A radio career is like crayons.

You start with the little 8-pack, and boy, is that fun. All the primary colors at your service. Now to find a surface to draw on…

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This is the starting place – especially when you’re new to a station:

People don’t need to know you. You need to know them.

Streets have names that are pronounced differently than you would have thought.
Food tastes are different. (I once went to a corporate meeting in York, Pennsylvania. EVERY store and every restaurant I went into had candy machines in the entrance. Dentists must love that place.)

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Here’s something you can do to both improve your on-air performance and bond the station together a bit.

Years ago, my friend and fellow Texas Radio Hall of Fame member Bruce Gilbert each Programmed a station in the same cluster – mine was a Talk station, Bruce’s was a Sports-talk station.

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Often, I’ve asked air talent how long their show prep time is. The responses are varied. Some claim hours are spent sifting through websites and social media, local news, etc. Others say they don’t really need much prep. They pretty much just wing it each day.

Both of these responses show a certain lack of truly productive prep.

Money (your wallet), the Entertainment world (as it applies to your format), whatever “the Buzz” is today, Relationships, and things that are unique to you are the only things you really need.

The prep starts in your living room, and works outward from there, including what you’ve observed as you’ve gone through your day.

There. Solved it for you.

Actor and film Director Clint Eastwood is famous for doing as few “takes” as possible. There’s an interesting story about that.

Once, an actor who was dissatisfied with his first effort asked Eastwood is he could have another try.

Clint then asked, “Was there film in the camera?”

Some questions for you:
Who is your target listener?
What does that person look like?
What do you actually know about her or him?

The simplest way to maintain focus and stay in your lane as an air talent is to have a clear-eyed view of who your listener is, and what that person’s life is probably like. Continue reading →

If you’ve followed these tips, you know that I’ve frequently referred to a morning guy in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. His name is Larry Ryan, my first mentor, and he’s as good at connecting with an audience as anyone I’ve ever heard in any size market.

“Lovable Larry” did his show with his sidekick “Mr. Weather” for well over 50 years, with consistently fine ratings. Continue reading →

Years ago, I traveled to Indiana to work with a morning show there. It didn’t take long to spot the fundamental weakness of the show – the guy was basically just allowing his female partner to be his live “laugh track.” And the Content was weak to begin with, some lame ‘prep sheet’ type of stuff and what he thought were jokes.

The problem was, she was much better than he was.

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People often ask me what I listen for as the coaching process begins. There are many facets to an air talent, but I can learn where we need to start by hearing three breaks.

[1] A straight “station business” break. Does this person sound like he/she actually gives a cr*p?

[2] (For music radio) A short break, say, over a brief song intro. Does that person attempt to do anything, or does he/she just do a basic intro? Continue reading →

Sarcasm works okay in certain movies, TV shows, or articles, but if you think sarcasm is a strength on the radio, think again.

For every person that “gets” sarcasm and thinks it’s funny, there are most likely two people that don’t.
And that’s especially true of women. Most women think it’s uncouth, hurtful, and/or stupid. (This is not an empty guess. In my life are my wife and her two sisters, my own two sisters, and two nieces. You should see the looks they give when someone is sarcastic to them.)

“Oh, well then, sarcasm will work with men.”

Don’t be so sure. Just this week, a couple of my friends went through a heated argument when one of them tossed out a sarcastic comment.

So, drop the sarcasm. It pretty much just makes you sound like a smarta$$.