Focus On The Listener.
The stereotype of the radio personality as egotistical and self-involved is not entirely fictional.
Most jocks ask themselves, “What can I do that will get attention? That will make me look good?”
They should be asking, “What can I do that will entertain, interest or touch my audience in a meaningful way?”
A true entertainer will follow his own interests…but in a way that includes his listeners.
One vital way to keep your focus on “delivering the goods” for your listeners is to prepare for your show.
For some, preparing means checking the latest headlines just before going on the air.
A more effective approach is to find out what’s happening in the world and to discover how you react to the various events of the day.
That, of course, requires more effort than simply finding out how shows in other markets reacted to the same events.
Remember: Most jocks don’t prepare for their shows.
That’s why they coined the word “average.”
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In a world and an industry that is more and more of a corporate retail franchise and radio people that “follow the leader” I would think this would be quite a challenge. The pay off is that you can create a personality that is marketable and management wants. Then they clone that to other markets and reap in the $$$. A bit of a double edged sword depending on how you look at it.
You should always tie in your own day to day experiences into your prep. There’s nothing more individual and unique, more so if you can make it relevant to your audience. To me that’s a big difference between an :”announcer/jock” and a true personality. bonus points if you can pull something out of thin air which can be totally bogus, but very believable, relevant, and interesting to the audience.