Contributors Susanne

“The Skipjacks” on Chesapeake Bay Week

Catch the Premiere of “The Skipjacks”

A new Chesapeake Bay Week Special
produced by Susanne C. Stahley
for Maryland Public Television

airs SUNDAY, APRIL 18, 2010 8:00PM
repeats: Saturday, April 24, 6:00pm

on Maryland Public Television

(Check your local cable or satellite listings for channel)

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Effective Writing: Think Like the Fox

The fox turned and stared straight at the camera for several long seconds. Then, apparently judging that we were not a threat, she continued with her main business of hunting food. We kept rolling.

I’ve been filming – or attempting to film – red foxes in my neighborhood for one of my new independently-produced segments for Maryland Public Television’s weekly series, Outdoors Maryland. It occurred to me during my stalking endeavors that pursuing foxes is not unlike pursuing viewers of a media production, whether documentary or corporate, video or website.

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“We’ll make them watch it.”

“No one will want to watch this.”
“We’ll make them watch it.”

I don’t even remember the topic of the script anymore, but this was an actual conversation I had with a client that still echoes in memory.  I do recall that the manager was determined to cram as much data into the video as he could, and either didn’t realize, or didn’t care, that his intended audience would tune it out, overloaded into apathy. Important messages would be lost in an unrelenting deluge of instruction, whether the audience – his company’s employees – was required to view the video or not.

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Sharpen Your Sentences

Your writing makes an indelible first impression as surely as your appearance does, so take time to polish the sentences in all your writing, from annual reports to marketing scripts. An informal style prevails in emails and blogs these days, but that’s no excuse for rambling or boring writing.

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