One of the prime ingredients in all truly great talents is that they connect with the listener on a daily basis.

And one of the keys in getting to that place is:

Stop TRYING to be noticed.

Instead of constantly trying for punch lines, or “talking points” that just get the same five people to call in with the same types of reactions we always hear, the ‘Real Deal’ is to just be part of the listener’s life each day.  Talk about things that we all have in common, then put your individual spin on it.

Think about this… the more you try to be noticed, the more it’s just about YOU.  But the more you just try to be part of something that we share together, the more it’s about US.

And that’s what gets ratings.  If you build your show around having something going on that I can relate to each day, I’ll come back – over and over again.

Here’s a short, but really powerful tip.

Give a subject two segments (in Talk radio), MAX.  If it doesn’t “catch fire” by then, give up and move along to something else.

The same principle is true in Music Radio – give a subject two tries, and if there’s no usable reaction, punt.  If it hasn’t “happened” by then, you’re just firing bullets into a dead body.  This is both boring and desperate-sounding.

This is why I always over-prepped each day.  Just having “enough” to cover a show might not actually BE enough on a given day.  And as you know, it’s impossible to predict when something might inexplicably fail to connect with the listener.  (Although, now that I think about it, this could simply be because there’s not an Emotion at its core.  Might want to think about that, too.)

To the listener, it’s all about Discovery.

As long as I’m discovering something (if it’s relevant to my life and interests), we’re good. When that stops, it’s “See ya.”

So you have to avoid repetition, and you have to always be moving forward.

This is why, as a coach, I can zero in on what a show needs quickly, because I’m always looking for the answers to two questions:

“What did we learn?”

And “What did we learn about you?”

Both of those things are essential.

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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