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HOW TO ESCAPE THE RADIO “DJ” PERSONA

(First in a series)

how to be a radio DJ personality

A Loyal Reader Asks:

“How can you teach young jocks to ‘be real’ — to break out of the ‘I’m a DJ’ persona and become communicators?”

Clearly define their jobs.

When I was a jock, no radio station program director or station manager ever bothered to tell me what I was expected to accomplish.

Instead, they told me what I was expected to do: Play the music, intro or back-announce the songs, read the news, “do” the contests.

It took me quite a while to figure out that my real job was to share the music in a way that enhanced the listener’s experience of it…

…to convey important information to the listener…

…to create an exhilarating moment of fun for the listener.

You cannot be a communicator if you have nothing to communicate.

So you need to tell those young jocks that they are supposed to communicate, and then help them discover what they want to communicate.

Then they can work on how.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • scott snailham September 2, 2010, 9:04 am

    HOW true that is…..does or did radio talent ever have a job description that is clearly defined? for that matter, other then ratings, is there a correct standard for grading job performance…besides playing the political game?