Bulletin to ThinkTech Hosts - Week of January 22, 2023

Dear ThinkTech Hosts:

Host Bulletin, Week of January 22, 2023

Graphics

Permission forms are required when submitting graphics (except for listed exemptions), so be sure to return them to us NLT 10:00 pm HST on the night before your show. All graphics should follow our Graphics Guidelines, otherwise we may not be able to accept them for the show. For questions or help, contact hayley@thinktechhawaii.com.

Episode Titles

Episode titles are very important.  They draw viewers to watch your show, so you should make them short and catchy. Put yourself in the perspective of someone who wants to find your video. What words would they look for? Include key words and popular search terms in your titles. Here are some examples of episodes with over 1,000 views:

Is Coronavirus Just Another Hoax

Who is Shohei Otani

How to Beat Donald Trump

Android vs iOS Security

The Decline of Marriage in America

The Future of Wrestling

  

If you’d like feedback on the effectiveness of the wording in a particular title, just ask us.

Facial Expressions

It's important to look welcoming for your guests and viewers. A smile or relaxed look will make your guests feel more comfortable and your viewers more interested. Of course, serious topics warrant more serious expressions, but a constant hard look isn’t necessary.  Remember, you want everyone to have a good experience.

Promotion v. Prices

Though you’re welcome to promote an upcoming event, program or product on your show, and the place or website at which they can sign up for it, but please don’t  discuss the price on air.   We are not and don’t want to be a commercial enterprise. 

Promotion Tip

How about playing thinktechhawaii.com on a monitor or TV in your business or professional office?  It’s very watchable, as you know, and it’s easy to set it up to play.  In the case of a monitor, just connect the monitor to a computer with thinktechhawaii.com running on a browser.  In the case of a Smart TV, just select ThinkTechHawaii on the YouTube menu.  If you want help on either of these possibilities, just ask us.

Please regularly review past Host Bulletins and other resources - it leads to better shows.

Questions, contact hayley@thinktechhawaii.com.

Bulletin to ThinkTech Hosts - Week of January 15, 2023

Dear ThinkTech Hosts:
Host Bulletin, Week of January 15, 2023

Distinguished Guest Election/Survey

Voting is open! Thanks to everyone who made nominations. Click here to cast your ballot for ThinkTech Distinguished Guest. Vote only once, but feel free to share the link. Last month's winner was Lance Askildson, nominated by host Jay Fidell of "Global Connections". We also appreciate your response to our Current Events Survey. Voting closes Tuesday, January 17, and we'll announce the results in our email advisories on the 20th.

MLK Day, January 16

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 16, is not a building holiday, so we are still recording shows on Monday. See our list of observed holidays at https://thinktechhawaii.com/2022-holidays/ and https://thinktechhosts.blogspot.com/p/faq.html

Preparing Guests

Prepare your guests for the show by sending them the Appearance Guidelines and Graphics Guidelines as soon as you recruit them for your show. Last-minute back-and-forth emails from uninformed guests who have not looked at the guidelines is stressful for everyone.  Also, please make sure each guest has a decent camera, mic and light; note that we may have to cancel or reschedule the episode if their video or audio is not up to our production standards. Sending the guidelines before you complete your show information gives your guests  more time to get the things they need for the show and ask questions if necessary.

Disparagement

Avoid disparaging comments and invasions of privacy on your shows, and discourage your guests from doing so. Don't do name calling, and don’t make harmful statements about someone that you know or should know are false or exaggerated.  Stick to the facts.  If you are going to make an opinion, say that it’s your opinion. (Note that public figures, as opposed to the rest of us, have to show that you acted with malice and knew that your statements were false or that you spoke in willful or reckless disregard for the truth.). In event, err on the side of decency and caution.

Promotion Tip

Include popular but relevant search keywords in your show information. These draw viewers to your videos by increasing the chances that your video will show up when people search on Google or YouTube. For example, effective keywords for the episode "Covid is Surging in India" would be covid, India, pandemic, variant, mutation, masks, vaccines, surge.

Please regularly review past Host Bulletins and other resources at https://thinktechhosts.blogspot.com - it leads to better shows.

Questions, contact hayley@thinktechhawaii.com.

Bulletin to ThinkTech Hosts - Week of January 8, 2023

Dear ThinkTech Hosts:

Host Bulletin, Week of January 8, 2023

Welcome Back!

We hope the holiday break was really fulfilling and helped you relax, reflect, and plan for the new year. Now it's time to get back into our routine. If you have any questions about the date of your next episode, contact hayley@thinktechhawaii.com.

Updated Opening Suggestion

We've updated the script suggestions for openings to help with the transition to the new intro format. See below.

Welcome to [NAME OF SHOW] on ThinkTech Hawaii. I’m your host [NAME OF HOST]. Joining me today are our guests [NAMES AND AFFILIATIONS OF GUESTS]. Today, we’re going to talk about [BRIEF INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE SUBJECT].

STINGER (short clip with music to get the viewers' attention for the show) 

Welcome to the show, [GUEST NAMES].

Audio Standards

Make sure you and your guests review our Appearance Guidelines before the date of the show. If your audio is below our production standards, we may cancel the episode. You can check your audio quality through the settings on Zoom. Better yet, you can test the video and audio of you and your guests by going on the free version of Zoom, recording a test show, and playing the recording back. See https://thinktechhosts.blogspot.com/search/label/Audio for more audio tips.

Ways to Brighten Your Face

You can use one of the attached images to make your monitor a ring light.  If you have a Mac, you can also download the iGlasses app, which is a great way to adjust, brighten and improve your video picture.  You can find it at https://www.ecamm.com/mac/iglasses/. Of course, you can also get a real ring light at Best Buy; prices are coming down all the time.

Promotion Tip

Encourage your friends, family and following to watch your episodes as they air! They can sign up for our ThinkTech Daily to see the broadcast schedule of your shows. The link to subscribe is https://madmimi.com/signups/ef99f3ec9ec247e28903ae6140371bd7/join

Please regularly review past Host Bulletins and other resources - it leads to better shows.

Questions, contact hayley@thinktechhawaii.com.