“A recent survey says…”
“A new poll shows…”
“According to the latest statistics…”
Those references put us to sleep more times than not. The words themselves are boring. Numbers and percentages even more so.
So here’s what works better (because it’ll will sound more conversational):
Unlike other formats people, don’t tune to your radio station because of WHAT YOU ARE. They tune to you because of who THEY are.
After more than 20 years in the format, I’m used to people ignoring me when I share that idea. It doesn’t make sense to them. That’s because they can’t read the label from inside the bottle. And you, my friends, are inside the bottle.
I first loved baseball because my dad loved baseball. In fact, my first game ever was a really big deal – I got to see my baseball hero Mickey Mantle get the first hit in the very first indoor baseball game: at the Astrodome in Houston. My dad simply said, “You should see this.”
I love classical music because my mother was a professional violinist and shared her love for classical music. I loved watching the high school marching band because my daughter played her saxophone in it. I have even learned to bowl (not very well) because a dear friend loves bowling. In fact, he gave me my own bowling ball.
Continue readingSo think about this…
How many times in a year did you just do the info, but nothing else? “98.1 The Rock with AC/DC.”
Ho hum. Okay, I’ll give you an escape route. Here are two, no – three, no – make that four questions to ask yourself:
That question probably doesn’t mean what you think. I am not talking about the X’s and O’s that constitute the formatics of your station’s clock.
Let me explain.
Continue readingIn the last tip, I addressed what seems like a lack of Production skills in radio today. If you really want to make an immediate impact, let’s start with show Promos (particularly Morning Shows, but any show you want to promote).
The Kramer Rules: Continue reading
“Imagine if you will that one hour never existed. No babies were born. No one died. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!”
Rod Serling
It was an hour that never existed. We changed our clocks from 2am to 3am.
That hour doesn’t matter.
You wait through the first part of a boring movie. You hope it will get better.
You sit down at a restaurant. The waiter is slow to come over. Minutes tick by without giving your drink order. You hope it will get better.
Continue readingOne area we haven’t discussed in a long time is Production Skills.
What we used to refer to as “board op” mistakes happen now simply because the computer ‘runs the board’ most of the time, and it lacks feel.
WE have to instill that ‘feel’ element.
I’m old enough to remember when COVID-19 was the headline of the day.
Then, two weeks to flatten the curve.
Then the vaccines. Then the vaccine mandates.
Then the Canadian truckers.
Now Russia invades the Ukraine.
So, in a format that promises to be positive, encouraging, uplifting, and lots of fun at parties… how do we talk about this noise without breaking our promise?
Continue readingNot long ago, just before a holiday weekend, I called Guitar Center about a guitar I’m thinking about buying. A guy answered the phone with “Guitar Center, where you get fifteen percent off everything in the store through Monday.”
A liner.
Liners need to go away. They’re boring. Few people even notice them anymore. It’s like waiting for a stop light to change.
Yes, I know… you spent all that time coming up with that catchy “Positioning Phrase” and you’ve hired a voice talent to say it a gazillion times with a smiley delivery. So let’s make a deal… go ahead and use the liner in your promos and IDs. But by all means, free the air talent from EVER having to say them. They’re not good at it.
(I hear you. No, they’re not.)
I could hear the sound of someone leaving a message on the answering machine in the next room. I couldn’t even understand the words she was saying but I could hear her tone. It was the tone of someone who was detached from the meaning of the very words she was saying. “Good afternoon. I’m calling on behalf of…”
There is a tone in someone’s voice when they don’t care about what they are saying. It’s the tone I hear from the flight attendants when they are instructing perfectly capable grown ups as to how to fasten their seat belts or that wearing face masks is mandatory. Even between bites and sips. Look around. No one is paying attention.
To fasten your seat belt, insert the metal fittings one into the other, and tighten by pulling on the loose end of the strap.
Continue reading