Having coached over 300 team shows, and doing 5 different team shows in my career, I can tell you that true team show communication is often elusive, or sometimes erratic.  Let me help you with that.

The minute you close the mic at the end of a break, talk about what you’re going to do next.  Lay it out, who’ll do what, etc. then go about your business.  It’s free time now, to do whatever you want – talk to each other more (always a good idea), just have a little silent time, check your email… whatever.

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Here’s a question for you: Do you come across as PART OF the music, or like you’re just waiting for the song to end, so you can talk?  You’re either going to a part of it, or not.

I’ve talked about this before, but you should want to match the mood, the “vibe” of the song, or match the pace of the song – or both – so you’re a PART of the listening experience.

Too many stations are running Imaging way too much of the time, and the air talent doesn’t get to talk often enough.  We need to hear these people so we can bond with them.  Just your tone of voice, or a little remark over the song, can say a lot.

I’m not bonding with your Imaging guy.

It depends on what it is, but only rarely have I heard a Positioning phrase or slogan that actually matters, especially if it’s just touting things like “12 in a row” or “50-minute music hours,” or the nebulous “More music.”  (More music than what?  My refrigerator?)

Anybody who wants to do so can make those claims, and somebody will, I guess, but why settle for that?

Here’s what you really are:  What the listeners think you are when they listen to you.

So consider taking off a lot (or all) of the “sloganeering” and SHOW me why I should listen.  It starts with THIS time you open the mic.

Note: there are stations whose Imaging actually means something.  But I wouldn’t say they’re in the majority.

All great air talents know this.  But the road from good to great is a little muddy sometimes.  So here’s an easy “sifting” tip – the only two real Content guidelines:

1. Hopefully, what you’re talking about is something that the listener cares about.
2. But it should at LEAST be something that the listener has an interest in.  Has.  Already.

Here are some questions to ask yourself: Continue reading →

One of the most incomplete thoughts ever said to air talent is “If we’re having fun, the listener’s having fun.”

Ridiculous.  If the LISTENER’S having fun, the listener’s having fun.  You can be having a party in the control room, but if it doesn’t resonate with the listener, it doesn’t matter.

I ask this all the time: “Who’s our target listener?”

What I usually get is a white-page report being regurgitated to me, usually a demo bracket, some assumptions treated as fact, and not one example of how to pull that person in.  It’s hardly ever about one clearly targeted listener. Continue reading →