BBC TV Journalist John Young has become a popular entertainer for both children and adults on our ships recently. Here he gives three tips on keeping a younger audience entertained between ports, based on his most recent voyage through the Baltic on Britannia in July…
As a BBC TV newsreader and reporter, I’m in a privileged position. I can assume that most of the time my audience is interested in what I’ve got to say, because – well – they’re adults, and they’ve chosen to listen to or watch my reports and bulletins.
But when your audience is going to be children – and quite young children, too – that’s not the case. You’ve got to win them over. And you’ve got to make it fun.
For the past few years I’ve learnt this lesson running my own business delivering workshops about TV News to school-children as part of the national curriculum. My most interesting challenge, though, has been thanks to Mark Price and Debbi Hammond in Carnival Uk’s Youth Entertainment team – making the switch between standing in front of children in a classroom during term-time, to children expecting to be entertained on holiday.
My recent experience this summer was, I think, my most interesting yet. It was my third trip as a Youth Entertainer – I’ve also delivered workshops and video-illustrated talks to adult Guests in the Caribbean. And here is what I’ve learnt – three tips on keeping children amused when they are under no obligation to pay the slightest attention to what you’re showing them.
- Make it funny. I spent quite a bit of time in the weeks before we embarked from Southampton finding amusing clips on YouTube of children in funny situations. I wouldn’t have used them in my classroom workshops, where learning was the aim – but as a great ice-breaker, ahead of some fun where learning was not really the main aim, it worked a treat.
- Don’t underestimate how interesting they might find your kit. My workshops give children a chance to read the news from a professional autocue, and then watch themselves back on screen. In the classroom, it’s a great confidence boost for a shy child. But in the more relaxed atmosphere on board a holiday ship, I noticed how curious they were about simply handling the microphone, looking through the viewfinder and – I couldn’t stop them – opening and closing the noisy clapperboard. As I tweaked and adjusted my workshops across the week, I built in more time to make sure they could all have a go.
- If you don’t ask, you don’t get. For my final set of workshops, I wanted to give the children a chance to interview someone special with a story to tell. Who better than the Captain? Wesley Dunlop was gracious enough to reply to my hand-written note saying he’d be delighted to accept. They were thrilled to meet him – and I was quietly thrilled with the time, and charm, he gave them answering their questions as they prodded and poked him with my camera and microphone.
None of this could have happened without Mark and Debbi’s encouragement ashore, and some excellent Youth Managers and enthusiastic Reefers on board. After 30 years in the news business, it’s been great to learn new ways to hold an audience – and I can’t think of a more enjoyable place to do it than a P&O Cruises ship.