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:

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In the last tip, I addressed what seems like a lack of Production skills in radio today.  If you really want to make an immediate impact, let’s start with show Promos (particularly Morning Shows, but any show you want to promote).

The Kramer Rules: Continue reading →

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.