Whether you’ve been on the air for many years or you’re just starting your radio career, this should be your mantra: Focus. Fascinate me.
A sign with those words should be prominent in every radio studio as a constant reminder that your job as an on-air talent is to take and hold your audience’s attention.
The most cliched basic radio rule is to think about a single listener, talk to one person, and visualize that person as you speak. It’s okay advice to try to settle the nerves of the raw beginner, I guess. It can’t hurt but it’s silly because you’re not talking to one person you’re talking to many thousands of people and you know that. Eventually, you will learn to relax but until then you’ll be a bit nervous and make mistakes. That’s how we learn.
Fortunately, even as a raw beginner, you have a couple of things going for you: your passion and your as-yet-undiscovered confidence to succeed.
Oh, yes, you have confidence. Nobody has ever sat behind a microphone without it.
If it helps, here’s one more thing to remember: when you goof up on the air nearly nobody notices and those who do notice don’t care. Your listeners are not focused on every word. Calling them “listeners” is a leap of faith. Mostly, you’re background noise. But that’s your challenge: get their attention and hold it.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard came from David G. Hall in his all-hands-on-deck speech to the combined staff of KNX and KFWB as he became Program Manager for both stations:
“Say something that will make the listener literally look at the radio and think, ‘Did he really say that?’”
Fascinate me.
Go boldly onto the stage. Know that everything you say, good or bad, brilliant or lame, is a valuable self-taught lesson, no matter how long you’ve been at it. Hopefully, you’ll have the guidance of a great program director.
Regrettably these days, you probably won’t.
When I entered the business the standard path to success began at college stations and in very small markets. When you advanced as far as you could there, you moved on to a medium market. If you achieved graduate status there, you felt ready to reach for the stars. It was a process that required years of learning from your experience and the wisdom of colleagues and P.D.s who had gone before you.
When you finally arrived in a major market, your early lessons had been absorbed and you were ready to blossom toward full potential. Your confidence and understanding of yourself were supreme. You knew that your growth could continue without limit unless self-imposed.
That world still exists but it’s on a shaky foundation. I know people whose first on-air jobs were in major markets. Sure, they have the intelligence and raw talent but they have no radio experience. They never learned, and maybe never will, the thousands of nuances in the fine art of performing on air.
Many Program Directors today haven’t got time to focus on one radio station, much less on you, personally. They’re saddled with two or more stations and a corresponding increase in memos and meetings. The general manager can’t find time for the PD because she or he has also been loaded down with more work in multiple markets for less money.
And frankly, many program directors today don’t have the wisdom of their own experience. They took the fast track, too, and rather than spending time on somewhat hazy concepts of program strategy and performance direction they’ve been immersed in boilerplate messages, ratings metrics, and corporate strategies.
As a talent, you’re pretty much on your own.
You’re the person talking to the audience. Aside from the obnoxious amount of commercial and promotional clutter your bosses have jammed into your show, you are the voice of the station, you create and deliver the content, and everyone above you depends on you to save their jobs. However, they either can’t help or are afraid to try.
And yes, if the ratings slip you are likely to be replaced by syndication or AI.
Look, you got into radio because you loved it. Love conquers all, right? It demands the effort, at least. Just do what you can, and you can do a lot.
Be open to inspiration, whatever its source.
One of the greatest programmers I worked for in my early career, the late Vic Ives at KSFO, San Francisco, said it best and I remember these words with the same clarity and affection I remember of my wedding vows.
Vic said to me: “The more passion and energy you pour into that microphone, the more you will receive in return.”
That’s all you need to know about focus. Now, fascinate me.
