In her "Artist Way" books Julia Cameron challenges her creative students to locate a hole in the wall coffee shop then put pen to paper. Now that Starbucks has inspired a flood of entrepreneurial caffeine shops to pop up on every corner; the task of locating a release through methods of writing seems easy... Not for me! The voices in my head don't need competition.
Just because I'm in radio doesn't mean I enjoy noise.
There's more energy in Rush Limbaugh's pregnant pauses then a stereotyped lopsided point of political direction.
Try this trick in a Radio station commercial production room and the untrained totally disconnected client will uncomfortably mumble, "I know what I want..." Then complain the system of sound located in the front seat of your car doesn't work. Really? Why not just listen to the great words of Andy Warhol, "Instead of wasting money on art...tape ten thousand dollars to the wall and get a daily view how financially strong you are."
All weekend, every news channel, Hurricane Sandy. Sales were down at malls. Attendance at movie theaters slid. Not just in New York and Jersey but from Miami to Nova Scotia. So much noise was being pumped up and out that it began to infect our process of decision making.
Thank God we have the Weather Channel and CNN! During tragic times I find myself diving into well weighted fear, wondering how people 100 years ago learned to deal with natural occurrences. The problem today...with so much mind blowing technology designed to keep you instantly informed "Sound" becomes the addiction.
I'd love to see the weekend Monster and Red Bull sales numbers. There's no need for a synthetic high when Momma Natures ripping up the tide. I was shocked at how many people at church couldn't put their Google Aps away.
Which brings me to Lou Solomon's book Say Something Real...
Lou writes: Silence holds enough power to say everything, if you allow it to. This isn't easy. Silence requires the unthinkable--to do nothing, to just be in the moment.
All this talk about Hurricane Sandy did you know there was a 7.7 earthquake in Canada on Saturday? Too much noise leads to tune out. Now toss in another natural occurrence; we're getting back that hour of sleep we lost in the spring. Sadly, falling back sixty ticks still won't convince people to be on time.
According to Lou we don't allow much room in our lives to practice silence.
Whoa! Practice silence? Could this be what's wrong with Carolina Panther Cam Newton? His passion to play ball is so loud that he's got no room to learn better ways to handle fourth quarter stress.
We talk on cell phones. We talk on Face Book. We talk at work with coworkers about the potential of the budget meetings sweeping your life and style into a much different direction. We love our Itunes and YouTube. We can't get enough of Modern Family and Honey Boo Boo.
So what are you doing for you?
Radio sales people and ad agencies make fun of my style of commercial producing, calling it a weird collection of obnoxiousness. Spend five to 30 minutes within my imagination and I'll introduce you to every reason why the music of the 50's and 60's refuse to be erased from society. Dubbed by other producers as an "Arroe-ism" the journey is to heighten the interest of listening rather than taking a big word dump on their already busy day.
Lou Solomon gives us a different view of this painting; when we talk and talk...the actuality is...we don't allow ourselves to properly breathe. Being one that's produced thousands of voices while erasing millions of breaths assumed hidden between thoughts...let me be one of the first that exposes: You breathe even while saying, "You're full of ______."
Lou believes we should be practicing the art of pocket silence. Let those around us complete their thoughts. Stop rushing in to conversation. Speak slowly, naturally and with gentle pauses.
The true meaning of words comes from silence. Silence allows you to make something simple incredibly brilliant. It requires the collaboration of the deliverer and the listener for there to be an impact that could influence or inspire someone outside your rib cage to move forward.
Solomon explains, "Your pauses are as important as the particular words you use."
I personally get in more trouble when demanding the conversation to reach its peak two seconds after its beginning. Just tell me the facts so can I can professionally react then get back to creating. It's when the conversation grows beyond 2 minutes that my heart begins to scream at the self I've grown into, "You failure! You're a loser! What the "F" ever made you think you understood this ****? National award? For what? The only thing you need an award for is stupidity."
Why do I spend so much time in Broadcasting schools and on University Campuses teaching commercial production? Even if the students never make it into Radio or Television they'll have the common sense to realize thirty seconds of words gather more support if what's been presented doesn't look and sound like a highway billboard.
Having a lot of money doesn't guarantee you a quality commercial. Knowing how to reach people begins with studying the listening habits and behavior of the people you want in your store. Staining your chapters with old methods convinces those below you to never trust in the greatest mediums of message delivery.
It starts with understanding the power of Silence...
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