digital media is everywhere you look. Music and video production have made it to the grass roots level thanks to the affordability and widespread use of powerful computers.Inexpensive digital video cameras are widely... Read More

How to Create Professional Audio Books from Scratch

My name is Alan Twigg and I'm writing this article to offer advice to anyone thinking of creating their own professional audio books.In the New Year I came up with the idea of... Read More

Creating Web Content Using Audio Recordings of Expert Interviews

Creating Web Content Using Audio Recordings of Expert Interviews The easiest way to create content for your websites is also one of the best ways to create value for your clients. It's a... Read More

Eight Reasons Why You Must Add Audio to Your Website

NUMBER 1 : INTERNET USERS REMEMBER WHAT THEY HEAR Did you know that Internet users remember only 20% of what they read while remembering an amazing 70% of what they hear? Audio on... Read More

Audio Websites -- Web Developers: Make Money Now

Are you a website developer looking to establish a long-term relationship with a web content provider that could make money over the long-term for both of you? Have you considered becoming an expert... Read More

MP3 vs. WMA

There are just a few audio compression formats out there, just like there are only a few image compression formats (you may have heard of them: JPG, GIF, BMP). Two of the most... Read More

How to Use Your Computer as a Recording Studio

A few years ago there was a revolution in recording technology. As computers became more powerful, they started to replace traditional tape recorders that were the heart of most recording studios. Today, computers... Read More

CD/DVD Master Preparation Tips

"CD/DVD Master" is the disc you provide to your CD/DVD vendor for replication or duplication of that media. Here are some helpful tips for creating a high quality master:- Always use high quality... Read More

How To Record Streaming Audio, Internet Radio And

When it comes to music on the Internet, you have two legal choices: you can stream tracks, or you can purchase them as individual downloads.Replay Music can record streamed songs from most applications,... Read More

What The Muscle Power of Audio Can Do for Your Site

How Audio can Influence SalesAudio can enhance your website by letting your visitor listen to your voice, which is the next closest form of marketing besides a face to face meeting.Who can use... Read More

Heres Exactly What Makes Web Audio So Powerful

Have you ever tried to communicate with another person using just actions and sign language? It gets pretty frustrating, doesn't it? Especially when you know that if you could just SAY a few... Read More

Why Publishing MP3 Can Cost You A Fortune

This was news to me. It might be news to you too:MP3 is NOT free to use if you're an online publisher. BUT - let me be clear - there are some opt-outs.... Read More

Get Personal by Adding Your Voice to Your Site

Many customers in today's online business world are shopping around online for a reason; either they are too lazy to go to stores, do not like the masses of people, or they might... Read More

Adding Sound To Your Web Site - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Many webmasters like the idea of adding background music to their web sites but most shy away from doing it worrying about slow loading pages and large file sizes. There are many different... Read More

Transmit Clean Digital Audio with Digital Coaxial Cables

In the world of digital audio, there are two types of cable to choose from; optical cables which use light to transmit signal and digital coaxial cable. These audio cables will enable your... Read More

Why Arent You Using Audio?

As use of the Internet continues to grow geometrically, we see an increased demand for information to be provided by a variety of media. Viewing options can range from simple text to PDF... Read More

Jingles - What Constitutes A Successful Jingle Campaign?

What constitutes a successful jingle campaign? In this article we will examine and listen to 4 successful jingle campaigns and look for key ingredients to their success.Jingle Campaign #1, Mr. Chau's Chinese Fast... Read More