This is the second in a series dedicated to that rare and increasingly endangered breed: the radio personality.

Grow As A Person.  

Most on-air people entered radio at a young age — the majority, I suspect, before the age of 21.

Upon embarking on a career in such a competitive, demanding field, it’s all too easy to concentrate 100% of your energies on “radio” and 0% on your own mental and personal growth.

The result is an oversupply of 30- and 40-year old disc jockeys who are no more well-rounded (i.e., no more interesting) than they were when they were 20.

Read more than the trades and the tabloids.

Find and explore your own special corners of the human experience.

Example: One of my favorite air personalities subscribes to Soldier of Fortune magazine…because he finds it interesting. And those interests in turn help create some amazingly entertaining radio features.

When during prehistoric times I hosted my own show, I knew I could rely on three magazines to provide me with fresh ideas for interesting guests and topics that weren’t featured on every other station: Harper’s,  Inc., and Columbia Journalism Review.

I didn’t read them because they’re a source of radio ideas; I read them because I happened to find them interesting.

No matter what you read for pleasure (or for mental stimulation), I guarantee you can find a way to use the material to make your on-air performance more original and more reflective of your personality.