A lot of young people who do want to a career in media aren’t even messing with radio. They only want to work in TV. Or do a podcast.

(Everyone and his dog does a podcast. And the dog usually has the more entertaining one. “Today on Barks and Recreation, we’re ruffing out what new flavor we’d like to see in dog biscuits.”)

Seriously, this is bad for radio, because finding a great air talent these days is already hard enough.  We need new people to come in, get trained, and shine. Continue reading →

You have ten seconds to “get” me… to make me want to listen to whatever else you have to say.

If you don’t get me in that ten seconds, then nothing else you do matters.  It’s simply human nature to decide quickly whether or not something is a waste of time.

So think about what that opening ten seconds of whatever it is you’re going to talk about is going to be BEFORE you open the mic.  No matter how good you are, this is something you can improve.

There are so many voice trackers these days, and if you’re in that world you know that it’s hard to keep improving if you’re not on the air in real time and don’t get any feedback that you can trust.  Here’s a simple system I recommend that’ll improve your work and keep you sharp.  It’s “go, stop, go.”

Go. Record an hour of breaks. Continue reading →

Like most people, I listen to the radio at some point every day. I hear promos. I hear commercials. I hear songs. I hear people trying to sound cheerful. I hear people trying to be funny.

What I all-too-rarely hear is something that actually surprises me. Gee, I wish that wasn’t true. Surprises are great.

I want Surprises. I loathe The Obvious. And I’m not alone. People want companionship. They want entertainment. They want pertinent information. (We’ve all heard the voice-tracked Talent that’s really cheerful while a tornado is headed our way.)

Don’t fall for the “This is good enough” trap. “Good enough” … never is.

SURPRISE ME.

Lately, with Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. I heard several stations trying to orchestrate the reaction to a giveaway for those days, saying things like “You’re gonna like it!”

How do you know?  (You don’t. After all, one person’s “great” prize is another person’s “yard sale” junk.)

Continue reading →

The great NBA coach Hubie Brown, also a master “color man” for NBA games for years, has this great saying, “He gives you his dollar.” (Think Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Steph Curry, etc.)

That means the player gives you everything he has every game, a “dollar” rather than, say, 40 cents.

I’ve helped many stations in the search for air talent over the years, and that ingredient is always what we look for.  I feel that a good talent who doesn’t give it a full-out effort every day is cheating the station – and himself/herself.

All the “flash” in the world can’t make up for a lazy work ethic.  Give it your “dollar” every break, every hour, every day you’re on the air.  You never know when someone who could change the course of your career might be listening.

Well, it’s here.  A station in Portland has an A.I. (artificial intelligence) “air talent.”  A sign of things to come?  Well, as the renowned football coach Bill Parcels used to say, “Let’s not get out the anointing oil just yet.”

Continue reading →

Times have changed.  Local stations often don’t sound local.  Syndicated shows tend to talk about generic subjects because they can’t be specific to a certain city or state.  Huge radio companies are so weak in coaching the talent that many air talents have never had a coaching session.

So let’s start your process with a basic question:  Did you get noticed today? Continue reading →

It’s come to my attention that a lot of people actually take Twitter, Facebook, or other social media comments seriously.  Imagine that – someone you don’t know makes a comment, and you actually care.  I knew this day would come when they took the cocaine out of Coca-Cola.  (According to Facebook.)

I shudder to think – well, I don’t actually shudder; to do that, I’d have to stand up, and I can’t type very well standing up.  Anyway, I’ll ask Siri to remind me to imagine shuddering at the notion of a generation of people who have a real need for some sort of validation from strangers.

Continue reading →

What separates a “shaggy dog” story from one that entices a person to listen is whether or not it goes in a straight line.

Too many “side references” stall the story out and put it in neutral as far as the plot goes.  In real life conversations, people may listen.  But on the air, a minute is a long time.  (Want to argue the point?  Hold your breath for one minute, starting right… now.)

There’s also the danger of sounding like you’re interrupting your own thought.  This is a weird habit because at that point you’re just trying to sort out in your own mind how to tell the story.

I don’t have time to listen to that.

You need to be prepared and make the story march at a decent pace, but also be mindful of when a pause is needed.  We do want to sound as natural as possible, but we owe the listener being expedient, too.