Roy London: Actor, writer, teacher and coach.

If you watch the Academy Awards, you’ve heard his name.  Brad Pitt, Sharon Stone, Forrest Whitaker, Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and dozens of other actors have spoken about his coaching’s impact on their careers.  At one point, he taught over 250 actors weekly, and coached many more privately.

I’m a radio talent coach, and have worked with over 1500 radio personalities and a few TV personalities and anchors, but my background is in acting.  And believe me, radio IS about acting.

So here’s a piece of advice from Roy London: “You have to live in your vulnerability.”

If you’re not showing some sort of vulnerability on the air, if you just want to be seen as pleasant, funny, a “got it all together” person, you’re going to be limited in how big an audience you can grow.

Steve Sunshine at Spirit 105.9 in Austin and I spent two entire coaching sessions working on how Steve would reveal on the air that he had been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s.

Brant Hansen has always been brilliant and thought-provoking, but he and I also worked on showing his quirkiness by his playing “Smoke on the Water” on his accordion on the air – and cultivating his love of… wait for it… toast.

I have an air talent now whose husband has ultra-serious health issues.  There are days when it’s difficult for her to go on the air at all, and other days when being on the air is a relief and an emotional release.  We talk a lot.

NBA coach Don Nelson was known for being a good interview and being funny, but one time he came on the air with me and revealed that he was incredibly nervous because he was heading to the airport in just a few minutes to meet the twenty-something-year-old daughter he had just found out he hadI

Your vulnerability is also a strength, if you know how to reveal it without chasing people away.  It also adds to the “one thing I know about you that I don’t know about your competition” factor that I think makes a huge difference in anyone’s career.

If you have a coach and you’re working on this, great.  If you have a coach and you’re NOT working on this, get a new coach.