Most disc jockeys enter 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 endless supply 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, the tabloids, and your favorite blogs. Find and explore your own special corners of the human experience.
Example: One of my favorite radio personalities subscribes to Soldier of Fortune magazine…because he finds it interesting. And those interests in turn help create some amazingly entertaining radio features.
Back in the days when I occasionally would guest-host a talk radio show, I knew I could rely on three magazines to provide me with fresh ideas for interesting guests and topics that aren’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.
For a couple of years now, I’ve been the shadowy mastermind behind a secret organization of people who:
Sell radio advertising
Write radio advertising
Produce radio advertising
Manage people who sell, write and/or produce radio advertising.
Among other things, when members of this mysterious group face a thorny client problem or advertising challenge, they’re able to call me for help for a private consultation — without paying my regular, exorbitant consultation fee.
You won’t hear this mentioned in the video, but I’ve also just decided to create a special series of radio advertising training videos, just for this secret group of like-minded professionals.
I really don’t mean to pick on Aquarium of the Pacific. I featured one of their radio commercials here earlier this year.
But their current spot does so many things wrong that I just have to comment.
The opening line is the commercial for the commercial.
This radio advertisement’s opening line is:
“To learn how climate change puts our polar regions at risk, you don’t have to travel far.”
That’s wonderful news…to anyone who is thinking, “I wonder how climate change puts our polar regions at risk.”
No one in the audience, however, is wondering that.
No one is thinking, “Gosh, I sure would like to learn how climate change puts our polar regions at risk, but I’d probably have to travel far to satisfy that desire.”
So they begin with an opening line that disqualifies the entire radio audience. “Go away,” it screams, “this message isn’t for you.”
“You discover our latest exhibit: Arctic and Antarctic — Our Polar Regions in Peril.”
They’re talking about the polar regions, but the announcer is speaking over a vaguely island-ish music bed.
Yes, the advertiser is Aquarium of the Pacific, which at times might suggest an “island” theme. But this commercial is supposed to be about…well, the arctic regions.
“In this new exhibit, visitors will get up close and personal…”
C’mon. Does this copywriter REALLY need to be told to speak directly and personally to the listener? It doesn’t take a creative or sales genius to know that line should’ve been, “…you’ll get up close and personal…”
You can touch sea jellies.
Meet a real live arctic fox.
See the new Ocean Science Center.
The Aquarium of the Pacific has more than 11,000 living sea creatures.
Family entertainment.
Shark lagoon.
Colorful sea otters.
Hand-feed the colorful no-matter-how-times-I-listen-I-still-can’t-understand-this-word.
This place attracts thousands of visitors.
And what, again, is this commercial about? Oh, yeah: “How climate change puts our polar regions at risk.”
One of their two (which is one too many) Calls To Action is to call a vanity phone number…which I called during the time frame this commercial aired on the radio, and which connected me to a recording that says there’s no such mailbox on this system.
But by golly, this radio commercial does end with the client’s insipid jingle, so I’m sure the client is happy.
The other night I attended a Television Academy tribute to Carl Reiner.
Among his many credits across multiple media, Reiner created The Dick Van Dyke Show (and frequently appeared as “Alan Brady’).
Here’s the one I’ll bet you didn’t know.
According to Reiner, the last name of the lead character, “Rob Petrie,” was supposed to be pronounced “Pee-tree.” Reiner took the name from the noted film director, Dan Petrie.
But no one told Dick Van Dyke, who arrived for the first day of rehearsals having learned his script and thinking of himself as “Peh-Tree.”
Reiner decided not to correct him, because he didn’t want Van Dyke to have that split second during which he mentally would be correcting the pronunciation of his character’s name.
The “Walnuts” Episode, Interesting Thing #1
Although it’s commonly believed “It May Look Like A Walnut” was a satire of horror films, at the time Carl Reiner was enamored of The Twilight Zone, and this episode came from his desire to do a Zone-like story.
The “Walnuts” Episode, Interesting Thing #2
At one point in the story, Rob asks a visitor if he’s Danny Thomas (who co-owned the actual show).
Danny Thomas, playing the role of the mysterious visitor, replied disdainfully, “WHAT is a Danny Thomas?”
That’s actually a callback to Rose Marie (“Sally”)’s response when her agent called and said, “They want you to go talk to them about a role on ‘The Dick Van Dkye Show.'”
She repeated the story the other night for the umpteenth time: “I said, ‘What’s a Dick Van Dkye?'”
The “Walnuts” Episode, Bonus Thing
One of the guests — I think it was Bill Persky — reported that a CBS executive objected to one line in the script. I don’t know which line it was, but the executive’s complaint was, “I don’t believe an alien being would say that.”
