THE MISTAKES AIR TALENT MAKE Chris Byrnes I spent time over the holidays reflecting on 2002, and thinking about the things I hear as I hit "scan and seek" during my travels. I love listening to radio no matter where I am. I listen to my client stations and always check out the other signals. I'd like to share a few of the mistakes I hear those behind the microphone make.
Not Getting Involved In the Community: In this industry most air talent have to move cities several times in order to get ahead. I averaged six months a market for the first three years of my radio career and by aged 40, I was working and living in a different country. The mistake some air talent make is that they don't make the effort to get to know the community or area they are living in, and therefore sound like they are not in touch with that community. It took me a few moves before I learned an important trick; act like you'll be in this radio market for the rest of your life, meet lots of people and join a service organization or sports club. Before you know it the phone will ring and you'll be off to a larger market or a better job. I was listening to a morning show recently talk about what they had planned for Christmas and one said "I'm crossing off the days until I fly home to Ottawa for Christmas."
Role Definition: Have you ever listened to a morning show and found it hard to tell which one of the characters is talking in a multi person show? This could be because sonically they sound the same, or it's difficult to determine the role of each member of the show. In situation comedy they use a technique which revolves around three character types called "a dick, a dork and a dear." Consider the show Home Improvement; Tim was the dick, Al was the dork and Jill was the dear. In Seinfeld, George was the dick, Kramer was the dork and Elaine was the dear. TV shows go to great lengths to develop a complete life history on each character. Successful morning shows spend the time to clearly define the role of each member of the team.
Information In the Wrong Order: The importance of delivering information in the correct order struck me recently when I was about to transfer planes at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. The flight attendant was reading gate numbers and city destinations; probably because that was the way it was listed on her computer printout. If you've ever flown into the world's busiest airport you'll understand the importance of knowing the terminal [there are five] and gate you are landing at, and the terminal and gate your next plane is departing from. I heard the flight attendant mention Seattle but she had already given out the gate number and was on to the next destination. The mistake I hear air talent make when delivering traffic information is that they will say "three lanes closed on the East bound 401 West of Yonge." Most commuters will prick up their ears when they hear the location they are traveling in or are heading toward. They will therefore miss what the problem is because by then you are onto the next problem. It should always be location and then situation when delivering traffic information.
Missed Opportunities: How many times have you heard an air talent say "Coming up your chance to win"? In this "scratch and win" society we live in today, this is a completely meaningless phrase. I think it is better to say "Imagine lazing on the golden sands outside the Queen Kapiolani Hotel on Waikiki Beach watching the tanned and toned playing in the crystal blue waters which extend as far as the eye can see. (station name) could get you and a friend there within the next 10-minutes." Paint the picture and sell the benefit using only the number of words it takes to do this effectively.
Lack of Show Prep: Having spent a number of years behind the microphone myself, I know when someone is "mailing it in." Lack of show prep is perhaps the biggest mistake I hear air talent make. I have always wondered why some people feel it is their god given right to wonder into a control room pop open the microphone and talk until they think of something to say? What I've found is that many talent have never actually been taught how to show prep. Yet most have access to so much material on-line. They don't have to subscribe to lots of magazines and newspapers. It's one of the many things we do when consulting a radio station, teach air talent how to show prep smartly and how to deliver bits that relate to the target audience.
Blue Humour: It doesn't really seem fair that TV can run a disclaimer and then air programs with language that would make a sailor blush or display full frontal nudity. We all know that the line keeps moving, but to be safe in radio land I think we need to be more conservative than the market when talent are delivering bits. There are jokes that do the rounds on e-mail and sometimes I know talent make the mistake of thinking, I got this joke from a 30 something women so it must be fine to tell on the air. They forget that there is a time and place for everything. The type of joke or story you might share with your mother or grandfather might be totally different from a story you'd tell in the locker room after the hockey game. The jokes you can get away with telling on the air can differ by format, target audience and sometimes even the geography. But most radio stations do not run block programming as they do on TV, and frankly that disclaimer does not mean much if it ends up in a court of law. Always remember that there are lots of minivan mums with young impressionable ears listening to your every word. Anyone can get a giggle by telling a blue joke, but it takes hard work and brains to be clever on the air.
Local, Local, Local: I've written before about the new challenge to radio that is beaming out of the sky. I recently rode with a friend from Burlington to Barrie via Toronto listening to Rick Dees doing his morning show live from Los Angeles via the XM satellite. While you cannot legally buy the receivers in Canada, you can have one fitted in a matter of minutes just across the border for $125 and pay $9 a month for the service. I'm told the footprint of the satellite runs all the way to Alaska, and from personal experience I can assure you it sounds great and does not drop out very often. We only lost the signal once in downtown Toronto as we got in the shadow of some of the tallest buildings. But the one major disadvantage XM or any satellite service has is that it will never beat a local radio station that is totally locked into the local community and creates the impression that if I don't listen to this radio station I won't know what's going on in the region. All too often I hear shows could have been done from any location on any day of the week. They lack the key ingredients of local and perishable information.
The Show Ends With You: I am always amazed when I hear shows that fail to cross promote the benefits of listening to another show or feature of the radio station. You are unlikely to hear a morning show say "Be sure to turn the radio off now because we are done, and turn it back on tomorrow at 6am!" But talent who don't bother to educate their audience why they need to listen to the next show are really doing just that. The most important job of any air talent is to build time spent listening and the easiest way to do this is to talk about the other features or shows.
Not Delivering Their Best Stuff At the Right Time: I am amazed how few air talent actually know when the most listeners are available during the time they are on the air. Often it is as simple as looking at the Arbitron or BBM quarter hours for the market. Have you ever heard a morning show that sound amazing in the 6am hour, but have run out of steam by 8am? Preparing a great bit is wonderful, but delivering it when the most people are likely to hear it is also just as important.
Too Much Inside Chit Chat: While giving the audience a small glimpse into the lives of the talent on the air, or the people behind the scenes can be valid, too often it becomes meaningless and not interesting to the target audience. When I hear shows that are always taking about the PD or GM, or the mess in the control room, it is normally a sign of a lack of show prep or a lack of understanding of what entertainment is.
The Top Ten List: I heard someone do this just the other day; it was the top ten reasons you know you're at a lame New Year’s Party. The jock started at number one and finished at number ten. While this is not a major error, it just sounded funny and lacked punch. This is why David Letterman always counts “up” to #1. It just sounds more powerful that way. |