THE POWER OF THE ON-AIR PHONE CALL Chris Byrnes Recently I was doing the “seek and scan” thing as I drove down I-75. I heard an announcer in a mid-sized American market air a phone call that sounded like a train wreck in slow motion. The call went nowhere and I wondered how many other people tuned out thinking “there goes 3 minutes of life I’ll never get back again!”
It reminded me of a talented broadcaster by the name of John Campbell, who I worked with a few years ago. John was a master at airing “live” phone calls. In reality, he had quick hands and was disciplined enough to record every call on an Apex reel-to-reel tape recorder [OK, it was a lot of years ago!]. John probably recorded ten calls for every one he put on air. He knew how to make the phones ring and how to draw out the best in his callers. His editing skills, using a splicing block and razor blade, were amazing and he had a 6th sense for which phone topics would work and which would not. He also knew how to take a listener from the “passive” mode to being an “active” part of his show. He added a sense of “spontaneity” to his show and in so doing created the feeling that you had to listen because you never knew what you might miss.
When it comes to breaks and phone calls, some announcers try to “wing it”. It’s almost a perverted desire to see what kind of accident can happen. On the other hand, when you’re recording the phones you can edit the call or decide not to run it at all. Granted, some of the best bits can happen during an adlib but talking to a listener in the hope that something interesting might happen is dangerous. Some might argue that the funniest lines delivered by Jay Leno happen when he is ad-libbing with a guest. However each guest has been “ghost interviewed” up to five times before they ever appear on the show, so Jay knows the questions to ask and the guest knows the responses to give. If only we could do that on radio perhaps all calls would create a higher level of “water cooler” talk. Of course you can increase the chances of success by always recording and editing calls. I recall reading an article a few years ago that suggested these three simple steps to improving your phones:
Step #1: Listen!: This is the most important rule of all and the one that is most often broken. Improvising a bit, conversation, or an interview is a game of give and take. As the host it’s your job to listen. You must have enough self-confidence to not fear losing control of the call and compensate by talking more. Remember, you cannot respond to a listener when you are too busy talking. Listen to what the caller is saying and then respond to what you actually hear. Often that’s where you’ll find the opportunity for humor or entertainment. Take a step back and consider the call as it will be perceived by your listeners. Their attention will immediately shift from the announcer to the caller on the phone and that’s also what you as an announcer must do. By listening to what the caller is saying, you:
However when you fail to listen by talking in the hope of keeping the bit alive you often become a distraction and may even confuse the listeners.
Step #2: Don’t Deny: Good improvisation requires acceptance of all that is given in a conversation. This rule is often difficult to follow for some [especially those “stop-watching” PD’s!] but your objective is to open doors and not close them. Each time new information is introduced into a conversation, that piece of information holds the potential for a wealth of comedy and entertainment. So let’s see how this rule works. You answer the studio phone and the caller says, “Hi, my name is Mary S. Jones”. If you’re not really listening you’ll probably say, “Hi Mary. What can I do for you?” However, by not accepting all that Mary gave you, you may have denied both you and the listeners an opportunity. Not everybody gives you their middle initial so chances are Mary did this for a reason. So ask her what the S stands for and see what happens next. As each “door” opens you increase the opportunity for a more interesting phone call.
Step #3: Give and Take: Every conversation has two components; an action and a reaction. If you remove either of those components you no longer have a real conversation. How many times have you heard an announcer dominate the conversation to the point where the listener feels intimidated? You must give the caller room to breathe and room to feel comfortable. With today’s editing software and the digital environment, you can tidy up the call before it runs on the air. Some callers will be dull and boring and editing their calls can be hard work. The objective is to never air a bad call. Perhaps there might even be an opportunity to create something entertaining out of such a call. I heard Howard Hoffman do this a few years ago on KFRC in San Francisco. A male caller phoned his request show asking for a song but could not remember the title. The way Larry handled the call was pure magic…and he didn’t make fun of the caller.
The secret of a great phone call is hidden in the rules of improv and if you follow these rules your phones will sound better on-air. By the way, these rules also apply to on-air conversations with your co-host, newsperson or traffic reporter. So, even if your radio station won’t allow you to put phone-calls to air, these basic rules will still help you. Good phone calls beget good phone calls but you need to train your audience by example and set some standards. Do not air bad calls and remember that your phones are a powerful window to your local community. |