I have had a history of finding and refining talk radio hosts. I learned that most new or newer talk radio hosts have an idea of what their show should be. Generally, I have found many of these conceptions to be false and somewhat stifling to talk show host development.
It is easy to emulate a host that is admired. We all start with the idea of trying to be a dominating star. Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and so many other greats give a strong template to follow. We all have been inspired to do this career. You may have had a local host that you idolized. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to be just like that host.
When Stern and Limbaugh blew up and became dominating national hosts. Unimaginative radio industry leaders hired hosts to parrot Howard and Rush. For the most part, it was a colossal failure. The hosts were added and had zero understanding of the success of these giants.
In news/talk, it was said that Limbaugh was only successful because he was conservative. So, the brain trust found hosts that were conservative to host shows. Many of these shows were dollar store copies of a Bloomingdale’s Department Store. Cheap copies that lasted a short time. The bodies of failed hosts emulating Rush Limbaugh litter the ditches on many desolate roadways.
The reason? These hosts were not interesting. These people may have had talent, but they didn’t understand the basic concepts of being in show business. Many thought that their job was to elect Republicans and push conservative thoughts and concepts. This was a recipe for disaster. The originality was almost nil, and the audience was just bored.
Howard Stern’s radio show was just too expensive for some radio operators at the time. So, some dolts thought that it would be easy to replicate it. “What was so tough about Stern,” they said. Let’s get a show with a couple of guys and a woman and let them say the word “penis”.
These dolts had the understanding of a three-year-old trying to read Shakespeare of what made Stern work. With a few exceptions like WTKS Orlando, these knock-offs went the way of Milli Vanilli.
One of the reasons that Limbaugh and Stern worked was that the shows were organic. They naturally developed. Radio, at its best, is real conversation. The host speaking to a person. Connecting with individuals one at a time. Radio is an intimate experience. Listeners are focused while in the car, at their desk or at home. I can assure you that your audience has a personal connection to you.
How do you be real and organic on the air? First of all, be yourself. Now, this is show business. People are listening to be entertained. At a news/talk station, the audience is there for information, commentary, and fun.
The uber P1s find this fully entertaining. Unfortunately, the hardcore number of that group is not a huge number. I call them the “Fox News Crowd”. Fox News, at its best, holds 1% of the U.S. population watching the prime-time line-up. Being organic means be vulnerable on the air. If you are doing a show with a sidekick, open yourself to be teased. This can create laughs and make you real. Talk about your life and how a particular issue is impacting your day-to-day existence.
I guarantee that this will create a bond with your listeners. If the news story is personal and not political theory, your audience will grasp the importance much easier. In a future article, I will explain how to craft a joke. Some hosts laugh at their own attempts at humor, and it is just embarrassing.
The themes of your show should naturally develop. Don’t force anything. I once worked with a host that was quite good, but he had this preconception that education was a fantastic topic that most people were interested in hearing about. Obviously, education is an important subject for our society. American children underperform our first world counterparts on almost every scale. The problem is that in the USA, the average household size is 2.5 people. With a declining birthrate, most homes are without children.
This host talked education theory and that folks is not interesting to a whole lot of people. This host had an amazing life story. He was unwilling to share it, which was insane. He couldn’t bring himself to be real and share his life with the audience. The show’s ratings underperformed the rest of the station, and he couldn’t see why. Be real. Allow the audience to know you and your personal passion for the news story or topic.
Perhaps the Program Director that I admire most is Robin Bertolucci of KFI. I don’t know her well, but every time that I have interacted with Robin, she talks about “Topic A”. The biggest topic of the moment. Having crutch topics can keep you from the things that everyone is discussing at that moment.
Providing a “listener focused experience” is our job. It is about the connecting with the audience. When you are at dinner with friends, do you share personal experiences with them? Or do you just talk about something in the news in a theoretical template? I can tell you this: if you are not real with others, you cannot have personal relationships. If you are the weird human who just discusses tax policy at a cocktail party, you will make zero personal connections.
If you have never taken an improve class, do it. Get yourself out of your comfort zone. Your local theater or comedy club likely offers a class like this. This may help you become more organic or real on the air.
Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He recently served as program director for WHO/KXNO in Des Moines, IA. Prior to that role he held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, 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.
