One 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.

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Not 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.)

How you get into a subject is the first great skill.  When you can get to the point easily and concisely, you have a better chance to get the listener to join you.

For years, people have been taught the “headline” mentality, which is a decent thing to keep in mind but that can also work against sounding conversational.

Keep these thoughts in mind…

1. You have about twenty seconds to “tether” the subject to the listener.  Don’t rush, but don’t waste words, either.
2. Start with the Subject first, or start with the Listener first, instead of starting with yourself.  Your show is about us, not just about you.
3. You want the listener to be able “see” himself/herself in whatever situation you’re describing.

Refine this one skill and you’ll have a lot fewer ‘swings and misses’ with your Content.

The thing I work with on the most with practically everyone I coach is Content.  It’s difficult to know what works, because you can’t count on accurate feedback from the phone lines.  So here’s the simplest way I can explain it:

Anything you have in common with the listener that leads to some sort of emotional “reveal” is gold.

Now read that again.  No prep sheet item, no social media posting that lacks those two key ingredients – what you have IN COMMON with the listener, and an Emotion being revealed – will work as well without them.

In a recent session, I had to deal with a member of a morning show trying a little too hard.  This is something everyone needs to learn, and should revisit periodically if it “drifts” a bit.  Here’s what I had to say to him…

Today I played you two breaks.  The first one was your congratulating a contest winner, and we heard the natural enthusiasm that goes with that.  The second one was a more intimate thought, but you “milked it” a bit by being overly sincere.

Remember, you want to give yourself to the words and trust them, delivering them conversationally.  You’re just telling a friend, not ‘selling’ a thought.

It’s easy to fall back into “deejay” delivery, but we’re better when we’re just people.

The great Larry Ryan in Shreveport, Louisiana, was my first true radio mentor.  In our first aircheck session, he stopped the tape and said, “Any idiot can sit there and intro songs…”

That empowered me to DO something on the air.  (Larry would keep saying it until you did.)

To update this: Any idiot can read a social media post.  I can read Facebook or look at Instagram, etc. without you.  What else have you got?  What’s something personal you can share with me that we have in common?  Use YOUR life… OUR lives.

If you haven’t had much (or any) coaching, let me help you with the thing I hear most.

I’d estimate that at least 90% of the time, the first time I listen to someone, I hear a layer of superficiality.  (Oddly enough, it’s even worse with team shows.)  Something real-ish, but not quite real.  A “smiley” sound in the voice, elongated “mock” differences of opinion (in a team show), a delivery that isn’t intimate or personal, extended setups to get into something – it’s almost always there, holding back that talent from sounding like they’re actually talking to me.  Some suggestions:

1. Use real words – words that real people use in everyday conversations.
2. Develop your mic technique, so you can speak in a normal tone of voice.
3. Don’t get too officious with your language.
4. RELAX and “let off the gas.”  I’m only a couple of feet away in the car.  LOUD is annoying, unless it’s a genuine moment.

If you ever had anyone ask you to “Say something in your radio voice,” the answer should be, “I don’t have one.  I just talk.”

Ideally, you’re doing a Show.  (Not just a ‘shift.’)

But at least, you should do a Visit.

…and if you’re just reading liners, promoting stuff, and intro’ing songs, you’re doing… nothing.

As I wrote about in the last tip, the goal should be both a Visit AND a Show.  That’s what I coach, because historically, that’s what works the best.  The combination of both of those elements will compel people to listen.

It would be hard, if not impossible, for any comedian to even remotely approach the vast volume of material that George Carlin had.  One of his pieces is a real lesson for radio (which is where George began his career, in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana).  The routine was about “saving the planet,” with George pointing out that “The planet will outlive you, and will heal itself.”

But he had an interesting take on how that piece affected his performance, saying “That piece was very thoughtful, and very interesting, and I loved it, but I had to learn that there were times in the show when it was okay NOT to get laughs.  Because one of the jobs I have besides getting laughs is to engage the imagination.  If I make them laugh along the way, that’s part of the deal for me.”

That’s part of the deal for you, too.

If all you have to offer is “funny,” you’re going to be one-dimensional.  If a plane flies into a building again, no one’s going to turn to you for your thoughts on it.  A show needs changes of gear and depth, at least some of the time, to become great.

I was fortunate to be half of a team show in Houston (“Hudson & Harrigan”) that was known for laughs – lots of them – but we could do sincere and down-to-earth, too.

If you don’t have those elements, you need some coaching.

In coaching young air talent, there’s always that moment when you assess what their specific gift is – that one thing that stands out about each person – and you have to find a way to broaden their vision.

That’s when the first challenge is issued – to become more consistent.  Anyone can have a good hour or a good show, but getting that to be EVERY hour, EVERY day, is “the first step up.”

Some people think the work is done with a good week, or a good month.  But that’s just scratching the surface.  Take any TV show that runs for years, and you see this challenge met.  The first episode hopefully makes people like the show, and want to see it again.  But it also sets a standard of what the viewer expects FROM the show every time they tune in. Continue reading →