Here's my situation. We're a very small station with a 4 person on air staff. One of the on air staff is the news person who does a super job gatehring and reading local news, but her "show" (9a-1p) is, well, non-exisistent. It's not really her fault...we just have never really took the time to develop her on-air presence. What can I do, as PD, to get the airstaff to start looking at their "airshfts" more as "shows" ?
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Developing inexperienced personalities
- Thread starter bigjohnson
- Start date
R
RussAllen
Guest
bigjohnson said:
I'm in a similar situation. You, as PD, are going to have to do some coaching. Strive for at least one aircheck session per week. Set improvement goals for them. Give them written copies of your aircheck notes and show them over time how they have improved.
Make sure to create an atmosphere where you're not telling them what they're doing wrong, rather that it's you AND them working TOGETHER to help them improve their skills. Let them know that as good as they are now, if they follow your direction they'll be even better in short time. And that will make the station sound better.
I hope that helps you.
Good luck.
A
argytunes
Guest
I think coaching is a great idea....providing an air personality or newsperson can take criticism! Face it...there are experienced and inexperienced "on-air announcer wannabees" who believe that their way is the only way when it comes to a show, a newscast or even a commercial voiceover!
There are a lot of radio stations who can only afford 3 or 4 announcers who are expected to do EVERYTHING! But you know something? It's amazing how hard some of them will work for you when a PD or GM occasionally utters the words:
I REALLY LIKED YOUR SHOW TODAY or I REALLY THOUGHT THE COMMERCIAL YOU PUT TOGETHER FOR (insert client's name here) WAS TERRIFIC!
argytunes
There are a lot of radio stations who can only afford 3 or 4 announcers who are expected to do EVERYTHING! But you know something? It's amazing how hard some of them will work for you when a PD or GM occasionally utters the words:
I REALLY LIKED YOUR SHOW TODAY or I REALLY THOUGHT THE COMMERCIAL YOU PUT TOGETHER FOR (insert client's name here) WAS TERRIFIC!
argytunes
bigjohnson said:
Also, if you believe the talent have various things to work on, make sure you really try to focus on one or two at a time. Let them feel the growth instead of feeling overwhelmed. And, of course, providing positive reinforcement for the good things they do is going to help a lot.
Just my opinion...
Developing new talent is one of the dying arts of radio in general. Some basics include:
1. Have them aircheck every day, and listen to the airchecks critically. As PD, a little carrot-and-stick needs to be offered on a regular basis - like weekly. Compile several examples of things that were done well, and several examples of things that were done poorly. Criticism includes both positive reinforcement and negative reaction.
2. Provide examples of people who do your type of format well. Explain that you're not asking talent to clone somebody else's show, but use examples to show successful approaches to your type of material, and delivery styles that exemplify your expectations. It's about giving young talent ideas on how to improve their delivery without restricting their own creativity.
3. Help them to be succinct. A lot of young talent think that you need a lot of time to make a point, or to entertain. Show them how to edit themselves and get to the point so they can increase their content with disrupting the flow of the show.
1. Have them aircheck every day, and listen to the airchecks critically. As PD, a little carrot-and-stick needs to be offered on a regular basis - like weekly. Compile several examples of things that were done well, and several examples of things that were done poorly. Criticism includes both positive reinforcement and negative reaction.
2. Provide examples of people who do your type of format well. Explain that you're not asking talent to clone somebody else's show, but use examples to show successful approaches to your type of material, and delivery styles that exemplify your expectations. It's about giving young talent ideas on how to improve their delivery without restricting their own creativity.
3. Help them to be succinct. A lot of young talent think that you need a lot of time to make a point, or to entertain. Show them how to edit themselves and get to the point so they can increase their content with disrupting the flow of the show.
2 - keys to developing an on air personality.
1-That person must aircheck himself each and every show and listen to the skimmed version on the way home. This is the only way the improve yourself.
2-ONE ON ONE communication. Listen to any of the greats and you will NOT hear any ricky radio rapping...but a person who sounds like your best friend chatting with you. MAKE EVERY BREAK NEW...saying the same phrases over and over (That little band from texas when you play ZZ top..ect.) will KILL YOU and is the mark of a small market wannabee. COMMUNICATE with your audience, don't throw overused phases at them. Throw away the liner cards and make them TALK with the audience. and PREP..PREP..PREP.....
1-That person must aircheck himself each and every show and listen to the skimmed version on the way home. This is the only way the improve yourself.
2-ONE ON ONE communication. Listen to any of the greats and you will NOT hear any ricky radio rapping...but a person who sounds like your best friend chatting with you. MAKE EVERY BREAK NEW...saying the same phrases over and over (That little band from texas when you play ZZ top..ect.) will KILL YOU and is the mark of a small market wannabee. COMMUNICATE with your audience, don't throw overused phases at them. Throw away the liner cards and make them TALK with the audience. and PREP..PREP..PREP.....
My two cents.
Give your employee 1 hour of his or her show on tape and get him or her to transcribe it. Get them to write out every single "um" and "uh" and every single word. Then have them cross out anything that they find unnecessary, repetitious, or redundant or embarrassing. They will learn quite a bit, when they see how inefficient they are being with their talk time. This was the biggest eye opener for me when I was starting out.
Give them ONE main item to work on per air check. Make sure you identify strengths, and target weaknesses. ie. "Good artist info, but it went on just a bit too long." Help them think of a way to make it a bit tighter, and next time you'll have a good little piece of information for the listener.
Give your employee 1 hour of his or her show on tape and get him or her to transcribe it. Get them to write out every single "um" and "uh" and every single word. Then have them cross out anything that they find unnecessary, repetitious, or redundant or embarrassing. They will learn quite a bit, when they see how inefficient they are being with their talk time. This was the biggest eye opener for me when I was starting out.
Give them ONE main item to work on per air check. Make sure you identify strengths, and target weaknesses. ie. "Good artist info, but it went on just a bit too long." Help them think of a way to make it a bit tighter, and next time you'll have a good little piece of information for the listener.
Primitive said:
That is a brilliant idea! I never thought of that! I'll have to do that with myself sometime.
Hi there. First time posting on this site.
I have been in radio for 25 years. I present afternoon drive on 98FM in Dublin Ireland and am new talent developer there too. I also run my own on air coaching service, so this topic is very close to my heart and encouraged me to sign up to the site.
It's a sad situation that these days most on air talent can go weeks without getting any feedback from their PD, because he/she is just too busy. I know that in most stations the PD honestly doesn't have the time to sit down for up to an hour with a presenter and go over tape. That's fair enough, but it is such an opportunity missed.
Sales get their meetings. Promotions get theirs.....but the on air people have to wait and hope.
Amazing to think that the one person in the radio station the listener has to communicate with is usually the one who is the least trained.
I love the comment about getting your talent to transcribe word for word their hour. I've done this in the past with newer presenters and it really does act as a shock to their system. Usually it makes them see -in an instant- what they need to cut out. They learn self-editing almost there and then.
I also think if we can allow the talent to understand WHY we do what we do on air that it can be a great help. I mean every presenter is told to forward sell and to use word economy etc., but explaining WHY we do these things and why they are beneficial, I think, is a huge eye opener for them. Once we know the reason for doing something and understand that, then we seem to perform it better.
Good on the PD's who make the time to sit down with their air staff. There just seems to be less of them about.
I have been in radio for 25 years. I present afternoon drive on 98FM in Dublin Ireland and am new talent developer there too. I also run my own on air coaching service, so this topic is very close to my heart and encouraged me to sign up to the site.
It's a sad situation that these days most on air talent can go weeks without getting any feedback from their PD, because he/she is just too busy. I know that in most stations the PD honestly doesn't have the time to sit down for up to an hour with a presenter and go over tape. That's fair enough, but it is such an opportunity missed.
Sales get their meetings. Promotions get theirs.....but the on air people have to wait and hope.
Amazing to think that the one person in the radio station the listener has to communicate with is usually the one who is the least trained.
I love the comment about getting your talent to transcribe word for word their hour. I've done this in the past with newer presenters and it really does act as a shock to their system. Usually it makes them see -in an instant- what they need to cut out. They learn self-editing almost there and then.
I also think if we can allow the talent to understand WHY we do what we do on air that it can be a great help. I mean every presenter is told to forward sell and to use word economy etc., but explaining WHY we do these things and why they are beneficial, I think, is a huge eye opener for them. Once we know the reason for doing something and understand that, then we seem to perform it better.
Good on the PD's who make the time to sit down with their air staff. There just seems to be less of them about.
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