News presenting masterclass with Ellie Crisell: Transcript

Hi I’m Ellie Crisell and I present the 8.00 news summary on BBC One. We give everyone the top news stories of the day in just 90 seconds.

One of the first things news presenters have to do as soon as they get in the newsroom is get across what is happening in the world. Luckily they get a few newspapers for us to do that!

I then go through the scripts making sure everything’s clear and it makes sense, but also that it’s written in a way that suits the way I read.

I do make some changes but I make sure I don’t make anything too much longer because this is a short bulletin and we have a lot to fit in.

I always spend some time reading the scripts out loud.

This is really important because often mistakes you don’t notice when you’re reading on the computer can jump out at you when you’re reading out loud.

It also gives you the chance to try out difficult pronunciations, difficult phrases. If there’s a particular word I keep tripping over I’ll change it.

Next it’s studio time. Before I go in I have to have my make-up done. Studio lights are really harsh and if you don’t have professional make-up you won’t look as presentable.

Here we are in the studio. This is the camera that will be filming me - and my autocue is on the camera, so the words that I have to read you can see come up there in front of me.

Behind me you’ll see this massive expanse of green which is very clever. They use computer trickery to superimpose the BBC News images on to the screen background. That’s why I’m not wearing green because if I was, I’d be invisible on the television.

We’re about to go for rehearsal. Rehearsal time is really important. It gives everybody a chance to make sure everything is working as it should be before we go on air, which is of course live. All news is live on television.

It also gives me a chance to check I can fit in all my words in the time we’ve got because we know this bulletin is a quick one.

My top tips for presenting are:  Make friends with the lens. That’s a lovely little rhyme and what I mean is treat the camera is your friend not your enemy. No one is willing you to fail, everybody is willing you to do well, so feel comfortable with the camera and treat it like a friend.

 Be yourself on camera. Don’t try and fake a voice or fake a personality or copy somebody. Just be yourself – talk naturally, talk normally as you would in real life. People can tell at home if presenters are trying to fake it.

 In news it’s not really personality presenting, it’s about the content. People want to hear what you have to say. You’re delivering a message. Think about what you’re saying, that’ll help you get the emphasis right and it also helps with nerves because it takes the attention away from you and on to the content.

 If you’re not feeling confident, fake it for a bit. Pretend you’re confident and the more you pretend, the more you will naturally feel confident. That can help you get over those initial nerves.

 My final tip is - enjoy it! If you get the chance to do presenting you’re doing a job that loads of people would kill to do, so make the most of every minute – it’s a great job! Watch Ellie’s Presenting Masterclass

Watch Ellie read a short news bulletin