Testimonials

So, the past couple weeks, I've been working on what are called "testimonials."  As many listeners of National Public Radio will already know, most stations are supported in part by underwriters; businesses and organizations who help support a show and in return we mention their support on the air when the show plays.  Testimonials are when we bring in people from those businesses and record them talking about how underwriting has worked out for them, so other businesses can hear that and decide to underwrite as well.

I've been tasked with running the microphone while we record these people and also editing down the interviews; removing all the dead space and cutting down the length so they can be played on the air.  What's amazing, that I've noticed during editing, is that some people (myself included) tend to pepper their speech with so many "um"s and "uh"s that they can't finish a sentence without using them, and some people can speak for several minutes without using them once or pausing to think about what to say.  Equally amazing is the fact that you wouldn't really notice either way unless you're actively listening to tell (or trying to edit those words out). 

We're all finished recording the businesspeople and now all that's left to do is "tag" the spots (record one of us talking about how people can sign up for underwriting) and edit it all together with music.  Then, they should be ready to hear on the air.  So next time you're listening to SPR and you hear someone talking about how great underwriting was for their business, now you know what those little spots are called and how they're made.