Maybe you have one, too.
It’s called a land line, often connected to voicemail. And the voicemail is nothing but spam. So much so that I no longer even pay attention to the voicemail messages I receive.
(Side note: I’m glad we don’t spam our listeners so that they just choose to ignore us. Gulp! We don’t, do we?)
But recently one caught my ear.
Continue readingA pet peeve of mine is when someone starts with “I – me – my” verbiage instead of starting with the Subject or the Listener, THEN talk about you.
One of the advantages of a team show is that it gives you the opportunity to get into Content without starting by talking about yourself. Your partner can talk about you.
“Well, Rick was only ten minutes late this morning” leads to a story. Instead of you talking to me about you, you’re talking to me about him.
This ‘indirect’ way of beginning a Content break is not only really effective, but it creates an “insider” vibe – always a good thing.
But remember, this is only an advantage if you use it.
It’s good to remind ourselves of the basics.
One of the quickest ways to focus your radio station and give your air talent an objective way of discerning what to talk about is the simple rule of…
RELEVANT then INTERESTING
Choosing only content that is relevant to your listener forces the talent to put the listener ahead of themselves. This profound realignment of priorities changes the paradigm from what is interesting to the talent to what is relevant to the listener.
Continue readingGreat artists will see one thing in the corner of the picture that stands out. It’s like their eyes are magnifying glasses.
So when you’re going through your process, you don’t want to just pick out an approach, or just start to tell a story and hope it works. You should be alert to what “caught your eye” about it. Continue reading
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.
Continue readingRecently, I listened to a morning show host do the News. I’m not a big fan of this, but in this case it’s necessary; a budget issue.
The stories were okay, but because News is so “left brain” informational, it came out in almost a dead monotone. Here’s what I said in our next session:
I know things get busy, and it’s easy to get focused on story count, pronunciations, and time. But you should avoid letting anything keep you from sounding as conversational as possible. If you sound interested in what you’re saying, chances are the listener will be, too. Continue reading
We’ve chatted a lot over these 655 Frost Advisories about how to grow your station. Growth is the fruit of adopting common ground; of making the unfamiliar familiar.
As we’ve discussed, common ground is the biggest barrier for growth in our format because the music is generally unfamiliar to new listeners. And let’s not forget that everyone’s favorite radio station is the station that plays their favorite music.
Continue readingYears ago, my first two tips about Content were “The 5 Subjects,” which was about simplifying your show prep, and “The 3 Questions,” a sifting exercise that helps you refine your on-air performance.
“The 5 Subjects” tip was updated last week, and here, in 2023, is an updated edition of the companion piece. (The 3rd question is different from the original. Times change.)
The 3 Questions to ask yourself about your Content choices:
I was driving along minding my own business when the announcement came on the radio for “The National Bereavement Conference 2023!”
“Egad!” I thought.
Were they talking about an amazing get together of caring people that come alongside those whose lives are forever changed due to the loss of a loving spouse? You’d never know it by what sounded like the label to a file folder.
There is no promotion so brilliant that it can’t be made utterly ineffective through the presentation of data, such as a list of dates and times.
Continue readingOne of the first tips I wrote years ago was a show prep piece called “The 5 Subjects.” Here in 2023, is an updated edition.
The 5 Subjects (a Content guide)
1. Job stuff.
Besides stories that grow out of the workplace, this also includes finances, “the family wallet,” too. The economy affects our choices. But I start this list with the job scenario because all Content is primarily about what you have in common with the Listener. Continue reading
