So, what did you do with your extra time on the extra day?
“How did it get so late so soon?
Dr. Seuss
It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before it’s June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?”
In our business time IS what we do. We sell time, we fill time, we announce the time. Whether our vernacular is “time spent listening” or “average weekly time exposed” we are in the business of time.
Continue readingThe Wizard of Oz is a magical film. Ostensibly a children’s movie, it’s filled with little “morality plays” about good versus evil, the use of power, family, friendship, and the choices we all make.
To me, it boils down to The Scarecrow or the Tin Man. One wants to be smart; the other wants a heart: Brains versus Emotions.
When you think about it, the Scarecrow stands out in our minds because of what we felt about him BEFORE he got brains. The Tin Woodsman cried (which rusted him up, and made him creaky), and as children watching it, we all cried. The lesson: There’s certainly nothing wrong with Smart, but Heart matters more.
Remember this the next time you open the mic. If you’ve left your heart out of the equation, you’ve missed the boat. If I listen for an hour, and don’t learn something about how you FEEL, that was a wasted hour.
When was the last time someone did something for you?
When was the last time a business did something for you?
Now it gets harder. When was the last time a radio station did something for you?
In his book “Know What You’re For,” Jeff Henderson shares that most businesses see their customers as fans in the stands rooting for the business. His suggestion is transformative. Imagine your customers are on the field and you’re rooting for them.
We’re really good at talking about ourselves, how “real” we are, and what we want from our listeners (“help keep us on the air”), but we fall short in demonstrating what our listeners mean to us.
After a terrible 108-loss season, Baltimore Oriole players sent out thousands of handwritten thank you cards to every one of their season ticket holders.
Planet Fitness decorates their walls with encouragement to those working out. “You did something great today!”
Continue readingWith the way the so-called “News” is going nowadays, the easiest thing to do is to simply bring a subject up, then mock it or put a cheap punch line at the end.
But here’s the thing… radio – in ALL formats – owes the listener more than that. We’re primarily here to inform, entertain, or both. But I hear music formats that sound lifeless, Imaging in some formats that seems to be sneering in their delivery, “Content” that’s just celebrity gossip flotsam and jetsam, and Talk Radio shows that are just “adopting a posture” and spouting the same one-sided opinions every day.
We can all remember the first time someone said, “I love you.” (We can also painfully remember each time someone didn’t).
We are created to be known. From the early playground experiences of “Mommy, mommy, look at me,” to the moment you discovered the pretty girl knew your name.
“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything.”
Timothy Keller
Being known means we’re valued, seen as special. Being known validates who were are, that we have worth.
Hallmark knows this.
Continue readingHere’s a little tidbit I heard and wrote about years ago, but it bears revisiting.
The story is that Steve Jobs, in an Apple “think tank” meeting, challenged everyone with three questions:
If you want a real “mission statement,” that’s it. And it directly applies to radio. If we’re always thinking “What would be cool?” “What would be fun?” and “What would benefit the life of the listener?” we can’t go wrong.
I would back this up with three questions of my own:
“Listen at 7:20, 10:20, and 4:20 for the next three weeks and write down all the clues we call out. Then on the following Thursday be the 103rd caller when we announce the secret phrase and we’ll put you in a drawing for a chance to win. And if you go to our website you can download all the clues by clicking the tab labeled ‘Promotions,’ then scroll down to ‘February’s promotions’ and enter your loyal listener number which you can find on the back of the bumper sticker you can pick up at several of the 37 metro area Chick-fil-A restaurants. For a list of locations enter your zip code on the dropdown box in the far right corner, unless you’re browsing on your phone then it may appear on the bottom left. Not valid if listening online in Nevada.”
PLEASE! Sometimes we make listening so difficult.
Continue readingAs you develop your storytelling skills, be wary of getting too far off the subject.
I recall a Yankees vs. Twins baseball game a couple of seasons ago. The difference between the Yankees broadcast team (all of whom are excellent) and the Minnesota Twins broadcasters was never more evident than when a Twins announcer – during an inning – talked ad nauseum to a lady with a bird refuge. ???
I was dumbfounded. It served no purpose whatsoever. A way off target “human interest” interview that went nowhere and had me shouting at the TV. The only thing I could think to ask her that would have been relevant to baseball is “Remember when Randy Johnson exploded that seagull?”
(You Tube it if you haven’t seen it.)
Our format is either a bunch of songs that people don’t know by artists they’ve never heard of…
or…
… it is a format of stories and songs about the most important things in our lives.
The former results in a station with a one share. The latter results in a station that is a market leader.
Continue readingIt’s ALWAYS about the Story.
I remember a couple of seasons ago, a contestant on “Survivor” told about his getting back home after the show was taped just in time to see his mom before she passed away. Time just STOPPED as I imagined that scenario in my own life. (This is just one reason why Survivor has lasted so long.)
YOUR responsibility as an air talent is to make the story as concise and as easy and logical sounding as you possibly can. Survivor is the best-edited show in the history of television; a perfect model for film editors and writers… and storytellers.
You’ll know a great break, a great story, when it takes virtually NO editing to make a promo out of it.
