The current issue of my Radio Programming Letter includes:
• Part Two of The Top 10 Things You’ve Been Taught About Being A Radio Personality
• A detailed critique of a radio interviewed conducted in a certain large American city in which I live
This post is for my subscribers to use to add their own comments, thoughts, rejoinders, etc.
Comments on this entry are closed.
Your critique is spot on Dan! Unfortunately I’ve seen and heard way too many people in the media who are just as lousy as this interviewer. Some on national TV shows.
Dimwits have invaded the media with the mistaken notion that “confrontational interviews” are the way to go even when there’s no need for it. And worse, all of these idiots think that the role of the interviewer is to be “smarter” than the subject and correct the subject when the smarter interviewer perceives the subject to be wrong. I’ve actually seen radio and journalism instructors and even program director state this stupidity.
And they wonder why their programs have low ratings.
I think there is a point at which you can be too focused on enunciating. In classes I had we were told to be extra aware of this. An example is the word “today”…it is hard for me to say that word rounding out the “o” so it sounds like “oo”, I guess it sounds more like “a” when I pronounce the word in my natural way. In my mind it takes too much effort and comes off sounding phony. I listen to a lot of people on air saying it just the way I do and it sounds natural and I understand what they are saying just fine.
Chuck
I once worked with a talk host who once took a random critique too much to heart: bits, produced comedy, soundbites etc should clock in at 35 seconds or less, otherwise he risked tune-out. Since then, when he would write a political humor bit and ask me to assemble it, he would play it up to that arbitrary time marker then bail on it. The payoff/punchline he himself wrote was lost every time.
Certainly, a barely-amusing comedy tune with four or five verses is deadly. But if something is funny, compelling or just plain punchy and fast, the clock – within a reasonable window of comfort – has little bearing. If a bit goes to 1:00 or 1:10 and its got solid footing, good performance and a great payoff, the clock be dashed – the performer wins.
Thanks for the interview critique. A great refresher for anyone doing interviews. If she was such an expert on the topic, why have a guest at all? Oh? She’s not? Then maybe let the lawyer answer the questions about law.
I’m lucky enough to be able to edit most of my interviews. In those cases I always try and leave a pause after the answer is given. In those pauses my interviewee will quite often find a different way of saying what they’ve already said, more intelligently and succinctly. That’s where the best sound bites come from in my opinion.
How about ……NEVER say your call letters within 3 seconds of going to commercial break, because it subconciously links YOUR station to COMMERCIALS? Well, it was handed down in my first radio gig I ever had, and I believed it, practiced it, reveled in it.
Then, another PD told me…’ALWAYS say the call letters going into a break’…because [dont remember why] but it was then I knew….OH! Its ALL Horseh–!!! Hahaha, so then I did what I wanted, and 25 years later, Im still doing that.
She sounds like she’s nervous and embarassed. Why else does someone do that nervous I’m-laughing-but-this-isn’t-funny-to-anyone-else-on-the-planet giggle? She also sounds like someone that has to be right all the time and have the last word.
I’ve done interviews like that myself and afterwards I felt like a turd. I realized that the intervewee (sp?) didn’t have a good time and probably felt like they had to muscle their information out. Almost like I was a hockey goalie and they had to try and figure out a way to get their puck (read information) into the goal. ( Did you like the way I referenced to the interview and critique for that metephor? Yeah. Good stuff. I’m sure everyone will do that in the future. I’m a trailbalzer!)
Anyhoo. It sounded to me like she wasn’t prepared enough and didn’t have a pre-interview with the guy. She sounded like she was winging it and I’m sure he went away thinking that she wasn’t a nice person that he wanted to talk to again.
Or maybe she’s one of those DJ’s that has a nice “radio” voice but doesn’t know diddly-squat in the human interaction department.