DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

LEAP OF FAITH RADIO PRODUCTION with Bobby Ocean

Just under 400 years ago in England, in the County of Derby, there was  a gentleman by the name of Philip Stanhope, who  enjoyed his title of British Statesman, as Lord Chesterfield. His lifetime, so far removed from our computer networking and Book of Face connections, included a robust preoccupation with social networking and its success. He most certainly would have had his own blog.

His Letters are replete with advice about how to succeed in society, such as this little gem which can easily be construed as a How To Succeed In Voice Over mini seminar. In one sentence, he communicated three univeral principles of writing and production for broadcast. He wrote:

“Even where you are sure, seem rather doubtful; represent, but do not pronounce, and if you would convince others, seem open to conviction yourself.”

Taking this sentence into the recording studio we see three excellent areas within its structure which we find most helpful. First, “…where you are sure, seem rather doubtful…”

The conversion to 21st century radio Production might read:

“Lead the listeners into your realm of thought but do not make conclusions for them. Allow them to process your information, then reach their own conclusions.” You know that telling someone something is not as powerful as having them discover it for themselves, so you create the scene in which they may do just that.

Then Lord Chesterfield added:

“…represent, but do not pronounce…”

Key in commercial Voice Acting today is not being detected selling. So actors are currently trained to steer away from the smile-mouthed pitchman and operate from a manufactured honesty, “confessing the truth.” Today’s VO actor doesn’t use energy to convince the listener, but, instead, to “reveal” the product information in a manner that suggests it is the ultimate solution. The pitch is concealed, hiding the pronouncement under the more acceptable admission.

And finally:

“… if you would convince others, seem open to conviction yourself.”

Who seems the more believable to you? The guy whose mind is made up and remains tightly “on message,” or the guy who has something interesting to say, but also seems flexible and remains willing to listen? Duh, THAT was easy – an open and shut case about an open and shut mind.

Wow. Three valuable “universals” that have stood the teat of nearly 400 years and still function beautifully in our work today. Way to go, Phil, um, I mean, Lord Chesterfield.

It was this very same gentleman who also said, “Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.”

Several years ago I spent a week in France, coaching a top-rated French morning show. (I’ve since been back twice more. Who’da thunk it would be possible to coach a morning show when you don’t understand the language? Go ahead, be skeptical. But it is possible.)

Anyway, at breakfast one morning, I spotted this article in THE TIMES OF LONDON:

NOT SLADE AGAIN, BEG SHOPPERS

Though the crowds may be unbearable and the weather miserable, Christmas shopping is about to be slightly more bearable in one High Street chain at least.

Dixon’s {Dan notes: a ubiquitous UK consumer electronics store} has decided to exclude Slade’s Merry Christmas and Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day from its in-store playlist.

A survey of 50 people disclosed the songs to be the most annoying and unpopular of all those played during Advent…with Cliff Richard’s saccharine Mistletoe and Wine taking third place.

Simple Idea:

This is the perfect time to launch your own competition to select
your audience’s Least Wanted Christmas Song.

Let listeners vote via telephone, email, SMS, online voting, etc.

Explain that the final judging will be based not solely on the number of votes each nominated title receives but also on the strength of the arguments made on their behalf.

Maybe bring in celebrity judges (either nationally famous or just local big names: the mayor, TV news anchor, football coach).

Pay it all off by counting down the 5 (or 10) least popular Christmas songs on your program.

Perhaps you’ll customize the countdown by having each “winning” song destroyed in mid-play by a sound particularly appropriate to your market: Mowed down by gunfire….Eaten by a mad cow….Chopped to bits with axes….Stung to death by killer bees.

Just an idea. Please let me know if you try it.

What’s particularly nice about this is if it works for you, you can make it an annual tradition.

And if this idea offends you…

Blame Dixon’s.

Howard Hoffman, Terry Phillips, Jamie Watson

Disclaimer: I made this as a promotional video for our downloadable 90-minute audio seminar, State-of-the-Art Radio Station Imaging.

But you don’t need to download the audio seminar to enjoy these station promos from Howard Hoffman, Terry Phillips and Jamie Watson.

Time for another look at award winning radio commercials — spotlighting the good and the bad.

This one was a finalist in the 2009 Radio Mercury Awards.

I can see where their target audience might listen to and perhaps enjoy the song — although it’s not particularly good.

But even if they enjoy it, they won’t remember who the sponsor was.

So what’s the point?