No, this isn’t about “dumbing it down.”  It’s about not making it more complicated than today’s attention span will accept.

Today’s listener doesn’t read much.  (No patience.)  And we’re a nation of channel flippers.  Fads come and go at warp speed.  A lot of “relationships” between supposed “soulmates” last only a few months.

So if you’re going to get in sync with today’s “short attention span theater,” you need to keep things simple.  The old “stop by each one of their 6 locations to pick up your card” contest is D.O.A. in today’s world.  People have lives.  They’re busy.

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The description “Producer” seems to be thrown around pretty loosely these days.  So let me try to help you with what a Producer really should be:

A true show producer is a right-hand man (or woman), an extra set of hands and feet, and a resource in finding material, in addition to the right “framing” for something (music, sound bites, etc.).

A great Producer should have superior Production skills, too.

And you want a Producer to be a source of feedback, so a Talent has someone he or she can count on to weigh in on whether something is a good “fit” for the show, or in some instances, will even work at all.

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It’s so easy for an air talent to think “I have to do something BIG to stand out against the competition,” and yes, radio is all about creating memorable moments that make people want to come back and listen to you again tomorrow.

However, as New England showed against the Rams in Super Bowl LIII, you don’t want to go outside your comfort zone or change your identity to accomplish that.

Once again this year, the Patriots demonstrated that you win by doing the right thing at the right time.  That’s what puts you on top.  So here’s what you can take away from the Super Bowl, in radio terms…

This past weekend, the fine actor Alan Alda accepted the Screen Actors Guild’s Life Achievement Award, saying:

“When we get a chance to act, it’s our job, at least in part, to get inside a character’s head, and to search for a way to see life from that person’s point of view.  It may never be more urgent to see the world through another person’s eyes.  And when the culture is divided so sharply, actors can help, at least a little, by doing what we do.”

I agree.  So did C. S. Lewis, who wrote: “My own eyes are not enough for me.  I will see through the eyes of others.”

Part of our job should be to see through the listener’s eyes – and not just the P-1 devoted listener, but also the person who just hit the “scan” button and it landed on you.

Great radio is performance art.  And anyone who’s worked with me knows that’s the way I approach it.

As Alan Alda said at the end of his acceptance speech:

“The nice part is it’s fun to do it.  So my wish for all of us is: Let’s stay playful, let’s have fun, and let’s keep searching.  You can’t solve everything, but it wouldn’t hurt.”

Leading up to last Halloween, a show I work with did a wonderful break that leapt out of the radio about Trick-or-Treating in a Halloween mask.  After talking about how restrictive one could be, one member of the team did a “trick or treat” delivery like his face was being smashed in by the mask.  It was really funny and SO visual.

Then his partner followed up with how it could have been raining, and did a rain sound effect.

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