Watching the last few presidential debates reminds me of being in Mrs. Lay’s 5th grade class.  We had that know-it-all that nobody liked, that smart science-brain kid that was painfully shy, and that loud-mouthed bully that picked fights on the playground with a girl named Megan.  Or was it Kelly?  (I don’t think I was considered one of those three, but I did achieve the distinction of being the first to get zits.  And the last to get rid of them!)

“Nobody will listen to you unless they sense that you like them.  If a person senses that you do not like them, that you do not approve of their existence, then your religion and your political ideas will all seem wrong to them.  If they sense that you like them, then they are open to what you have to say.”  Donald Miller

They say that Ted Cruz has a 43 percent unfavorable rating, and that’s even after adding a few jokes in the last debate to improve his likability.  43 percent!  Jeepers, that’s higher than Larry Musselwhite in my fifth grade class!  And Larry didn’t smell very good.

By the way, Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Rand Paul, and Donald Trump all have a similar favorability gap, according to www.areyoumorepopularthanlarrymusselwhite.com.

Think of the last few presidents.  Obama (when elected).  Clinton (even after you know what).  Reagan!  Jeepers, he was like a movie star.  They were all likable, at least to enough someones.

“We resist being influenced by people we don’t know or don’t trust.  We are open to the influence of those whom we trust or whom we perceive have our best interests at heart.  Trust requires common ground.  Trust requires empathy.”  Andy Stanley

If being likable and sounding friendly are the starting points for being effective, shouldn’t we in Christian radio pay more attention to connecting emotionally and relating to people’s lives?

I recently heard a promo for a daddy/daughter dance that shared the date, time, and location, but little else.  Nothing about the impact of a dad on a daughter’s life, the importance of spending one-on-one time with your kids, and the power of a role model.  Downright unfriendly, you could say.

Consider this:

Buy some pizza and gather your teammates to build a “friendly” vernacular for your station’s brand.  Then make sure every recorded promo, every live mention, and every digital thingamajig on your website utilizes those words to help make your station friendly and more effective.

After all, not everyone can be as funny as Ted Cruz!

To tease, or not to tease. That may not be the question.

Most teases I hear are self-indulgent attempts to manipulate un-seen passive consumers to do what you want them to do.  That, my friends, is a waste of time.  Your listeners are not simply consumers, but people with real life and real hopes and dreams.  We would do well to consider their lives as our frame of reference.

Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life”, the best selling non-fiction book of all time other than the Bible, begins with these four words:

It’s not about you.

Offering your listeners something relevant and compelling for which to stay tuned is a noble quest.  Trying to manipulate listeners for an additional PPM meter-minute is a waste of time.

“More Neil Diamond facts coming up next hour.”  I actually heard this on the radio. I’M NOT MAKING THIS UP, as Dave Barry would say.

We in radio have a lot to learn from social media, which has the algorithms and nifty-difty cyber brain power to monitor what entices people to “click through”.

Just in the last hour on social media I’ve seen:

“We’ve selected a group of people for a brief survey.”  Nope.

“Your marriage is doomed without this three minute conversation.”  Yep.

“Three easy ways to help keep your kids from getting sick this winter.”  Certainly.

Here is a practical idea:

Consider having your air personalities keep track of the social media posts that entice them enough to “click through.”  Then discuss why and how they can emulate that on the air.  Bonus tip: It’s easier to get people to do something again than it is to get them to do it the first time.  That’s why tuning in for “the next time to win” in a contest, or tuning back tomorrow at this same time for more ways to keep your family healthy can be effective ways to create additional listening occasions.

As my brilliant friend Tommy Kramer says, “Radio stations keep trying to manipulate or monopolize the listener’s time against his/her will.  But the listener is in charge, and growing more used to the ‘on demand’ part of life every day. When you only promote things that actually matter to the listener, believe me, you’ll stand out in the crowd.”

The scoreboard can tell us a lot.  We look to see the inning or the quarter.  Perhaps to see who’s at bat or who’s ahead.  Sometimes the errors or the fouls.  But no one considers the scoreboard important enough to take its picture.

Unless of course…

…you see yourself on it!

Your station is like that.

The music is nice, but Spotify and Mortify have it in major doses.  Traffic reports?  It’s on the 4’s, the 10’s and the 12’s up and down the dial.  Weather?  I have an app for that.

No, your radio station has to offer something else.  Something unique.  Something your listeners value.  Something that screams, “That’s me!”

Listeners may push the button because of a song they don’t like or irrelevant chit chat…

But people don’t push the button on their values.

*Inspired by my talented friends Kevin Isaacs and Dave Arthur.

Odd, isn’t it?  In a format that MATTERS more than any other, we spend so much of our time talking about stuff that doesn’t.

Recently I’ve heard…

The tour dates and future music projects of an artist I’ve never heard of.

The details of a traffic problem that I wasn’t in.

A contest where if I text them the thing (twenty words or less) and I’ll be put in a drawing with all the other people that have texted them the thing (twenty words or less) and they’ll do a random drawing at 7:20 in a few weeks with Flip and Flap of the Flip and Flap Morning Show to determine the finalist that will be in the subsequent drawing for the thing.  Jeepers!  Who wrote your promo?  The IRS?

A company’s sales accomplishments with no connection of how it mattered to their customers.

Deejays that talk incessantly about things that happened in their lives that listeners can’t relate to.  Newscasts with stories that sound newsy but aren’t relevant.  Stations that position themselves with mindless slogans that are all about the station, not about what is meaningful to the listener.

Here is a challenge for the new year:

Listen to another radio station in the format for one hour and write down the things you hear that don’t matter.  You’ll be amazed!  (This exercise is impossible to do with your own radio station because it’s too familiar to you.)

When Michelangelo was asked how he created the statue of David, he supposedly responded, “I just took away everything that didn’t look like David.”

So, if you want your radio station to matter… you can start by simply taking away everything that doesn’t.

As the new year begins it’s easy to get bogged down in the multitude of details of programming a radio station; the politics, the personalities, and the to-do list that never seems to get to-done.  And yet, there are the more advanced concepts of focus and targeting, serving your core listener, developing the talent, connecting emotionally, and developing a meaningful brand.

But at its core good programming is relatively simple.
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi began every training camp with these words, “Gentlemen, this is a football!”, which underscores the importance of knowing the basics.

Here are the programming basics:

• Play the music your listeners love.
• Talk about things they are interested in.
• Don’t waste their time.

If you’re a GM make sure your PD is accountable in these areas.   If you’re a PD, use this to prioritize.

If you kick off 2016 by getting these things right, then you’re in a better position to begin working on the other stuff that can make your station remarkable!

Happy New Year!