No doubt about it, voice-tracking isn’t going away anytime soon.  But it sure makes people lazy.  However, there’s no reason why a voice-tracked Music Radio show can’t sound like it’s live.

But what happens often is that a jock sits down and thinks “I’ve got to fill 28 breaks” (or whatever the number is) and plows through them as fast as possible.

So here’s a tried-and-true method for voice-tracking that makes it pretty easy to still do a viable show:

Continue reading →

We all fall into habits, and one I’ve heard a LOT recently is an air talent rattling off the “basics” (name of the station, artist, maybe the song title, the time), then saying his or her name LAST as you “gird your loins” (or gather yourself) to do Content.

The problem with this (besides being lazy) is that the listener learns to recognize this on a subconscious level, so you’re – by definition – NOT doing the unexpected.

Look, we can have a conversation that flows naturally, or we can serve up an agenda of a habitual group of words.  This choice is crucial.

And if it sounds in any way like you’re just in “autopilot” mode at the beginning of a break, that sameness from break to break does the opposite of piquing someone’s interest in what follows.

There’s a deeper view of this, too.  Except for saying the name of the station the first thing out of your mouth (which I believe is essential – that “branding” thing), all the other elements should vary from break to break.  Sameness breeds boredom.  Mixing things up just a bit makes what you’re saying be more readily received by the listener (on an unconscious level) as NEW information.  It’s science, and it’s the way God made us.

So get off your duff and work at this; it will actually make a difference.  Radio is doing a great job right now of holding a gun to its head and saying “Stand back or I’ll shoot.”

We need every little advantage we can get.

Most air talents assume that if you’re on the air, you must have a good voice.  But in reality, about half the people on the air in every format I hear have taken that for granted, and stunted their growth.

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some pretty impressive voice actors that you hear on national commercials, station Imaging, and movie trailers every day.  And universally, the ones who are the most successful have really studied what makes them unique, and how to fully use the vocal tools at hand.

Here’s what I mean…

Continue reading →

If you’re having trouble getting into Content, well, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger.  Every air talent either struggles with this at some point, or worse, doesn’t know yet that they’re struggling with it. : (

There’s lots of coaching available on this, including my own.  We’ve all heard the “Headline first, then tell the rest of the story” thing, for example.  And there’s tons of stuff about how to construct a story, how to physically lay out a story in just bullet points, etc., and what a great ending should be.

But here’s the problem:  You don’t really know until you know.  Human beings may become aware of things and intellectually understand them through reading and talking with people about them, but in the long run, we really only learn through experience – trial and error.

Continue reading →

Here’s one of my primary tips for show prep – The 3 Questions.  If you’ve read my “The 5 Subjects” tip, you already know the five categories of Content that will ALWAYS work (besides the obvious “station things” that will always be in the mix, like promoting events or features, etc.).

But “The 5 Subjects” should be filtered through these three questions before you put them on the air:

Continue reading →