Years ago, I worked at a radio station that had a two-minute local newscast. When the time came, I would press the news button on the board and wait for two minutes. The newscaster's timing had to be precise because a national program started exactly two minutes after the news began. Right away, I realized that each newscaster's biggest challenge was pacing. Having to fit a certain amount of material into a rigid time frame and make it sound natural is sometimes harder than it looks. The newscast always ended with the weather. Rookie newscasters would zip through the beginning of the forecast and realize that there was still a lot of time to fill. They would then start to speak slowly, while padding the rest of the forecast. Near the end of it, they'd realize there was hardly any time left and cram in the current temperature hastily. Typically, the end result sounded like this:
"Tonight,a60percentchanceofshowersandthunderstormsstartingaround8:30,withanovernightlowof48. And then, for tomorrow...the weather forecast--for Columbia...and the surrounding metropolitan area...Partly cloudy skies are expected in tomorrow's forecast. Those partly cloudy skies will be accompanied by a high temperature that is predicted to be within a range of 65 degrees to 68 degrees...approximately. Rightnow,it'scloudyand61degrees!"
Pacing...It's not always easy to learn.
