For a program director, coaching air talent can be one of the most challenging tasks.

First, your talent must understand the vision and purpose of the radio station and for which specific group of people you are designing your radio station. Unless they understand who they are talking to, they won’t be able to prepare content appropriate for the audience and they’ll just as likely end up giving football scores to people who don’t listen to your station for sports.

Assuming your talent understand these basics a coach can then begin working with them on choosing content that’s relevant to the listeners and sharing it in ways that help make it interesting.

Here is a simple tip for coaching any talent, from a raw beginning to a seasoned pro.

Find a break they did well and listen to it with them so that you can discuss with them the specifics of why it was effective. This allows you reinforce the concepts you want them to deliver and validate their ability to actually do them.

Any golfer knows that short putts are easier to make than long putts. Once your talent believe they can make “short putts,” you take off the table their self-doubt on whether they can do the job you’ve asked of them. Legendary basketball coach John Wooden said,

“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. Don’t look for the quick, big improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens – and when it happens, it lasts.”

As their confidence in making short putts builds and they become more consistent, during the ongoing coaching sessions you might have them point out the best breaks in their show.

“To create and sustain change, you’ve got to act more like a coach than a scorekeeper. You’ve got to embrace a growth mindset and instill it in your team. Everything can look like failure in the middle.”

“Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard,” Dan and Chip Heath