The biggest challenge for anyone who’s on the air is the search for Content each day. Often in coaching sessions, I get asked about social media, and what its place is in show prep.
Social media is what it is. There’s an entire generation of people who’ve apparently grown up caring about what complete strangers have to say about them.
Words are what we do. Crafting what we want to say into a shape that’s relatable and connective is always the challenge. But remember, the words grow from the camera angle.
Example: If my wife and I got into an argument standing in line at the bank, how I see it is one angle, and how she sees it is the most obvious choice for a second camera angle.
In the last tip, I (again) addressed why your Content should tap into an Emotion. This is basic “What’s my motivation?” acting stuff.
But here’s the deal: Over the years, I’ve had a surprising number of air talents tell me that they don’t really HAVE an Emotion about a given subject.
So here’s another tip:
A LOT of time is spent in my coaching sessions dwelling on the Emotion behind what the Talent says, rather than what the subject matter is.
Here’s why: Continue reading
If you play a song I love, I’ll listen.
But, when you get into Content, if you can’t reveal something that you and I have in common, I’m not going to listen to you very long.
It’s sort of like dating someone you’re head-over-heels for, but they just kind of like you. That’s not the basis for a great relationship.
Early in my career, I lucked into having a tremendous mentor in the great Howard Clark.
My early, feeble attempts to “entertain” were a litany of way-too-long setups for what usually proved to be pretty lame punch lines.
Okay, we’ve gotten Christmas and New Year’s over with, we’re all going to try to lose 10 pounds, and now we have to settle down and go to work.
So here’s a challenge for you in this next year: Try something different; something you’ve never done before. Continue reading
For any young air talent, the key to a successful career is simply how to find out what really works for you, so you don’t (1) sound like everybody else, and (2) you’re not predictable.
So how do you accomplish this? Pretty simple, actually: Try stuff.
It’s easy to settle for the low-hanging fruit, in terms of Content. What “the Buzz” is may be the 34th most important thing today to your audience.
Don’t ever confuse “the Buzz” with what actually matters. Resist the easy path. Don’t ever let the headlines, or some Buzzfeed article keep you from seeing what’s top of mind – TODAY – to your listeners.
It’s always been an issue, but it’s even more pronounced today, with “cookie cutter” formats so prevalent.
The sad truth is that to most people, most air talents sound pretty much alike. A bit loud, a lot of gab, sort of “announcer-ish,” usually just pretty much what we’ve always heard and gotten used to.