GETTING YOUR GAME FACE ON Chris Byrnes Have you seen the Nicoderm stop smoking spot on television? It shows an airline hostess screaming at passengers because she is trying to stop smoking. It’s a funny spot, but recently I think I met that hostess. From the moment I walked onto the plane I could tell this flight attendant was having a very bad day. What bothered me, and I suspect most of the other passengers, was that she made it very clear she was not happy. For the next 90 minutes she crashed and banged her way through the aisle with her trolley, was snappy towards the passengers and generally made it a miserable flight. I, for one, was happy to get off the plane and away from the flight attendant from hell.
A few days later I took another trip from a different city, but under rather trying circumstances. Poor weather elsewhere in the country had delayed our plane’s arrival and our flight was running late. By the time we all boarded we were two hours behind schedule with no guarantee of getting to our destination. However as soon as we got on the plane we encountered a hostess with a big smile on her face and we were all made to feel most welcome. She had an air of confidence about her and as soon as she got us all seated she was on the microphone making us feel better. She apologized for the delay, informed us that the pilots would have the plane in the air as quickly as possible and that she’d be around with hot drinks and refreshments. It quickly turned into a most enjoyable flight, all because of the attitude of the attendant. I took time to reflect on what a difference this one person can make. On my first trip I could not wait to be off the plane, while on the second one, the attendant did her best to make a difficult situation as pleasant as possible.
On both flights I spent time reviewing air-checks and making notes. One air-check stood out to me and after several breaks it became evident that this announcer may have more in common with the first flight attendant than the second. In short, he was having a bad day and he made that clear every time he opened the microphone. There was no evidence of a “smile” in his voice, he was racing through his breaks, and the content was generic and poorly thought out. There were basic mistakes in operation and I doubt he’d bothered to pre-read his copy.
I started to wonder how often this actually happens and I was reminded of the comment my first Program Director made when I was preparing to go into the control room, “Remember, you are the radio station for the next four hours. All the people working behind the scenes will never been seen or heard during your shift.”
My point here is that unlike a lot of industries, we generally have few systems in place to ensure the announcer is well prepared and in a good frame of mind before he or she goes into the control room. At best we may critique a talent after the fact, but for the most part we all assume the announcer will put in the effort to research and prepare his show, do his vocal warm-up exercises before he enters the control room, and will have his “game face” on. But I think it all starts long before the announcer enters the control room for the first time. The Program Director needs to lay out the strategy for winning in the day-part, ensure the announcer knows what his job is (such as increasing TSL), knows the target audience, is completely trained on the equipment, and knows the community to which he is broadcasting. Assuming this is the case, here are some things to consider:
How many breaks?: When you dumb it right down, an announcer doing mid days will be on the air for an average of five hours. In that time he or she will likely have 25 breaks to fill (5 breaks per hour over the five hours.) Chances are one break will be for the weather, one break will be a station liner, and one break will be a top of hour tee up. That leaves two open breaks per hour. So the announcer at the very least needs to enter the control room with five solid music teases, five liners, one re-worded weather forecast that relates to the listeners and 10 bits that will relate to the target audience.
The Plan: I’m a great believer in a solid roadmap. If the announcer has done the show prep, but does not have a plan where the bits will fall he will end up with an unbalanced show. Chances are, unless the announcer knows when the most available listeners are tuning, he will not place the strongest break in the right quarter hour. That’s why it’s vital the Program Director gets involved and together they should construct a daily show map. This may be as simple as one sheet of paper drawn up with the breaks down the side and the hours on the top with appropriate notes within each box. I’ve also seen templates made up in word documents.
Those Open Breaks: I think more announcers should be encouraged to work on their open breaks the previous day and meet with the Program Director to brainstorm ideas and refine the breaks. I know of one major broadcasting company in the U.S. that insists each announcer turns in his ideas for the next day’s show and has the Program Director sign off on the work before he can leave the building.
What to do ahead of the show: Do the show prep and fill out the daily show map. Meet with the Program Director and brainstorm ideas. Get out in the community and look for things to talk about. Write notes and ask yourself how you might work something you’ve seen into a break. Connect with people both inside and outside the radio station and find out what’s important to them. Get involved in activities outside of radio as this can be a great source of show prep. Join a club or take up a sport and you’ll meet all kinds of interesting people. Using someone’s name on the air in a positive manner from your community is a powerful way to relate to your audience.
What to do during the show: Be focused in the room. Get there early enough to check the levels and get the room set up. Have the first break well mapped out because when the first break is delivered with confidence the rest of the show is likely to follow suit. Put a smile on your face before you open the microphone and this will make you sound better. Always spend most of your energy working on your next break. If you’re in a three song sweep, use this time to fine tune your next break. I know some announcers who will voice-track their next break and re-record it until it’s perfect. They use all the tools available to them in this modern digital age to make that next break sound amazing. When I was on the air I spent a lot of time feeding the 6 stack cart deck with songs and lots of spots. I seemed to be pulling carts, putting them in the right order and then re-filing them. On a busy show with 17 minutes of ads per hour I didn’t have much time to focus on what I was going to say next. Today’s computers and automation software take care of all these elements so we can spend the time focusing on what we are going to say next. Record all the incoming calls and always prepare a couple of relevant questions to ask each caller. Edit the best calls and incorporate appropriate sentences into some breaks to make your show more interactive and local. Lastly, before you leave the control room, ensure you leave it neat and tidy for the next person.
What to do after the show: Review your performance a couple of times a week. Spend the time to listen to a few breaks and write notes about what you liked and what could have been better. Develop a plan for improvement and always know the two things you plan to do better next time. Record your competition once a week and listen to some of their show. Apply the same rating scale you use on yourself and know their strengths and weaknesses. Listen to an out-of-market show once a week, analyze what they do well and how they put their show together. Meet with your PD for a few minutes each day to brainstorm ideas, and ensure you get a regular air-check meeting with him to seek feedback and suggestions for improvement.
In summary: Good shows don’t happen by accident. They are the product of positive attitude, good planning and attention to detail. All the coaching and training can get you as far as the studio door but only you can carry the ball without fumbling. Make it an objective to be better each day than the day before. Keep improving and you will become one of the select few to be a true entertainer and an announcer who is building his audience. |