Whatever happened to coaching in radio? True coaching is a lost art and practice that has been cast aside because of a lack of coaching talent in our buildings. If you’re a programmer, you should want to consistently coach your talent. If you’re talent, you should be hungry to be coached.
Part of the problem for talent is the name – often referred to as “Air-Checking.” It was a term that felt like audio terrorism some years back. Talent would often get ambushed by their programmer, who had freshly pulled a day-of-the-week cassette off the wall, secured by a phantom skimmer. The process struck fear in talent. The only thing on their mind during their session was the time and location of the exit.
That process is nearly akin to the dreaded “hotline” call from an angry programmer to their shell-shocked talent. Talent – and some coaches – avoid this process for a number of reasons.
Judgement Fears
The first and easiest reason to understand. Radio talent often fears negative evaluation from coaches or worries about falling short of expectations. There’s also a sense of a desire for perfection. Emerging talent may set unrealistically high standards for themselves, creating unnecessary pressure and performance anxiety.
Confidence
Uncertainty about the content or delivery can significantly heighten nervousness. We need – collectively – to change the mindset. Air-checking and coaching are mixed together. However, they are far from the same thing.
Confusing the two can stunt radio talent and create a negative culture. Think of the air-check as a mirror. It’s a clear and uncomfortable playback of what content was put on their shows. Audio IS a necessary tool to improve talent performance—identifying strengths, habits, and missed timing.
Conversely, coaching is a conversation that follows a contextual, process-driven, forward-looking approach rooted in trust, where a leader helps a broadcaster turn awareness into growth.
One is about past performance, while the other builds the future career of your talent. Brand growth relies on both, but understanding the difference is crucial. Learning to coach – and learning to receive coaching – can be assimilated from non-broadcast sources.
Several times over the years, on the Barrett Media platform, we’ve quoted lauded sport psychologist Bob Rotella when discussing learning to coach and be coached. Rotella’s 10 Rules include:
Have a routine to lean on
Patience is routine. Build a relationship with talent and your leadership. Set calendar appointments and hold sessions without distractions.
Embrace your personality
We often recruit and coach programmers to put their personality into the presentation effort. You entered this rocky road we call “a radio career” because of the FUN it brought into your life. Even with Adult Formats, we’re in Show Business!
Find someone who believes in you
We’ve preached this for years. Find a mentor (coach) to bounce your ideas off. This could be someone in your format who’s highly successful, a morning show talent to add to your network, a programmer in your company, or even us!
Another superior source comes from the book The Art of Performance: The Surprising Science Behind Greatness by global strategist Jeroen De Flander.
Here are just a few of his philosophies and how they translate to broadcast coaching:
Great On-Air Performance Is Built, Not Discovered
In radio, we rarely discover “natural talent.” Strong on-air performance, whether delivering a morning show break or calling a high school football game, is the result of repeatable skills, not personality alone. Coaches who focus only on style miss the science behind consistency.
Customize your coaching to the individual and ensure they receive the message so the talent can duplicate excellence daily.
Practice – yes, PRACTICE
When we suggest that talent in broadcasting practice, the look on their face is often one of confusion. Especially with new ensemble morning shows, we encourage the programmer to place talent in a studio and practice so they hit the ground with polish. Not grow during a live show. Rehearsing doesn’t prepare talent for live conditions. Timing, interruptions, distractions, and missed cues will inevitably happen.
Air-checking isn’t coaching. Talent must practice performing along with consistent review of their performance.
Frame Stress as Readiness
Top broadcasters don’t eliminate nerves. According to De Flander, they reinterpret them. Elevated heart rate becomes energy. Timing must perform with urgency. De Flander preaches stress preparation rather than stress avoidance.
Teach talent how to use adrenaline in a live and voice-tracked setting instead of fighting it.
Focused Attention – The Most Important On-Air Skill
Great air talent focuses outward, reflecting their audience. We preach, “Be the moon – not the sun.” Reflect the light of the listener. Focus on the listener, the story, and the moment. Unfocused, insecure performers think inward: How do I sound? Did I mess that up? What will the PD think?
Coach attention, not just mechanics.
Consistency Beats Brilliance
Listeners don’t listen for perfection. They need reliability. Don’t chase occasional greatness. Consistency builds trust and listener loyalty.
Reward repeatable execution more than rare flashes.
Create Psychological Safety
Performance improves when talent is allowed to experiment and make mistakes. Fear-based coaching lowers creativity.
Your tone as a coach directly affects on-air outcomes.
Great performance isn’t solely about talent. Superior performance is about training the brain to function optimally. Anyone can improve by understanding how performance works and applying evidence-based strategies consistently. THAT process is the most important thing coaches do – people development.
When coaching in radio, take one critical issue at a time. Throwing several items at the student only confuses the result – like a reverse domino effect. If you’ve suffered through a golf, music, or improv lesson, you know the feeling. Once you’ve conquered one issue, move slowly to the next.
Custom brand building is a messy process. Somewhere on your journey, wheels are bound to loosen, bringing you off course. Having a framework to guide you brings you closer to achieving daily excellence.
It’s our job – as coaches and mentors – to give talent a safe space in coaching, know that mistakes will happen, and build their confidence in the process.
As on-air talent, you should expect coaching to be a supportive space. A consistent process where mistakes are part of your craft and confidence is built through the process.
Our way of coaching talent is only ONE of many approaches. Styles vary, and our peers enrich the process with their philosophies.
Coaching is vital to the survival of our business. Jump on THAT train the first week of 2026 if you’re not already coaching. That means – now.
Remove the name “Air-Checking.” Air-checks without coaching are tactical nitpicking sessions. Real progress happens when talent feels heard, challenged, and supported without judgment.
If we want to recruit and retain quality talent, we have to stop treating air-checking as an end process and treat coaching as the focus. Coaching is where we grow confidence, creativity, and ultimately, the elusive “great radio” we all wish for.
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Kevin Robinson is a passionate award-winning programmer, consultant and coach – with multi-formats success all over the country. He has advised numerous companies including Audacy (formerly Entercom Communications), Beasley Broadcast Group, Westwood One, Midwest Communications, Townsquare Media, Midwest Family Broadcasting Group, EG Media Group, Federated Media, Kensington Media, mediaBrew Communications, Starved Rock Media, and more. He specializes in strategic radio cluster alignment, building lean-forward tactics and talent coaching – legacy and entry-level – personalities.
Known largely as a trusted talent coach, Kevin is the only personality mentor who’s coached three different morning shows on three different brands in the same major market to the #1 position. His efforts have been recognized by The World Wide Radio Summit, Radio & Records, NAB’s Marconi, and he has coached CMA, ACM and Marconi Award-winning talent. He is also in The Zionsville High School Hall of Fame as part of the 2008 inaugural class. Kevin is an Indiana native – living near Zionsville with his wife of 39 years, Monica and can be reached at kevin@robinsonmedia.fm.
