Are you predictable? Jim Rome had a line for callers: Have a take, don’t suck. Are you providing unique observations? Are the thoughts shared on the air yours? Do you filter your topics for your opinion? Do you worry about upsetting the manager or some audience members? Are you in a news/talk rut? Let me give you some tools to get out of it.
Being predictable is not a good thing. Have you ever watched a movie and could anticipate the next line? Sadly, you don’t have a staff of writers. Hell, you probably don’t have a real producer. You have three or four hours of radio to produce five days a week. How do you keep it fresh? This is up to you.
We all hate hearing our own voices. Aircheck yourself. Listen for faults. Patrick Mahomes watches every play he makes over and over again. He knows his weaknesses. Know your weaknesses. How predictable are you?
The opinions on conservative news/talk stations are usually unified on the point of view expressed, but the way the view is expressed can be quite different. I try not to listen to the other shows on my station. Since I am the Program Director as well, it can be a challenge. So, I listen at break and news times. I try to make the thoughts that I spew mine and mine alone.
I have managed hosts over the years where I have banned them from listening to the station. They were using these shows as show prep. That is not why they are on the payroll. Unique opinions, unique observations. That is the job of a talk show host. You are smart. Be real and not afraid. You may have the same position conclusions as others on your station, but your journey is the key.
A word about filtering your opinions: We must filter many things when we are on the air. Obviously, we cannot swear, but certain personal things are items that many hosts feel the need to filter out. We are reflecting our community. Many disc jockeys hate some of the music they play. But if there is a big hit by that artist, air personalities play like they love that song more than anything else on the station.
So, when it comes to opinions, you must be authentic. If you don’t believe it, don’t spew it. Your audience knows if you are faking. You need to be real. I am an inactive member of the John Adams Society. This is a debate society targeting conservatives. The debate is based on issues that conservatives with good will could discuss despite having differing opinions. It is a whole bunch of fun. There is a wide variety of thoughts that conservatives disagree, and that is ok.
If you take a position that does not reflect your actual personal views, listeners can see through it. If your listeners believe that you are a fake, they can easily discount everything you ever say. When you allow that to happen, your days are numbered as a host. You must resist the temptation.
Filtering an opinion to please someone is really a fool’s errand. I had a general manager bring me into his office about a local issue. He was quite hyped up on it. I told him that he was wrong on that issue. I explained why. The GM looked at me and said that if that was the case, I could ignore the issue. I smiled and told him that I may talk about it now. I laughed. The General Manager and I had a good open relationship. He rarely asked me to tow a line on one issue or another. So, he understood me.
It’s ok if you’re in a news/talk rut. We all get into ruts. If you are doing 15 hours of radio a week, this will happen. I always try to bring a solution or two in my columns. Here is my way to overcome these moments: I focus on my listeners. I focus on the life my audience experiences on a daily basis. What is their morning like? What is their biggest worry? Are they always focused on politics? What are they having for dinner? What is the biggest stress on marriage and family? How do current events impact the biggest concerns of your audience?
This will give you a better understanding of how to discuss these issues. If you find yourself being a political insider, you are walling off many of your potential audience members.
Do you have an audience profile of your target audience member? Do you have a gender, age, and education profile? What are they doing this weekend? You can use current events to focus on these real concerns. You can quiz politicians on these real-life predicaments that actually impact listeners’ lives.
I call it a listener-focused experience. You are on the air on a news/talk station without a net. No writers, likely no producer, and your Program Director may be running two or three stations. It is a tough job. If you follow some of the ideas that I have shared, it will make your life easier.
Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He currently serves as News/Talk Format Captain for Zimmer Communications. Prior to joining Zimmer, Peter held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, Des Moines, Little Rock, Greenville, Hunstville, and Joplin. Peter has also worked as a host, account executive and producer in Minneapolis, and San Antonio. He can be found on Twitter at @PeterThiele.
