The craft of holding attention: Marc Fennell

Journalist and presenter Marc Fennell says his early experiences as a film critic on triple j and FBi Radio taught him some of the most important lessons about storytelling and capturing an audience’s attention.

Speaking on the Radio Today podcast, Marc says an important thing to remember in media is that “air time is not a right, it’s a privilege,” and as a result, time on-air needs to be used skillfully. 

“[At triple j], I was the little two-minute film reviews in between tracks, for about 11 years, and nobody asked for my reviews,” says Marc.

“I was shoved upon [listeners] in between DMAs and Hilltop Hoods – that’s who you came for, so the impetus was on me to give you an opening line that was intriguing and held your attention because I was not what you came for. 

“I think there’s a bit of that you have to carry through into broadcast television, broadcast radio or podcasting which is, sure, in some cases, people have chosen to tune in on you, and that’s great, that buys you an extra 40 seconds of attention, but not much.”

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These experiences taught Marc that crafting a captivating story needs to be approached strategically from the perspective of the listener.

“You’ve got to be thinking about attention and intention – Why did they click on it? What did they think they were gonna do?”

“Those are really important questions that I think have to be sort of interrogated when you make anything, whether it’s funny, whether it’s serious whether it’s journalistic, whether it’s anything – you’ve got to be putting yourself in the shoes of the listener all the time.”

Recognising the craft of holding attention and building curiosity created an appreciation for the skill that Marc finds in many forms across radio.

“I love listening to all kinds of radio. I listen to heaps of FM breakfast radio, I listen to heaps of drive – I’m not a snob – I listen to everything and one of the reasons why I like listening to all kinds of radio, whether it’s radio targeted way older than me or way younger than me, is just listening to the craft of attention,” says Marc.

“Because a lot of radio, when you take away the music and take away everything, it’s the craft of holding attention, and that’s at the root of it, because at the end of the day what you’re talking about changes from network to network, show to show, but the person’s innate ability to hold your attention for intrigue, to entice – that is a skill that you can look at the psychology of it go, ‘That was really clever how they created that curiosity gap that made me want to listen to what Jackie O really did at that party on the weekend.’

“And people do so many different ways, it’s not just about big production or trending music or whatever, there are so many ways people can do it.”

These lessons and the desire to refine the craft of attention have taken Marc’s career through a number of formats, but he says these principles need to be adapted to suit the medium. 

Marc’s upcoming project with Audible, House of Skulls, takes listeners on a journey that unravels the secrets of a collection of skulls brought together from all over the world to one Ivy League university.

He says House of Skulls is created specifically for Audible’s audience. The crucial challenge is to strategically adapt the story to suit the platform and meet listeners in the middle. 

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“The way I would do a series for Audible is very different to the way I would do a series for, you know, Spotify or somebody like that, and that’s not to say it’s better, worse, you just use the platforms, you know how different they are, you know how people use them. I think that’s just good producing,” says Marc.

“Good producing is thinking about how people are listening to this, why they’re listening to it, when they click on it, what are they hoping for? 

“Doesn’t always mean you give them exactly that, but you sort of have to understand why are people returning to your things and what are their generalised expectations. And how do you divert, subvert or deliver? 

“But I think you have to start by being aware of them.”

When he was asked about how the skull of an Australian cannibal ended up in a collection in America – as covered in his upcoming Audible series House of Skulls – Marc was quick to throw out some bait to arouse curiosity.

“It involves a hanging, decapitation, India and possibly some lies.”

House of Skulls with Marc Fennell launches on Tuesday, September 26.

Hear the whole chat with Marc Fennell on the Radio Today podcast here.