Pretty much every air talent tries to establish “benchmark” material. But what, exactly, makes something a “must hear” feature?
Well, first of all, it’s about the idea itself. Back when the huge box office sci-fi movies were just becoming all the rage, my morning show partner in Houston, Fred Kennedy and I came up with a thing we called “Star Fake.”
One of the things that comes up in coaching sessions with any music radio air talent is not just doing it, but “doing it well.”
It’s easy to wonder what key ingredients add up to accomplishing that. So here’s how it works:
Keep things short. This isn’t about a word count or how many seconds something takes. It’s about not adding words to sound more important.
Keep things simple. Make it easy to follow. Too many details, or parenthetical phrases will inevitably add up to unnecessary “side roads” in your Content. Always imagine the listener in the car, with his or her head on a swivel trying not to get crashed into by some distracted driver. The last thing anyone needs is something that takes too much time to follow.
Keep it short + Keep it simple = Doing it well.
Most air talents talk about “it.” A great air talent talks about us, and how “it” affects us.
Many air talents struggle for Content, but you can see Content pretty much everywhere if you think about how to make “it” about us, and if you do it the right way.
There are only two basic types of Content: it’s either observational (you saw it or read it), or it’s experiential (you actually did it).
So… your initial camera angle will be either Observational or Experiential, and either way will work. It’s your choice.
It’s very possible to become overwhelmed by what you’re required to do by the higher-ups. Research studies, guidelines for Content, listener profiles that only provide one side of the equation, etc. can hamstring an air talent to the point that you can feel like there’s nothing you can say. Or you second-guess things, wondering if you’re meeting the sometimes lofty guidelines that are presented to you.
So, let me simplify things for you. Continue reading
It’s a shame that so few music stations do a good job of giving the weather forecast. An air talent clonking through it like it’s the biggest chore in the world is a drag, but by far, the more irritating form is the person who has to give every single little detail. Let me help you with this…
UNLESS YOU’RE FACING SEVERE WEATHER, the forecast should be short and sweet. What’s the high today, the low tonight, maybe the high tomorrow, and tell me if it’s going to rain (or snow). That’s it.
In the last tip, I talked about how the old Jack Benny formula (giving each member of the cast or a guest the spotlight) applies today.
Let’s take it one step further – how a slight modification of that principle is the secret to being a great team show. Continue reading
If you’ve never heard it (or seen his TV show on some classic channel), the Jack Benny Show was groundbreaking in its day. And it still has a basic formula that I assure you WILL work today: he made everyone else the star.
Whether it was his announcer, his wife, a singer, a guest, or any other cast member, Benny was quite willing to take a back seat. He never minded being the butt of a joke, overshadowed by another comedian, or made to look like a fool.
Music format or Talk format – it doesn’t matter. There’s a real art to creating a phone call “culture” – which I’ve written some about before. But the actual taking of a phone call (or airing one live) can often be messed up in the first few seconds.
Here’s how to avoid that, in two easy steps: Continue reading
Brevity is the most useful skill you can develop.
Sadly, instead of brevity, we often get bloviating. So let me help you with what I recently wrote in a coaching session recap…
Thinking “How few words can I use to say this?” is the road to brevity. As you police yourself to get rid of repetition and edit yourself better, your longer breaks will actually stand out more, as a result. (Funny how that works.)