10, (or maybe 11) WAYS TO MAKE YOU INSTANTLY BETTER

I listen to a lot of radio and do a lot of airchecks for jocks all over the country and Canada. I’ve noticed that a lot of my comments and recommendations are the same for many different personalities…no matter what market or format. Here’s my top 11 list of the most consistent recommendations.

How many of these do you recognize?

The best radio is one on one. Just YOU and ONE listener. Say “I” and “you” not “us” and “we.” Never, ever call listener “people”, “folks” or “ladies and gentlemen.” Think singular, not plural.

Always be topical, connected and prepared. Never crack the mic without knowing what you’re going to say and how you are going to get in and out of the break.

Include audio in your show and imaging. Audio is to radio, what video is to TV. Think how boring a TV newscast would be without video. Audio enhances any show and gives it another layer.

Slow down. Take your time and don’t sound rushed. Pause between your thoughts. Let the show breathe.

Smile. You can hear a smile on the radio. It will instantly make you sound friendlier.

When starting a bit/break, don't ask a question, make a statement. It's more effective to say “I'm love this new TV show...” instead of asking “have you seen this new TV show?” Listeners can't answer you. Hook them by always making a statement. Even if people don't agree with you, you'll hook them in.

Don’t play with the song titles. For example, if you play “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” and come out of it with “it’s a great day to play The Generation Gap game….” It’s a bad radio cliché to tie the title of the song into what you want to say. It makes it sound like you have nothing better say. Just give the title and artist and don’t be cute with the title.

Be specific when you tease something. Don’t say “coming up” or “stick around for that.” Those lines do nothing to move listening. Instead say “I’ll tell you in less than 10 minutes” or “you’ll find out more at 11:20.”

Always call the listener YOU. If you are on a show with multiple people, always call your team mates them by their names. YOU is for the listener.

STOP THE SELF SERVING

There’s a radio station I sometimes listen to that calls themselves “legendary” and it drives me nuts. I love the music and the overall presentation and the jocks are OK but saying your station is “legendary” may have worked 40 or 50 years ago, but not today. Unfortunately, radio stations today aren’t consisdered legendary by anyone other than the people who work there or the owners. Listeners don’t care. They don’t believe the hype. They are too busy and don’t use radio the same way they did when legendary radio stations did exist.

That brings me to my topic, stop self serving, both as an individual jock and the station as a whole. I hear it all the time. Personalities need to stop patting themselves on the back on the air, running calls from listeners telling the DJ how great he/she is and how much they love them. Radio stations need to stop calling themselves “legendary” or “world famous” (with the exception of KROQ in LA, they have the heritage and can back up that position). 18-34’s and 18-49’s are very sensitive to hype and hate it. Very few things turn them off more. There is nothing endearing or genuine about self serving and patting yourself on the back. You don’t need to tell listeners how great you are. They know. That’s why they are listening to you and choosing your station over the competition.

One of the best ways to endear yourself to the listener is to make fun of yourself. The exact opposite of self serving. Look at Howard Stern. He made fun of himself everyday and guys could relate with him and in turn were endeared to him. When Howard started dating a super model, moved into a huge apartment in Manhattan and talked about how much money he was making and the famous people he was hanging with his audience began to lose interest, couldn’t relate and weren’t endeared to him as much as they were when he was a typical married father living in the suburbs, bitching about his life and living a life most men could relate with.

Don’t do the show, or program the radio station for you, do it for the listener. There’s a big difference between selling your station’s benefits and selling the fact you think you are great.

MORE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR MORNING SHOW BETTER

1) If you don’t have one, get a HD Flip Mino Camera. Awesome. Make two different promos each day for your show. A video promo to post on the web and an audio promo for the radio.

2) It’s all about recycling and promoting other dayparts. It’s a lot for a morning show to worry about each hour. Instead, have all the other dayparts record short :10-:15 promos promoting their show or a feature coming up later in the day. Run them going into EVERY stop set in the morning. Now you are reclying from your daypart to others without worrying about doing it live and taking away from your content.

3) Everyone seems to have a “Friday Song.” Many times it’s George Jones, maybe Steve Azar, even Todd Rundgren’s “Bang the Drum.” They are all fine, but take it a step further. Make it topical each week. Every Thursday take the past week’s topical audio from TV, news, movies and your show and put the drops in the song. Each Friday it’s a “week in review.” It’s always updated, topical and fun.

Here’s to a great show.