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From Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.- http://www.crb.org Creating Powerful Radio: Never Lose a Listener Feb 8, 2008
Creating Powerful Radio: Never Lose a Listener Valerie Geller President Geller Media www.gellermedia.com When was the last time a total stranger came up to you and said: "Although we've never met, I feel like I know you from hearing you on the air...?" If that's happened lately, congratulations! You're creating Powerful Radio! If a total stranger feels he or she "knows you" from hearing your show, you've done it! You've successfully let your audience "in." That's high praise from your audience! One of the ways your listeners can get to know you is from your stories... All listeners are story "junkies." (A lot of this work isn't that far from: "Once upon a time in a far off land, there was a princess and a monster...and then one day..." ) Ultimately, if you work in radio, you work in the "story" business. (Storytelling is such a part of Country radio anyway, there's no reason for the powerful storytelling to stop when the music stops.) Since audiences now have a choice - they can get their music, news and other content in OTHER places, now YOU, the storyteller matter. Broadcasters often ask: How do I hone my storytelling skills? How can I become a more powerful storyteller? Like everything, practice helps! But it usually works best if you can tell a story as though you would tell it to your friends or family, in the way you might tell the story OFF air... The closer your show sounds to real life, like a conversation you'd really have around the breakfast table or in the car, the better it works! Another suggestion: Try talking about things on the radio because you care about them, things you'd talk about anyway, even if you did NOT have a radio show. Do not feel obligated to talk about things just because they are in the paper or come on a prep sheet or are on You Tube or PEOPLE magazine. But if you would never talk about this off air, think twice about it! If it's sounds fake, and the bit sounds "manufactured to fill time on the radio" it never works as well. Keep it real. The great Louis Armstrong was once asked to describe the type of music he played. Armstrong simply replied: "What we play is life." If your topics or subjects are starting to feel manufactured for air, try this: What if your very life depended on NOT losing a listener, say the stakes were really that high? Imagine, you're blindfolded on a pirate ship -walking the plank with a sword at your back, sharks in the water below, and if you lose even ONE listener, you'd be off that plank... shark meat!) Ask yourself: Would I still put this on the air? Never losing a listener is about making every minute on the air MATTER. Make certain what you're doing on air is relevant to your audience. Think about why a listener would want to spend time with you? While listeners come to radio for lots of reasons, they want to be entertained, informed, inspired, and connected to other people and they like to feel they know you. So, at the risk of hammering home what you may already know... here's a reminder of some of the basics of Creating Powerful Radio: 1. Tell the Truth 1. Speak visually, in terms a listener can "picture." *excerpted from Creating Powerful Radio - Getting, Keeping & Growing
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