It stuns me how few air talents these days ever listen to their own show. Back when I was on the air (when dinosaurs ruled the earth), it was a given that the cassette “skimmer” that only recorded when the mic was on would be taken out and listened to on my drive home. At some of the stations I was part of, we’d listen to airchecks as a group, with everyone free to point out whatever they heard, good or bad.
Here’s why you should listen to yourself AT LEAST once a week: Continue reading
Some people, like I did early in my career, spend too much time trying to be funny, or trying to be thought of as funny.
But thanks to the great Lee Abrams, I was able to get out of that ditch. Lee straightforwardly told me that when I tried to tell jokes, they fell a little flat. But if I was just myself funny things happened. He said “Don’t try to say funny things. Your strength is saying things funny.”
It totally changed my career, and I was able to tell Lee that years later. So…
Be genuine, instead of trying to be funny. Go for the Heart, and sharing an honest observation or feeling, instead of a punch line.
The odd thing is if you have the Heart, the humor comes anyway, naturally. But if you just try for Humor, it leaves the Heart out.
When you’re really focused – clear on what you want to do – you have a chance to be great. When you’re not quite sure, or just “winging it” this break, your odds diminish.
The best programmers make it where you know the objective, which should be first, to keep the listener with you. (When someone tunes out, that’s a misfire.) And then, hopefully, make the listener want to come back tomorrow for more.
Like a great song. You want to hear it again.
You lose your ego, and you gain confidence, when you do the right things right.
So don’t even think about your voice, forget trying to “sell” things, and just share. What you and I have in common today is the real subject matter. The rest is maintenance and branding. (But do those well, too.)
Topics are just springboards to reveal emotions. (Please read that sentence again.)
These thoughts will help you:
This is why all great Content comes from what’s around you that you and your listener have in common or can identify with, and feel something about. Otherwise, it’s just a “topic” – which I consider to be basically the same as drain cleaner.
Best in your class. Best in your school. Best in the city. At every level you attain, you should want to be the best at that level.
And then you want to find another level.
This is how growth happens. The minute you get satisfied and think you have nothing else to learn, you’ll STOP learning. And then you’ll become a dinosaur.
Radio is part science, part Art. Part talent, part planning, part performance. The desire to learn more is what fuels every great career. If you need help, talk with friends, listen to each other’s work, and share thoughts. Get a coach. Study acting, movies, great books.
FEED the part of you that wants to be the best at your level.
Don’t get so obsessed with what you know you’re going to have to do later. Stay in this moment. Do what you have to do NOW first. Clear your mind to do a good job with it.
More breaks are ruined (or made lackluster) by a lack of clarity than almost anything else.
The execution of something is far more important than the thinking of it. When the time comes (when the mic opens), you have to be able to Stand and Deliver.
All the great ideas you’ll ever have won’t matter if you can’t put ’em across to the listener. Even something as simple as saying the name of the station needs to be sincere, slightly different every time, and polished.
That’s why the biggest gap is between Good and Great.
And that’s why I coach. I love helping people get to Great.
A few weeks ago, I went to Dallas and sat in on guitar at the House of Blues for a couple of songs with my dear friend Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
Kenny is an amazing blues guitarist. I’ve known him since he was five years old, and first started showing him some things about guitar when he was seven.
Kenny talked about that experience as he introduced me, and said “He even showed me the principles, like the real foundation of what’s important about playing.”
Not just “licks” or running scales. Not WHAT to do so much as WHY you do it.
The same as radio. You go from ‘just another voice quacking’ to someone the listener bonds with because of WHY you do what you do. People FEEL more than they hear.
And as Kenny Wayne Shepherd shows his audience every night he plays, expertise is fine (and he’s brilliant), but the emotion behind it is what counts.
“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):
So 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: