tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58283250645085509512024-03-08T00:02:23.419-07:00Bill McMahon's BlogMusings on creativity, radio, and radio personalitiesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-83923494501143934552018-03-16T11:08:00.000-06:002018-11-30T12:04:38.558-07:004 Steps to Creating Magical Moments on the Radio<span style="font-family: inherit;">The surest way to attract and hold the largest and most loyal audience you can is to consistently create meaningful emotional experiences for your listeners. Experiences that make their lives more interesting, rewarding and fun. Experiences that challenge them to think, feel, and grow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Creating magical moments for your listeners flows naturally from recognizing and fully understanding meaningful emotional experiences in your life. Here's a process for doing just that:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Pay close attention to your feelings 24/7.</b> Noticeable emotional reactions or changes in what you're feeling. Make note of what you're seeing, doing or what's happening to you when these reactions or changes occur. Something that makes you feel joy or sadness, anger or fear, interest or surprise, disgust or shame, or any other conspicuous emotion. Describe what you're feeling and exactly what caused your feeling. This is the essential raw material you need to constantly create magical moments on the radio.</span></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Explore what effect your feelings have on you and why you might want to share your experience with your listeners.</span></b></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did your feelings and the experience that triggered them change how you think and feel about someone or something?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did you learn something new?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did your experience change you in some other way?</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Clearly define your intention for sharing your experience.</b> What beneficial effect do you hope sharing your experience and the effect it had on you will have on your listeners. This is the most important step of the process. It requires a keen understanding of the effect your experience had on you.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Create an intriguing expectation statement.</b> It should immediately engage your listeners by setting up an appealing beneficial expectation for them. It will also help ensure that you deliver on the expectation by providing a guide or framework for the on-air presentation of the story that you've chosen to share. Here's a couple examples of expectation statements:</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>For sharing the story of an experience with a song:</b> "When I feel frustrated, disappointed, or even depressed, this song always gives me a reality check and makes me feel better."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>For sharing the story of an experience reading a book:</b> "Here's how I learned that most of us, including me, have a gap between who we are and who we think we are and how that gap affects us and those around us.</span></li>
</ul>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-70201074772056325932018-01-11T01:11:00.001-07:002018-01-12T08:50:12.345-07:00The New Age of Audio & Alexa's Do Over Offer for Radio Broadcasters<div class="MsoNormal">
We're entering a new age of audio thanks in part to technologies like Alexa. Here's a prime example. <a href="https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/" target="_blank">Gary Vaynerchuk</a>, GaryVee to his friends, clients, and gazillion followers on social media, is a guy who's built multiple businesses primarily on the strength of creating persuasive and memorable Internet videos. All feature Gary and his electric personality sharing wisdom and insight gathered from first-hand experience with Internet commerce, Internet marketing, and his early and full embrace of social media as a business and brand building tool. I've learned a lot from watching Gary constantly experiment and push boundaries.<br />
<br />
Now, with a little inspiration from Amazon's Alexa, Gary has fully embraced the power of audio and come to recognize what makes it so appealing and valuable to consumers. For a lifelong audio guy like me, it's fun to see someone who's relied so heavily on video to build his businesses come to recognize the key attribute audio offers that no other medium can match. An attribute that ensures that audio will never go out of style. Check out Gary's epiphany on audio and his passionate and persuasive recommendation to his clients and friends to "get very serious about investing in audio." Warning: For emphasis, Gary salts all his videos with plenty of adult language :-).</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“You need to get
very serious about sound. One of the things that we care about and always have,
but now we're at an all-time high, is time. Time is imperative. And everybody,
even when they don't have a lot of money, spends a lot of money on convenience.
You know the way we roll now is we listen and we do something else. It's hard
to watch one of my videos and do something else. It's super easy to listen to
what I'm talking about and do something else. Audio saves you time. Every
single person when brushing their teeth in four years will be listening to some
sort of voice telling them what they’re doing that day. What the weather is.
Where they’re going. What’s happening. It's just going to be that. ” – GaryVee</i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I hope Gary's Alexa-inspired vision of the increasing prominence of audio in people's lives is not
lost on my friends in the radio broadcasting business. There was a time not so
long ago when lots of people brushing their teeth in the morning were "listening
to some sort of 'voice' telling them what the weather is and what's
happening" as Gary predicts will happen again. That "voice" was
coming from a radio in the bathroom. The same "voice" was also the
wake-up alarm and first sound most people heard each morning coming from the
clock radio in the bedroom and later that "voice" was a breakfast
companion coming from a radio in the kitchen. This "voice" is seldom
heard these days because radios have completely disappeared from homes
everywhere. Replaced by technology and devices with screens that deliver more
relevant and entertaining content, on demand, than the "voice" coming
from the radio. Sadly, the "voice" coming from a radio is now heard
mostly just in cars. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;">Enter the new age of
audio that GaryVee is so fired up about. With its smart speakers from Amazon,
Google, and Apple and their assistants named Alexa, Ok Google, and Siri ready to
find the perfect "voice" for whatever consumers want and need, whenever
they want or need it. Alexa and her pals also offer radio broadcasters an
opportunity for a do over. The chance to reenter homes everywhere, but not with
the same generic, bland, vacuous and easily replaceable content heard most of
the time on most radio stations. It will require a completely different
approach. No more trying to appeal to the masses. Mass appeal is dead. It's all
about creating specialized content for niches big and small. Content that
matches a listener's wants and needs so well they can't live without it.
Content that goes deep and has sharp edges. Content that is distinctive and
truly fascinates. Content and voices that are irreplaceable. It's a big
challenge, but also a big opportunity. Thanks to Alexa and her pals radio
broadcasters have the opportunity to reenter consumers' lives in their homes
and not just be a "voice" in their cars.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-50209436511858912002018-01-02T12:10:00.000-07:002018-01-02T12:10:13.776-07:00How to Attract the Largest, Most Loyal Audience You Can<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simple. Forget your
audience, get to know yourself.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every hit song,
best-selling book, blockbuster movie or popular television show had its genesis
in something that really mattered to its creator. Someone or something that
moved them emotionally. Something that made them laugh or cry. Something that
gave them a sense of wonder and awe. Something they found truly interesting,
meaningful, or fun. It wasn't created by studying a "target audience"
and trying to predict what would interest that audience. It was created by the
artist getting to know themselves by paying close attention to their own
thoughts and feelings and recognizing what caused them.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What makes you laugh
or cry? What are you curious about? What do you know and care about? What
values and beliefs guide the way you live? What gives you a sense of wonder and
awe? What makes you happy or sad? What did you learn today? How did what you learned
affect you and your life? Who do you admire and respect? Who do you loath and
have no time for? What situations or people have changed your thoughts,
feelings, or mood today, particularly when that change happened quickly? What
did you find truly interesting, meaningful, and fun today? Contained in the
answers to these questions are the best subjects and ideas for creating
something that will help you attract the largest and most loyal audience you
can.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Forget your
audience, get to know yourself. Create stuff that moves YOU and you will
attract the largest audience you can. An audience that's like you, who likes
you and will want to spend time with you every day.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-44145273743238908992017-12-25T08:30:00.000-07:002017-12-25T08:30:08.019-07:00The Tyranny of the Target Audience<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I cringe every time I hear a well-meaning PD or GM instruct
a personality to focus everything they create and present on "our target
audience." It often goes something like this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Our target audience is a
woman 25-44. I want everything you create or put on the radio to appeal to her.
Figure out what she cares about. Find out what she's talking about. Imagine
what she's thinking about. Find out what she likes to do. Everything on your
show should be about her. Just to remind you, I've put a big picture of her on
the control room wall so you'll see her every time you open the mic."</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These instructions are debilitating and dehumanizing.
Without saying it, they strongly imply that the life the radio personality is
living has little in common with the "target audience" and doesn't
really matter when it comes to creating stuff to put on the radio. The effect
is corrosive. When radio personalities are constantly told, subtly or directly,
to look outside themselves for ideas for their shows, they suffer a loss of
self-awareness and self-esteem. Their individuality and even their humanity are
diminished. They gravitate to safe stereotypes about the "target
audience." They rely on trending topics on social media and syndicated prep
services. They begin doing a show to please their bosses and not themselves.
They end up doing a show that excites almost no one, including themselves. It's
not distinctive. It's not personal. It's not intimate. It's not memorable. It's
not important. The lack of energy, enthusiasm, and passion is palpable. And
sadly, the show sounds just like every other morning radio show. For example,
when was the last time you heard a morning radio show with a female
"target audience" that didn't have a woman reporting celebrity news
and gossip each day. The exact same celebrity news and gossip heard up and down
the radio dial and widely available on Facebook and other social media. You
know, the ever present trending topics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tyranny of the "target audience" instruction
has created countless victims within the radio business. It's also caused many
really talented and interesting personalities to flee traditional AM and FM
radio for places like the world of podcasting that allow more creative freedom
and encourage innovation and experimentation. I've talked to many of the
victims over the years. Regrettably,
what they all seem to have in common is a loss of their individuality and
personal identity. When I ask them what kind of show they want to do, they
always tell me, "I can do whatever kind of show you want me to do."
They often ask me, "What is your target audience?" If I give them an
answer, no matter what it is, they nearly always tell me, "I can do a show
for that audience."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are other big problems with the "target
audience" instructions. They assume every woman or man is living their
life as part of a homogenous demographic group. Like every woman 25-44 has the
exact same life with the same interests, wants and needs. They also assume that
it's possible to predict, with some certainty, what every man or woman wants to
hear on the radio because they belong to a demographic group. That's a myth. If
it were true, every song would be a hit, every movie a blockbuster, every book
a bestseller, and every radio show would be killing it in PPM. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why not forget the mythical "target audience"
and instead encourage personalities to focus their creative efforts on the one
thing they all have in common with their listeners? Male or female, no matter
our age, we all share the same set of emotions. Joy and sadness. Love and hate.
Doubt and fear. Emotion is the universal human connector. The surest way for a
radio personality to create the most distinctive, appealing, and relevant
content and attract the largest and most loyal audience possible is to pay
attention to what rings their emotional bell in every event and circumstance of
their lives. What makes them laugh, cry, or marvel. What generates a sense of
wonder and awe. What causes them to think or feel differently or completely
change their mood. What inspires them. What gets them truly excited and arouses
their curiosity. This is the source of great content because it springs from
what we all have in common. Not our age, sex or demographic group, but our
humanity, our human emotions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't let the tyranny of the "target
audience" claim another victim, produce another bland and disposable radio
show, or chase another talented artist from AM and FM radio.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-73113525225077644912017-12-24T12:14:00.000-07:002017-12-24T12:14:08.943-07:00Lessons from Rebuilding a Struggling Radio News Station<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Competition, ownership and on-air personnel changes, misguided
attempts to attract a younger audience and location on the AM band combined to
reduce a former major market-leading news station to an also-ran. There was
hope that moving the station from AM to FM might help things. Nope. That’s when
the rebuild began.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here are some lessons learned from the rebuilding process
that influenced changes in the station’s content, presentation style and
relationship with its listeners that helped the station return to consistent
ratings prominence – top 5 AQH share for adults 25-54 in all dayparts 6A-7P
Monday through Friday:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>News is what a news station does, but not why it does
it.</b> News stations are actually in the life enrichment business. News merely
provides the vehicle and fuel for helping to make listeners’ lives more
interesting, meaningful and fun.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Listeners highly value stories that provide meaningful
emotional experiences that challenge them to think, feel and grow.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Listeners prefer stories about people and their
behavior over stories about stuff and things; stories about life's
struggles and triumphs, joys and sorrows, mysteries and big questions.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Human behavior is a subject with universal appeal. Why
do people think and feel the way they do? Why do people do what they do?
These real-life questions and mysteries are things every human being
seeks to answer and solve.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Complex and controversial stories are ideal fuel for
providing life enrichment.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Listeners want more than a quick superficial headline
summary of stories, particularly those that are complex or controversial.</b>
The main facts of these stories and opposing soundbites are available on
demand on every smart phone and computer from multiple sources.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The ideal length of a story should be determined by the
time it takes to tell a complete story that is meaningful to listeners. </b><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Listeners enjoy and prefer an informal, intimate,
authentic conversation style presentation of the news.</b><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hosts and reporters that fully engage intellectually
and emotionally with the stories they present, sharing relevant personal
experiences and feelings about how the stories are effecting them. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hosts and reporters that have a sense of humor and
fun.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hosts and reporters that provide context and blend
analysis and informed commentary with the facts of the stories to help further
the listeners’ understanding of what’s really going on. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Listeners love participating in the journalistic
process and the search for truth.</b> When hosts and reporters share their
questions, theories, suspicions, speculations, doubts, frustrations,
conclusions, successes and failures it makes storytelling more interesting
and allows listeners to follow along and contribute if they so desire.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>News people tend to view news reporting in terms of
events rather than stories. </b>This causes them to miss stories contained in
events and drop stories prematurely when events end. Events are obvious
and easy to report. Stories not so much. The execution of a criminal is an
event. Not much life enrichment in the details of the event. The
criminal’s life story and what inspired his or her crime or life of crime
as well as the victim or victims’ stories are often loaded with life
enriching possibilities.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Reporters and journalists are frequently trapped in the
current "news cycle" when determining what is news.</b> If it didn't
happen in the last 24 to 48 hours somehow it's no longer news.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The best stories don’t expire.</b> Their themes and
messages are timeless, always relevant.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Story relevance to listeners is not necessarily related
to the geographic proximity of the story.</b><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Traditional radio and television news contains far too
much common crime, ordinary human misfortune, politics, and political
process events.</b> Convenience store robberies, house fires and car crashes
don’t offer much in the way of life enrichment.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>It’s becoming increasingly difficult to attract a loyal
audience that can be monetized being a news generalist.</b> “News” is available
everywhere. If a news program or station doesn’t have a distinctive and
identifiable news specialty or point of view its likely to get lost in a world
of smart phones, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and countless “news” websites
delivering all kinds of “news” on demand 24/7.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-3995986873624659982015-07-02T08:58:00.001-06:002015-07-02T09:00:21.306-06:00We're All Born Creative<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">From a very
young age we all have a quiet little voice in our heads that comes from
somewhere deep inside. It whispers unique and amazing thoughts and ideas to us.
In the beginning, we all hear these ideas, get excited, and do something about
them. Unfortunately, the bigger and more unusual the ideas, the more resistance
we encounter when we try to bring them to life. Eventually, most of us stop
listening to that quiet little voice, dismiss its thoughts and ideas, and just
try to fit in because it's too damn hard to do otherwise.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The most
successful radio personalities and great artists of all kinds never stop
listening to that quiet little voice in their heads no matter how tough it gets.
I just watched an </span><a href="http://www.charlierose.com/watch/50126253"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><u><span style="color: blue;">interview</span></u></span></i></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> Charlie Rose did with James Taylor a
couple of years ago. He talked about how hard it was for him early on in his
life.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"I was born with a difficulty of
being in my own skin. Living in human society I just ran into trouble. I think
everybody does to a greater or lesser extent. I did feel as though I was born
on the dark side of the Moon and that I didn't have a place in this world when
I was 15."</span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">James Taylor's
troubles living in this world inspired that quiet little voice in his head to
help him write some amazing songs. Here's how James described the process to
Charlie:</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"I don't really feel as though I
write songs. I feel as though I hear them first and remember them and get them
down. It's such a mysterious and subconscious process that I couldn't really
say that I wrote those songs. I just channeled them or they happened to me
first. There is a sort of lightning bolt kind of moment when you're visited by
a song and you get, hopefully, as much as you can. Sometimes it's a whole song,
but sometimes it's just a fragment. Then you have to collect those fragments
and often later on you sequester yourself and hide away somewhere and work
'em."</span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">That little voice
in James Taylor’s head reacting to the suicide of a childhood friend named
Suzanne, the failure of his early band “Flying Machine” and his struggles to
overcome drug addiction helped him write </span><a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/fire-and-rain-lyrics-taylor-james.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><u><span style="color: blue;">“Fire
and Rain”</span></u></span></i></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">. James
paid attention to the thoughts and feelings that flowed from these experiences
that rang his emotional bell. He listened to that little voice in his head
expressing his joys and sorrows. It helped him create a song that produces a
powerful and memorable emotional experience.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The best radio
is all about creating meaningful emotional experiences for listeners. If you’re
a radio personality or anyone involved in creating radio content, don't stop
listening to that quiet little voice in your head. It's your genius. It will
provide the material that will cause your listeners to laugh, marvel, or
understand something meaningful and important and help develop a lasting
emotional connection with you. Write down everything it says no matter how
weird, nonsensical, or fragmentary it may seem at the time. If you don't write
it down you'll forget it. Then, like James Taylor, spend time with the stuff
you collect. Work it and shape it. Figure out what you were born to create.
Build it. Publish it. The world is waiting for you to make a difference like </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Taylor"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><u><span style="color: blue;">James Taylor</span></u></span></i></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> has with his songs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-15061450860080104292015-07-01T15:26:00.000-06:002017-12-24T08:26:25.626-07:00What Radio Personalities Want and Need Most<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s not easy being a radio personality. They work in
relative isolation far from their listeners. They can’t see or hear them. Most
radio studios don’t even have an outside window. The only immediate feedback
personalities get on their performance is from those working with them in the
studio. If they work alone, there is no feedback in the moment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, radio personalities get plenty of delayed reaction to
their work, but it often does more harm than good. The phone lines light up or
they don’t. Texts, Tweets, Facebook posts, and emails deliver all kinds of mixed
messages. Some are glowing with praise and love. Others state clearly and
unequivocally, “you suck!” After the show, the confusion continues. An
enthusiastic PD might proclaim he loves a bit the personality hated, usually
without offering specifics about what made it so good. Later, the GM weighs in
saying, “I didn’t get that phone segment you did in the 8 o’clock hour and I
don’t think it was relevant to our listeners.” Problem is the personality thinks
it’s the best thing he did all morning and his followers on Twitter and
Facebook seem to agree. This is the real world of a radio personality where
everyone has an opinion on what they do and the opinions are anything but unanimous.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s no wonder even the most successful radio personalities
with consistently high ratings can be very insecure. I’ll never forget a
conversation I had with a personality in Los Angeles 25 years ago. It was
shortly after I began consulting his station. It was our second or third
meeting. We were still in the “getting to know you” stage, sizing each other
up. He had just signed a five-year no cut $850,000 per year contract. A well-deserved
reward for his talk show being number one in its time period. Yet, he seemed as
anxious and insecure as a guy with no ratings or track record of success. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had to know where his fear was coming from. It was incomprehensible
to me. I asked him if he ever imagined the success he was experiencing. In a
moment of complete candor he told me, “I had no idea I’d ever achieve this kind
of success on the radio. I don’t know how it happened. I don’t really
understand why people listen to me.” So then I asked him how he felt about the
future. He answered, “I’m worried I could lose it all just the way I got it,
without knowing how or why or when it might happen.” Wow! Talk about an
epiphany.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My experience in Los Angeles that day and with hundreds of radio
personalities ever since has made me realize that good coaching is not only hugely
important to a personality’s development, but also vital to their well-being. It’s
not easy being a radio personality. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every radio personality I’ve ever met wants to get better, no
matter what their level of talent or stage of development. They’re hungry for constructive
feedback and ideas that will help them learn how to be the best they can be. Deep down, every radio personality wants a coach. Here are the things they want and need most from that coach:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Someone
who “gets me” and “believes in me.”</b> This is the foundation of a coaching
relationship. The coach must be able to regularly and consistently recognize
and articulate what makes the personality special and appealing to listeners.
Most importantly, he must be able to demonstrate why he believes the
personality will succeed. Nothing inspires and motivates a personality more
than a coach who believes in him and can explain why. Nothing helps a
personality overcome their doubts and fears and set aside all the confusing and
conflicting opinions about their work more than recognizing their own strengths
and fully understanding what makes them appealing to listeners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Someone
“I can trust and respect”. </b>Trust is a function of genuine concern about the
well-being and best interests of the radio personality. It’s about being honest
at all times. Radio personalities can spot BS and manipulation a mile away.
They hate it. There is no relationship without trust. Respect is earned by
demonstrating an ability to help the radio personality recognize, refine, and
more effectively present <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>their</u></i>
best ideas on the radio. In other words, by helping them acquire the skills and
techniques that will make them better. Trust and respect flow from showing that
you truly care and can help them be the best they can be.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s not easy being a radio personality, but a good coach
can make it much less difficult and far more satisfying.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-21788185497316177842015-03-25T13:29:00.000-06:002015-03-25T13:36:23.634-06:00What inspires and motivates successful radio personalities and great artists of all kinds?<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I've
been coaching radio personalities and studying gifted artists for over 25
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've been privileged to work with
some remarkable performers like <st1:personname w:st="on">Kidd Kraddick</st1:personname>,
Jeff of Jeff and Jer, Rush Limbaugh, and Dr. Laura.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've observed successful songwriters,
authors, screenwriters, and creators of TV shows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've learned a lot about where great artists
get their inspiration and how they create.</span><br />
<br />
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I've
discovered successful artists across the media spectrum -- those who've created
hit songs, blockbuster movies, best selling books, top-rated TV shows, and the
most listened to radio shows -- are guided by a common force I've come to call <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>"The Artist's Secret"</i></b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has three elements.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">
<br />
</span><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Instinctive Reactions.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The source of their ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
inspiration for what they create comes from inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It begins with the artist's instinctive
reactions to what they experience in their own lives -- spontaneous, raw,
uncensored thoughts and feelings triggered by what they see, hear, taste,
touch, or smell. <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Audience of One.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything these
artists create is designed to appeal to and satisfy an audience of one --
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's all about what
makes them laugh or cry, marvel and understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They create stuff that they truly enjoy,
stuff that turns them on and rings their emotional bell. <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">"I Matter".</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The artist's belief that their thoughts and feelings matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The belief that creating stuff that
reflects how they think and feel matters and can make a difference in the
lives of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These beliefs fuel
the courage and passion to create and provide the creative juice that
produces original ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also
supply performance energy, enthusiasm, and excitement.</span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></ol>
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've
collected many examples over the years to illustrate how <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>"The Artist's Secret"</i></b> has influenced extraordinary
artists and their works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are three
of my favorites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you read these
stories about Mel Gibson, John Lasseter, and Howard Stern, look for the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Instinctive Reactions</i></b>, the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Audience of One</i></b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>"I Matter"</i></b><i>.</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Mel Gibson</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">We all
know by now that Mel has battled addiction and obsessive behavior most of his
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What you might not know is that he
is a devout Catholic Christian. When Mel was 34 or 35 he arrived at one of many
difficult turning points in his life, struggling to live his faith. It inspired
him to create the blockbuster movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"The
Passion of the Christ".</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here's
how he described the process in an interview conducted two weeks before the
movie was released.</span>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Every seven years you change
pretty profoundly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered, what's my
life about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started looking into
things that I had knowledge of, but really hadn't fully explored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read all the Gospels, read the New
Testament, read the Old Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
started to go through all that just trying to maintain myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would imagine what was that like, really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You're talking about the single event that
probably influenced civilization as we know it now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s created our laws, behavior, and the
knowledge of good and evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's
influenced art and literature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's
affected every possible aspect of anyone's life, whether they know it or not,
it has.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is big stuff you're dealing
with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's absolutely everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't think it's ever been told as it
should be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It suffers in accuracy,
accuracy as far as the Gospels go, accuracy as far as the extent of the
sacrifice and the torture involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make
no mistake about it, this (movie) is graphic and my aim is to profoundly change
people with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know it's not gonna be
everybody's cup of tea, but it's the way I want to present it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It speaks to me that way and that's all I
know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hope is that anyone who goes in
and can manage to stay through it and can suffer through with it, that they are
changed when they leave."</span></i></blockquote>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mel was
experiencing a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"profound"</i>
change in his life, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"just trying to
maintain myself"</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Instinctive Reactions</i></b> started to
flow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He began to wonder, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"What's my life about?"</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Searching for answers he read the Gospels,
the New Testament, the Old Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The descriptions of Christ's suffering and death generated strong
thoughts and feelings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"What was that like, really?... You're
talking about the single event that probably influenced civilization as we know
it... It's created our laws, behavior, and the knowledge of good and evil...
It's absolutely everything... I don't think it's ever been told as it should
be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It suffers in accuracy, accuracy as
far as the Gospels go, accuracy as far as the extent of the sacrifice and the
torture involved."</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he
began to create a movie for an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Audience
of One</i></b><i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">A movie that </span>reveals what Mel learned
from this time in his life because of a belief that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>"I Matter"</i></b> -- a belief that his thoughts and
feelings can make a difference in the lives of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Make
no mistake about it, this (movie) is graphic and my aim is to profoundly change
people with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know it's not going to
be everybody's cup of tea, but it's the way I want to present it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It speaks to me that way and that's all I
know."</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">John Lasseter</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">John is
Chief Creative Officer of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pixar</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walt Disney Animation Studios</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">DisneyToon Studios</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s the principal creative advisor to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walt Disney Imagineering</i>. Many consider
him the present-day Walt Disney. John is the creative force behind the growth and
unparalleled success of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pixar</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He's also the creator of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Cars"</i> the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here's how he describes his creative process on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Cars"</i> DVD.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Cars is a very personal story to
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only is it inspired by my love
of cars, not only is it inspired by my dad, who is a parts manager at a
Chevrolet dealership, but it's inspired by something that happened to me in my
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I directed Toy Story, A Bug's
Life, and Toy Story 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time I was
done with Toy Story 2, it was 1999.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nine
years had passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had had four boys
and my wife said, 'John we've supported you in making all these films and the
building of Pixar and all like that, but you better be careful because one day
you're gonna wake up and your boys are going off to college and you will have
missed it.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I took the summer
off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife and I bought a used
motorhome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to stay off the
interstate highway system and travel America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And you know what happened, we got so close as a family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It changed my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came back knowing what I wanted this movie
to be about is a character discovering what I discovered -- that the journey in
life is the reward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started thinking
and all of a sudden the story just started coming out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's got to be about a race car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I imagined this being the personality of a
character -- it's like nothing else matters but achieving it as fast as you
can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Winning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting that championship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought this is the perfect character to
all of a sudden be forced to slow down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That's what this character needs to discover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so we started taking and merging the two
worlds of the automobile that we loved so much -- racing and Route 66.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all discovered something we weren't
expecting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, it's just like
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You start down the path not
knowing where it's going to lead you, but you enjoy the ride."</span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you
recognize the elements of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"The Artist's Secret"</i></b> in
John Lasseter's story?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They're all
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Instinctive Reactions</i></b> to a life experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"My
wife said, 'John we've supported you in making all these films and in the
building of Pixar and all like that, but you better be careful because one day
you're gonna wake up and your boys are going off to college and you will have
missed it'.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I took the summer
off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife and I bought a used
motorhome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to stay off the
interstate highway system and travel America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And you know what happened, we got so close as a family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It changed my life."</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Audience
of One</i></b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>"I
Matter"</i></b><i>.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"I came back knowing what I wanted this
movie to be about is a character discovering what I discovered -- that the
journey in life is the reward... It's got to be about a race car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I imagined this being the personality of a character
-- it's like nothing else matters but achieving it as fast as you can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Winning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Getting that championship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thought this is the perfect character to all of a sudden be forced to slow
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's what this character needs
to discover."</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">If you
want to experience and truly understand "<i>The Artist's Secret</i>"
get the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Cars"</i> DVD and
watch the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Inspiration for
Cars"</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's amazing and
powerful.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Howard Stern</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Howard
is widely known to have more than a passing interest in sex. Some years ago,
actor Mickey Rooney was on the interview circuit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't remember why, probably a book or
movie promotional tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Howard wasn't
interested in the book, movie or whatever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He wasn't concerned that most of his audience would not know Mickey Rooney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Howard creates his show for an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Audience of One</i></b><i> </i>with a
belief that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>"I Matter"</i>.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow he learned Mickey had slept with many
gorgeous starlets of his time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Howard's <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Instinctive</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Reaction</span></i></b> to
this revelation, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"How did that ugly
little runt seduce all those gorgeous women?"</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Howard had to find out for himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He invited Mickey to come on the show.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>There
was an obligatory reference to the movie or book at the end of the interview,
but the vast majority of the conversation was devoted to finding out how that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“ugly little runt"</i> made it with
women Howard couldn't imagine being with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was extraordinary guy radio whether you knew Mickey Rooney or not.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Radio
personalities who embrace <i>"The Artist's Secret" </i>distinguish
themselves from everyone else on the radio.</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">When
they start to notice and record their <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Instinctive
Reactions</i></b> to <u>all</u> their personal life experiences the magic
begins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An abundance of original ideas
that reflect the full range of human emotion comes into view.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Fearlessly
creating and presenting content for an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>Audience
of One</i></b> -- the stuff that turns them on, the stuff that rings their
emotional bell -- gives them the best chance to relate to their listeners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human beings share the same set of emotions
no matter what their status in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
all feel love and hate, fear and anxiety, joy and sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emotion is the universal human
connector.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When
radio personalities come to believe, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">"<i>I
Matter</i>"</b>, they become originals like Mel Gibson, John Lasseter, and
Howard Stern. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They acquire the courage
and unlock the passion to create fresh and new ideas that reflect their own
thoughts and feelings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their performance
energy, enthusiasm and excitement seemingly have no bounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They establish an emotional connection and
bond with their listeners that is nearly impossible to break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They become the best they can be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-88498434863224066582015-03-09T16:43:00.000-06:002015-03-09T16:46:08.448-06:00How long does it take to develop a top-notch radio show or know if it's going to succeed?<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are lots
of variables to think about. Here are some questions to consider in order to
come up with a realistic answer:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's
start with a reality check. How much time do you have to reach what
ratings level?</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> If
you work for Bonneville or Hubbard you probably have more time than if you
work for Cumulus or iHeartMedia? If you’re a GM or PD, it doesn't really
matter what you think is reasonable if your boss has other ideas. Find out
what the bosses realities are. That's your reality. If you don't think the
bosses ratings expectations are reasonable, better let him or her know up
front. Matched expectations are good for job security.</span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How
long has the show been together? How long have the participants been doing
radio?</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book)" target="_blank">Malcolm Gladwell</a></em> and others who study success have found that it usually takes
10,000 hours of practice to achieve greatness at anything. That would be
10 years for a four-hour per day show. How long did it take Howard Stern, <st1:personname w:st="on">Kidd Kraddick</st1:personname>, Rush Limbaugh, and other radio
stars to achieve greatness? Based on what I know, the 10,000 hour rule
fits these stars pretty well.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will
the show receive regular and effective coaching from a coach who
recognizes and can articulate the talents, strengths, and most appealing
personal traits of the individuals on the show?</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Coaching focused on perfecting
talents and strengths and highlighting appealing personal traits will
significantly speed up the development process. Nothing slowed the
development of the superstars of radio, true originals, like Howard Stern,
Rush Limbaugh, and Larry Lujack more than bad coaching from PDs and
management that didn't recognize and support their unique talents and
strengths. Each was fired multiple times. All were told to fit into some
current standardized success model and be anything but themselves. They
refused. Each had his own instincts and ideas about the kind of show he
wanted to do.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How
distinctive is the show, really?</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Be honest. Is the stuff it produces unconventional and memorable? Is it
markedly more interesting, meaningful and fun than the alternative? Does
it truly stand out from other radio shows and other entertainment options?
Small differences get little attention and produce slow growth.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does
the show have intellectual and emotional range or is it a one trick pony?</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Does it produce serious and
substantive content one minute and frivolous and funny stuff the next?
Does it make you laugh and cry? Does it deliver real insight? Does the
show make listeners lives noticeably better each day? How? The more the
show matters and truly makes a difference in the lives of its listeners
the faster it will grow.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How
much of the actual content of the show is created by the show?</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In other words, how much time each
hour does the show have to connect with its listeners? If the show is
primarily music, it's going to take longer for the show to gain traction.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How
well is the overall station performing?</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Does it deliver significant cume to sample the show
or will the show have to generate its own cume and sampling? Obviously,
this will be a factor in the speed at which the show grows.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How
well does the show fit the worldview, lifestyle, and sensibilities of the
station's audience?</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
The better the fit the faster the show will connect with the station's
listeners. How well do you know the people on the show? How well do they
know themselves? What do they really know and care about? What are their
values and beliefs? How does the stuff in their hearts and minds match up
with the stuff in the hearts and minds of the station's listeners?<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">How
long will you believe in the show and its potential?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> This may sound like a funny
question, but it's not. What happens when a couple of PPM monthlies don't
meet expectations? Do you stop believing? I've seen it happen over and
over. When you stop believing, the show stops growing. I've yet to meet a
radio personality that doesn't sense the moment his or her boss stops
believing. Fear takes over. Creativity suffers. Survival mode begins. The
minute you stop believing, the game is over.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-1432529563270337162015-02-21T14:04:00.000-07:002015-02-23T14:22:26.019-07:00What Causes Radio Personalities to Generate Great Content?<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clients often ask me which of the </span><a href="http://billmcmahonblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/framework-for-evaluating-talent.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fourteen Traits Inherent in the Best RadioPersonalities</span></u></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is the most important and predictive of success on the
radio. That’s a very difficult question. It’s usually unwise to isolate any of
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fourteen Traits</i> because each
tends to modify or reinforce others. Multiple traits contribute to a
personality’s appeal to listeners, ability to create content, and perform on
the radio.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it comes to creating distinctive and powerful content, high
level <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Curiosity</i> is the key driver.
The constant urge to ask questions fueled by an insatiable desire to know
generates the raw material necessary to produce truly life enriching content.
Really good questions prompt answers loaded with learning and discovery that
can be shared with listeners.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s also important to note that great questions are often
the product of the traits of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awareness</i>,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Imagination</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Experience</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Courage</i>.
The more a personality hears not only the words in an answer but the thoughts
and feelings behind the words (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awareness</i>),
recognizes how thoughts and feelings, experiences and ideas connect to new and
more interesting subjects and ideas (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Imagination</i>),
has “been there and done that” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Experience</i>),
and has the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Courage</i> to ask any
question at any time, the better the questions.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s what these primary content generation traits sound
like in action. It’s a three minute portion of Howard Stern’s recent </span><a href="http://www.howardstern.com/news/listen-to-the-bill-murray-and-howard-interview"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">70 minute conversation with Bill Murray</span></u></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.
You’ll hear only Howard’s questions from the first 10 minutes of the interview
with some answers for context. Listen to how quickly and excitedly the
questions flow because of Howard’s genuine <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Curiosity</i>
and excitement to know everything about Bill Murray. He can’t help himself.
Each answer seems to fuel his drive to go further and dig deeper into Murray’s
life and discover what makes him tick. Listen for Howard’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awareness</i> of Murray’s thoughts, feelings, and attitudes and how
this knowledge informs and inspires his questions. Notice that Howard’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Imagination</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Experience</i> help him connect to the events in Bill Murray’s life, speculate
on how they’ve affected him and explore how they’ve shaped his values and beliefs.
Listen for Howard’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Courage</i> to ask a
person he reveres any question that pops into his mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/192318179&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Howard Stern’s listeners constantly marvel at what he
reveals about his guests as well as what they learn and discover about the ups
and downs and ins and outs of life. These magic and memorable moments are all products
of Howard’s amazing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Curiosity</i>
enhanced by his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awareness</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Imagination</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Experience</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Courage</i>. Howard
is not alone. These traits are the foundation for the great content created by
all the best radio personalities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-6575262282040700352015-02-17T16:14:00.000-07:002015-02-17T16:14:08.163-07:00Framework for Evaluating Talent<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing is more important to the future of radio than
finding and developing distinctive, appealing and enduring on-air
personalities. Predicting a prospective air talent’s ability to attract and
hold a substantial audience is far from an exact science. I know. I’ve been
doing it for a living for nearly 30 years.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My “ear” and batting average for predicting success have
improved greatly over time. I’ve developed an informed sense of what it takes
to make it on the radio. The result of creating the </span><a href="http://authenticpersonality.biz/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Authentic
Personality method</span></u></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, working with some of the best<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– Rush Limbaugh, Kidd Kraddick, Jeff of Jeff
and Jer, Johnny Vaughan – and worst talent in radio as well as constantly
studying gifted artists – songwriters, authors, screenwriters, and creators of
TV shows.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few years ago, a hugely frustrating experience compelled me
to codify what I’d learned about evaluating talent and predicting success. I
was helping a program director in a top 25 market identify hosts for a startup
talk station. We settled on a lineup we really liked. Before making any hires,
the COO of the radio group asked to hear each of our choices. The PD pushed
play on the first demo. Ninety seconds in, I kid you not, the COO told us,
“he’s not our guy”. We asked him to explain. He repeated, “He’s not our guy.
Let’s move on”. Yikes!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was determined to develop a more reasoned approach to
evaluating talent. One that would go beyond a superficial and subjective
reaction to an aircheck or demo. I wanted to create a framework to have a
meaningful and productive conversation about why a prospective air personality
will succeed or fail. This led to identifying what my experience, research, and
study told me are the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fourteen Traits
Inherent in the Best Radio Personalities</i> and the primary predictors of
success on the radio.<o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I look for the presence or absence of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fourteen Traits</i> in the thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors of the prospective personality in every contact I have
with him or her – listening to live shows, airchecks, and demos as well as
telephone and in-person conversations. I spend plenty of one-on-one time with
each prospect comparing the personality I hear on the radio with the one I meet
off-air. I frequently discover personality facets and untapped potential that
isn’t being revealed or exploited on the radio.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fourteen Traits Inherent in the Best
Radio Personalities</span></span></i></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve separated the traits into three categories. Personal,
content, and performance. The personal traits predict listener appeal and
talent motivation. The content traits predict the ability to generate distinctive,
appealing and memorable content. The performance traits predict the ability to
present attractive content with impact.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Personal Traits</span></span></i></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ego Drive</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best believe in themselves. Some wear it on their
sleeve; others hide it with an outward humility. But all believe they are
talented and ought to be on the air. They think they’re funnier, smarter, more
entertaining, more insightful – and if they didn’t, they couldn’t open the mic
every day. This self-confidence can be shaken by bouts of self-doubt and fears
of inadequacy, but they have the ego strength to regain their self-confidence.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mission</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best have a sense of purpose beyond themselves, beyond
fame and fortune. It can be as simple as “making people laugh every day” or as
profound as “helping parents raise strong children.” It’s difficult to spend
time every day with someone who is concerned only with themselves. This sense
of mission helps make the air personality real and durable over the long term.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Work Intensity</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best work hard. Their work dominates their life, and
they think about it a lot. Their show is the default setting in their brain; if
nothing compelling is happening at the moment, their mind drifts back to work.
They naturally connect all of their experiences to their show and ask
themselves, “might this be content I can use on the air?” Most are also
diligent about preparing for their show, according it the hours needed for a
superior performance.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Positivity</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best have a fundamentally positive outlook on life. They
laugh and smile more, grouse and whine less, and are more flexible about
dealing with change. They are likable and truly care that others like them,
which is essential to creating a durable relationship with listeners.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sense of Humor</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best have the ability to find what is amusing or funny
about almost everything, including themselves. They find humor even in the most
serious subjects and issues. They don’t take themselves too seriously and often
enjoy self-effacing or self-deprecating humor. Most have a mischievous streak
in them, enjoying good-natured teasing, harmless pranks, and playful tricks.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Content Traits</span></span></i></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Awareness</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best are keenly aware of their surroundings and highly
receptive to sensory input – everything they see, hear, taste, touch, or smell.
They notice what’s going on around them and pick up on other peoples’ attitudes
and behaviors. They are good listeners, hearing not only the words but the
thoughts and feelings behind them, making them especially effective with guests
and listeners.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Curiosity</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best are curious. They ask questions about almost
everything, acquiring more knowledge and information than do most others. They
think “fast on their feet” and change direction quickly. Curious people are
almost always very intelligent people (especially if their questions are good!),
but know that the reverse is not necessarily so – that intelligent people are
curious.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagination</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best naturally recognize how thoughts and feelings,
experiences and ideas, connect or can be combined to form new and greater
images and ideas. Simply, they connect the dots in ways that few others do –
and then they go off on tangents to invent new and interesting radio content.
Without imagination, content tends to be very ordinary; competitive battles
today require more.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Experience</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best have “been there and done that.” They may have
lived in many different places, traveled extensively, or held a variety of
types of jobs. Often, they have faced adversity, dealt with pain, and
experienced success and happiness. They know a lot, whether through formal
education, reading, or the school of hard knocks. All this experience helps
them deal with a broad range of subjects and connect with the diverse audience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quirkiness</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best are wired a little different. What might produce
conventional thoughts in others prompts distinctive, interesting, even
peculiar, lines of thinking in these people. Their strong opinions are more
likely to grab attention, remain in the listeners’ memory, and cause listeners
to talk about the air personality to their friends.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Performance traits</span></span></i></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Communication</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best say more, using fewer words. They have
extraordinary clarity of expression. They paint powerful word-pictures. They
have a special ability to take complicated subjects and turn them into simple, concise
concepts easily understandable to a radio audience. They have a natural flair
for dramatic presentation, and frequently produce “theater of the mind.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Passion</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best are emotional, demonstrative, and passionate. They
are this way on-the-air, around the office, and during a job interview. They
can’t turn it off. They have strong feelings about almost everything in life
and they express their emotions readily. This trait might make them challenging
to manage, but on the air, it gives them a range of expression that’s essential
to a durable relationship with listeners – they can be serious or flippant,
sensitive or carefree, laughing or crying.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Courage</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best don’t live with a wide range of fears, and they
don’t naturally second-guess themselves before acting. They have the courage to
express their real thoughts and feelings, try new things, venture into
uncharted territory, take chances. They believe “it’s easier to beg for
forgiveness than to seek permission.” This can make them more difficult to
manage at times, but coaching an air personality without courage is an even
more difficult management assignment (“it’s easier to tame a wild stallion than
to kick some life into a dead horse”).</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Judgment</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best temper their courage with judgment. They sense the
limits, whether in show prep or when on the air. They monitor their
performance, even while they’re performing. They’re in the middle of it,
literally and figuratively, but at the same time they’re listening to it and
making it acceptable and appealing. This doesn’t mean they exercise perfect
judgment 100% of the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-25516820397513193482015-01-05T16:14:00.002-07:002015-01-05T16:14:31.205-07:00“Serial” Wisdom<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I first learned about </span><a href="http://serialpodcast.org/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Serial”</span></u></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the podcast from my Twitter
feed. It was a day I was thinking a lot about the future of radio and audio entertainment.
I was feeling pretty pessimistic. The current crop of news and talk programming
on radio wasn’t giving me much hope. The headline style news delivered by most
radio stations has become a commodity available on demand on multiple
platforms. The superficial reports of common crime, ordinary human misfortune,
politics and political process that dominate the radio news menu aren’t
distinctive, interesting or relevant to the lives of most listeners. Talk programming
is limited to conversations about sports and politics from a conservative
political perspective. Digital audio initiatives from radio broadcasters are
primarily repurposed radio programs offered as podcasts. The lack of
imagination, innovation, and variety in audio content created by radio
broadcasters left me feeling depressed about the future of the business to
which I’ve dedicated most of my professional life.<o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took hearing one episode of “Serial” to completely change
my mood. It rekindled my love of audio entertainment and my belief in its power
and appeal. It took me back to the experiences that made me fall in love with
radio and audio entertainment. I remembered listening to my first Seattle Rainiers
baseball broadcast. I’d never been to a game or met any of the players, but Leo
Lassen’s enthusiasm, excitement, and colorful descriptions allowed me to
visualize them in my mind. It felt like I was right there in the stadium. I
remembered Lan Roberts, the morning personality on KJR, and his fascination
with and belief in UFOs. His vivid descriptions and recorded sounds of his
midnight experience waiting for a UFO and its passengers that he expected to
land in a field east of Seattle were unforgettable. My imagination allowed me
to see what he saw and feel his anticipation and then disappointment when it
didn’t happen. It was magic. I felt that same sense of magic listening to
“Serial”.<o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s no accident “Serial” has attracted so much media attention
and millions of listeners for each of its 12 episodes in just three month’s
time. For creators of audio information and entertainment content, especially
journalists, news reporters and storytellers of all kinds, there is so much
that can be learned from the success of season one of “Serial”. Here is some of
the wisdom revealed by the producers of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_American_Life"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“This American Life”</span></u></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and Sarah Koenig’s experiment in “audio
storytelling”:<o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The ideal
length of a story should be determined by the time it takes to tell a complete
story that is meaningful to its audience.</b> Sarah Koenig decided it would
take nearly 8 ½ hours and 12 episodes to meaningfully tell the complete story
she chose for season one of “Serial”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Humans
have an insatiable appetite for “truth”.</b> We have a natural yearning to know
and understand what is real, honest, and true in our lives. It’s what attracts
us all to solving mysteries. It’s the goal and fundamental appeal of great
journalism. It was the search for “truth” about the murder of Hae Min Lee and
the trial of Adnan Syed that was a primary attraction of “Serial” season one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crazy
curiosity and imagination are essential to great journalism and meaningful
storytelling.</b> The “truth” is often found beneath the surface. Sarah
Koenig’s insightful, incisive, probing and seemingly endless questions produced
the fuel for her truth seeking and storytelling. Her imaginative ability to
connect the dots of what she learned from her questions revealed and lighted
the trail to the “truth” and exposed the meaning of her story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Listeners
love participating in the search for “truth”.</b> Sarah Koenig shared her
process in every episode. It’s not something journalists usually do, but Sarah
did and others probably should. She constantly revealed her questions,
theories, suspicions, speculation, doubts, frustrations, conclusions, successes
and failures. It made her storytelling far more interesting and real. It
allowed listeners to follow along and contribute if they so desired. Which they
did providing some perspectives and details Sarah would likely not have discovered
on her own.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Journalists
and news reporters are often trapped in the current “news cycle” when
determining what is news.</b> If it didn’t happen in the last 24-48 hours
somehow it’s no longer news. How about adopting some new guidelines to define
news. If it’s new or unknown to you or your audience shouldn’t it be considered
news? Sarah Koenig discovered all kinds of stuff that was new, interesting, and
meaningful to her and “news” to her audience when she began examining a murder
that occurred in 1999.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">News
reporters frequently focus on events and often miss the related stories.</b> Events
are episodes in stories. Events are obvious and easy to report. Stories not so
much. Hae Min Lee is murdered. Adnan Syed is arrested and charged with the
murder. Adnan Syed is tried and convicted of the murder. Adnan Syed appeals the
conviction. The appeal is denied. All events with obvious conclusions. All
reported in 1999. Along comes Sarah Koenig in 2013. She examines these events
and notices the untold story of a trial where “something went wrong”. A story
that reveals and explores imperfections in our justice system and mysteries of
life and human behavior.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">News
consumers want more than a quick superficial headline summary of complex and
controversial stories.</b> The main facts of these stories and opposing
soundbites are available on demand on every smart phone and computer from
multiple sources. “Serial” demonstrated the desire for and appeal of complete stories
that provide context, analysis, informed commentary, insight and a sincere search
for the “truth”. The real meaning of these stories to listeners.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Human
behavior is a subject with universal appeal.</b> Why do people think and feel
the way they do? Why do people do what they do? These real-life questions and mysteries
are things every human being wants to answer and solve. Season one of “Serial”
examined and tried to understand all kinds of human behavior in every episode.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Vivid,
concrete, descriptive language and sound is essential to effective audio
storytelling.</b> Words and sounds that allow listeners to see, hear, taste,
touch, smell, feel and fully imagine what is going on. Sarah Koenig’s use of
language and sound is masterful and makes full use of the “theater of the
mind”. Witness this reaction to Adnan Syed after her first in person meeting
with him: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The thing you can’t miss about
Adnan is that he has giant brown eyes. Like a dairy cow. That’s what prompts my
most idiotic lines of inquiry. Could someone who looks like that actually
strangle his girlfriend? Idiotic. I know.”</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Audio
entertainment isn’t going away.</b> Its shape, size, and delivery methods are
changing but not its appeal. It can’t be ordinary to compete in a world
addicted to “screens”. When done well, “Serial” showed us what it can do. This
experiment in “audio storytelling” delivered by podcast attracted a larger
audience than many prime time television programs. Lots of people reported
replacing their television viewing with listening to Sarah Koenig tell her
story “week by week”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Audio is
a superior method for storytelling.</b> It compels the listener to use his or
her imagination in the “theater of the mind” to participate in the telling of
the story. This creates unequaled intimacy and connection to the story and a
uniquely personalized experience with the story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Contrary
to conventional wisdom among radio broadcasters and PPM data from Nielsen,
consumers of audio entertainment don’t all have ADD.</b> They are discerning.
If what they hear is not interesting or meaningful, they discard quickly.
Enrich their lives and they will definitely listen longer than 10 minutes per
“occasion”. The average run time for an episode of “Serial” is 42 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-755092069801867382015-01-05T15:32:00.001-07:002015-01-05T15:38:48.553-07:00The Big Questions for Radio Broadcasters<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What business are you in? Does your business have a future?
These seem like fundamental questions radio broadcasters should be asking
themselves right now. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time spent listening to your AM and FM radio stations is
declining precipitously each year. This is particularly true among young
people. They’ve grown up in a world of visual stimuli and conditioning addicted
to “screens”. They love music, but have minimal attraction to or experience with
AM and FM radio. Advertising revenue for AM and FM radio is flat to declining.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are shiny new high-tech competitors everywhere. Mobile
phones and the Internet are sucking up massive amounts of consumer time and
attention. Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, and other services and apps offer
continuous music customized to listeners moods and tastes as well as individual
songs on demand. This competition is becoming widely available and easily
accessible in cars where the majority of AM and FM radio is consumed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You’ve had a virtual monopoly on the distribution of audio
entertainment since the invention of the radio. The range of content delivered
by your radio stations has narrowed considerably with the advent of television.
For the past 50 or 60 years music has been the primary form of audio
entertainment provided by your AM and FM radio stations.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two things made radio broadcasting such a great business the
past 50 or 60 years. The monopoly on audio entertainment distribution and not
having to create the vast majority of the content it distributed. The music
industry took care of that at very little cost to radio broadcasters. It was a
sweet deal, but technology has changed all that. The distribution monopoly is
gone. Now what?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, back to the big questions. What business are you in?
Does your business have a future? </span><a href="http://clearchannel.com/Pages/Press.aspx"><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bob Pittman’s decision</span></u></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to
rename his company iHeartMedia started an interesting conversation about the
answers to these questions. He says the new name <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“reflects the company’s success in becoming a one-of-a-kind
multiplatform media company and our commitment to being the media company that
provides the most entertainment to the most engaged audiences wherever they go,
with more content and more events in more places on more devices.”</i> Bob and
his company backed that up last weekend by staging a huge “event” in Las Vegas called
the “iHeartRadio Music Festival”. It featured live performances by many music
superstars. </span><a href="http://jacobsmediablog.com/2014/09/22/screen-test/"><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fred
Jacobs joined the conversation</span></u></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> offering the opinion that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“radio broadcasters have simply got to
become multimedia content creators and distributors”</i>. So there you have it,
the future for radio broadcasters is the business of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“multimedia content creation and distribution”</i> as well as the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“event creation”</i> business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This vision for the future seems perfect for radio
broadcasters who create precious little content of any kind. It makes total sense
to go compete with everyone in the entertainment business. Sure, why not? Go take
on Disney and Live Nation. You have all kinds of talent and experience creating
video entertainment. You’ll be great at creating and promoting massive concert
events. This is the kind of stuff your current customers have come to expect
from you. You have lots of resources ready to commit to these enterprises. They’ll
no doubt drive lots of additional listening to your AM and FM radio stations.
Like Nike says, you should “just do it!”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yikes! Let’s get real. What’s wrong with the business you’re
in right now? What’s wrong with the audio entertainment business? Doesn’t it
have a future?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Audio entertainment is unique and powerful. It involves the
consumer in creating the experience it provides. Sound generates pictures and
emotions in minds and hearts. The effect is deeper and more memorable than
anything on a screen. When you hear someone laughing or crying you don’t need
to see them to fully experience their joy or sorrow. Music can change your mood
instantly. The sound and the lyrics create a vibe. Music is mind altering,
heart penetrating, and memory making. Audio entertainment can be consumed while
you’re doing other things like walking, running, driving, or making love. Audio
entertainment will never go out of style. Americans spend more than four hours
per day with audio entertainment according to the </span><a href="http://www.edisonresearch.com/edison-research-conducts-first-ever-share-of-ear-measurement-for-all-forms-of-online-and-offline-audio/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Share of the Ear”</span></u></i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> study from Edison
Research. Audio entertainment has an enduring future as long as great audio
entertainment is created.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Radio broadcasters are in the audio entertainment business.
Why not stay there? Why not focus your limited resources on creating
extraordinary audio entertainment? How about being really good, even
exceptional, at something rather than average or mediocre at everything. Your
current consumers are predisposed to using and appreciating audio
entertainment. Why not concentrate on creating new audio entertainment content that
surprises, amazes, and delights them. Hire gifted artists who love creating
content for the theater of the mind. Create content in all shapes and sizes and
distribute it on the platform that fits it best. That’s a future that makes
sense for radio broadcasters.<o:p></o:p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-54718110672518163132014-07-30T23:53:00.000-06:002019-06-29T22:30:54.820-06:00Listen to the music. Share the vibe. Make a connection.<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The other day a fellow talent
coach invited me to listen to one of the morning shows he coaches. It plays
lots of music. More than 50% of the total program time, including commercials,
is devoted to music. The morning team has just 8 to 12 minutes per hour to
present content it creates. I’m thinking to myself, wow, that’s not much time
to make a connection and establish a relationship with listeners. I started
feeling sorry for the morning team until I realized the big opportunity it
completely ignores. The music.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This morning team is totally disconnected
from the music in its show. When the music was on the morning team was gone. All
I heard in and around the music was station and show imaging, mostly
prerecorded. It was like two separate shows all morning. There was the “music
show” (more than 30 minutes per hour) and the much shorter “personality show”
(8 to 10 minutes per hour). The two shows weren’t connected in any way. There
was nothing distinctive about the “music show”. It sounded much like what you’d
hear on Pandora.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The big attraction to music
is how it makes you feel. The sound and the lyrics create a vibe. Music is mind
altering, heart penetrating, mood changing, and memory making. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Music creates a huge
opportunity for radio personalities to connect with their listeners. It’s all
about the shared experience. Listening to the music with your listeners. Immersing
yourself in the songs. Doing a little research. Reading the lyrics. Paying
attention to how songs make you feel and sharing the vibes.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here’s an example of what I’m
talking about. I’ll bet you won’t forget this song or the vibe <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Vaughan" target="_blank">Johnny Vaughan</a></em>
shared with his listeners on the “Capital Breakfast”. It’s no wonder it was the number one morning show in London and the audience loved the experience of listening to music with Johnny.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="100" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/161061764&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-15247425998811734622012-04-09T09:49:00.000-06:002014-07-31T00:05:41.543-06:00Don't ask. Don't tell.<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">There was a big brouhaha last week in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Milwaukee</st1:place></st1:city>. It exposed the realities of achieving the journalistic ideal of "objective" news reporting. It shook management at local broadcast news organizations to their core. It threatened the reputation they've long cultivated for providing "unbiased" news reporting and endangered the trust relationship with listeners and viewers.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">All the noise was about the revelation that staffers in the newsrooms of each of <st1:city w:st="on">Milwaukee</st1:city>'s local broadcast news organizations had signed petitions to recall <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Wisconsin</st1:state></st1:place>'s governor. Talk about a big oops if you're trying to maintain a reputation for "unbiased" reporting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Management went into immediate damage control mode. Here's a sampling of their responses:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>"Until they (those involved) leave the station, they are not going to be allowed to cover anything related to Scott Walker (the governor)."<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em> </em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">"We want you to know that we consider this a serious issue. We are in the process of dealing with it internally. Our reputation of being a fair and unbiased news source is of paramount importance to us."<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<em> </em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">"Station policy prohibits overt political activity. As journalists, our folks know that they must remain totally unbiased."<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">O</span>ne television station reported that "many employees" defended the petition signing. They told management "it didn't feel like a political act, but instead felt similar to casting a vote". Management disagreed saying, "Voting is private. Signing a petition is not".<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I get it. It's okay to vote because no one, including management, will know how you voted. It's not okay to sign a petition because your bias will be on display for everyone to see. This sounds like the news media version of "Don't ask. Don't tell." Hide your bias and your objectivity and ability to deliver unbiased reporting will not be questioned by management or news consumers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Milwaukee</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial;"> isn't the only place where "Don't ask. Don't tell." is practiced. Whether it's conscious or unconscious, the policy seems to be alive and well in most major news organizations. It's likely a significant factor in the increasingly contentious relationship between news consumers and the news media. The latest <i><a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/143267/distrust-media-edges-record-high.aspx" title="http://www.gallup.com/poll/143267/distrust-media-edges-record-high.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Gallup poll</span></a></i> reports a record 57% of Americans "have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly". Ouch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Maybe it's time to get real about what it takes to deliver on the ideal and promise of "objective" and "unbiased" reporting. It requires reporters to somehow erase from their reporting any influence of their life experiences, personal feelings, and instinctive reasoning understanding that humans do not reason entirely from facts. We all view facts differently based on our life experiences and personal feelings. It's nearly impossible for reporters to eliminate the influence of these things from their reporting. It's not human. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Paul Harvey recognized the difficulty of achieving real objectivity and decided to acknowledge the problem when he chose the name for his news broadcasts. Here's how he explained it:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>"I think anyone worth his salt is for or against certain things. It's going to come through if only in the selection of what goes on the air and what goes into the waste basket. So it seems more honest for me to call it 'Paul Harvey News and Comment'. That way listeners know they're getting their news from my perspective."</em></span></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Paul Harvey decided it was more important to be trusted than attempt to achieve the nearly impossible journalistic ideal of being "objective". It worked pretty well for him.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">A <i><a href="http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-05-24/entertainment/30064927_1_bill-o-reilly-fox-news-new-poll" title="http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-05-24/entertainment/30064927_1_bill-o-reilly-fox-news-new-poll"><span style="color: blue;">recent poll</span></a></i> conducted by <st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city>'s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Suffolk</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place> revealed that Fox News and Bill O'Reilly are the most trusted names in news. It's clear from this study and other recent research that news consumers want to know exactly where their news source is coming from; transparency not "objectivity" equals trust.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, wouldn't it be better for reporters to reveal their biases rather than hide them? Wouldn't it be better for managers at major news organizations to recognize the biases of their reporters and make assignments accordingly with the goal of reporting from multiple perspectives that might come close to delivering on the ideal of "objective" and "unbiased" reporting?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Hiding your bias doesn't make it go away or enable you to be objective in your reporting. So, why do it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-4796895372174117122012-03-17T12:04:00.003-06:002014-07-30T23:52:12.519-06:00Checklist for repeating content<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Radio personalities often ask if they should repeat content during their shows. Repeating great stuff can help ensure that the content you present is consistently the best it can be. Repeating stuff just because you don't prepare enough content to fill your show is not a good idea or healthy habit to form. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are three simple questions I recommend personalities ask themselves to guide their decision:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is this my best work today?</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is it better than the content I've prepped but not yet presented?</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is it good enough and complex enough that listeners who've already heard it will appreciate hearing it again and, importantly, likely hear something "new" and interesting that they missed/didn't hear the first time around?</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
<ol></ol>
<div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-92025080462395559132012-03-15T19:54:00.004-06:002012-03-16T16:43:45.238-06:00The untold story of the Rush Limbaugh advertiser boycott<span style="font-family: Arial;">As Rush would say, folks, what's really going on here is a culture war in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It's a battle for the soul of our country. There are signs everywhere, perhaps the most notable being the political logjam and overheated rhetoric in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Washington</st1:city> <st1:state w:st="on">DC</st1:state></st1:place>. Rush Limbaugh's advertisers have become pawns in this culture war.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The war is between those who believe in the America of our founding fathers and those who believe traditional American values and beliefs are old-fashioned, unrealistic, and out of step with "today's world". They believe our culture is in need of a radical transformation. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rush Limbaugh is a relentless, articulate, persuasive, and influential voice for traditional American values and beliefs. He is the inspiration and model for the cultural force that is conservative political talk radio. He was an inspiration for the creation of the Fox News Channel. He is a regular contributor to its programming. FNC's primary appeal is its traditional American worldview. FNC has considerably more viewers than all the other cable news channels combined. It's no wonder Rush has long been a target of those who want to dramatically change American culture.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Last week, Rush served up the perfect opportunity for his cultural opponents to attack. Rush loves to illustrate absurdity by being absurd. Rush believes it's absurd for the government to mandate that all health insurance plans in America provide free birth control pills for women. You all know the story. He compared the mandate and women who take advantage of it to prostitution and likened mandate advocate <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Fluke" target="_blank">Sandra Fluke</a></em> to a "slut" and "prostitute". <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Most agree Rush accomplished his goal of being absurd. Many, including Rush, feel he went too far with his choice of labels for Sandra Fluke. Rush publicly apologized to Ms. Fluke. I don't want to defend Rush's illustration and choice of words or debate the sincerity of his apology or the propriety of the birth control pill mandate. I want to talk about the protests and threat to boycott Rush's advertisers that ensued.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Some of the protests were organic and sincere. Why wouldn't people be upset when they hear about Rush likening an attractive young single woman he doesn't know to a "slut" and "prostitute"? However, most people would not take the next step and demand that he be fired or taken off the air permanently and threaten to boycott his advertisers. Make no mistake, this level of protest was well planned and organized by Rush's opponents in the culture war. They want his voice silenced. They want him gone. They'll do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals. Unfortunately, Rush gave them some wonderful tools.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The words "slut" and "prostitute" Rush attached to Sandra Fluke taken out of context by his culture war opponents made it easy to paint Rush as a despicable villain in e-mails, Facebook posts, and Tweets. Many of these digital arrows were aimed at Rush's advertisers and threatened a boycott of their products and services if they continued to be advertised on the Rush Limbaugh Show. This was no accident<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rush's opponents in the cultural war understood exactly what they were doing. They know most advertisers will do anything to avoid controversy. They knew Rush's words were all they needed to create a "viral" firestorm of protest on social media that would generate high-level news media attention and scare the hell out of Rush's advertisers. They recognized a prime opportunity to deal a lethal blow to Rush and his show. So far, it appears they've inflicted some significant pain on Rush with collateral damage on all talk radio and free speech.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Social media and the Internet are wonderful tools for spreading information and ideas. They're also great tools for intimidation, spreading misinformation, and making vocal well organized minorities look like majorities. Most people don't want to silence Rush Limbaugh or anyone else exercising his right to free speech. The vast majority of people aren't going to stop purchasing products and services they need and happily use because they're advertised on the Rush Limbaugh program, certainly not his listeners. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There is lots of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/index.php/Kellogg/article/why_boycotts_succeed_and_fail" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">research</span></a></i> on boycotts like the one promoted by Rush's opponents in the culture war. They seldom, if ever, affect the sale of products and services because the boycott isn't about the advertiser and his products or services. If carried out, these boycotts actually punish the very people who are doing the boycotting if they are truly regular satisfied users of the products and services.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Sadly, Rush's advertisers have become pawns in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s culture war. They succumbed to a false threat created by a small vocal minority with a hidden agenda. The irony here is that this is probably the best time in years to advertise on the Rush Limbaugh program . I suspect his ratings have increased markedly as a result of this controversy. The attacks on Rush have likely galvanized his fans and supporters and motivated them to support his advertisers. </span><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-56100553633875065352012-01-17T18:49:00.000-07:002012-01-17T18:52:32.251-07:00Knowledge and experience can be dangerous<span style="font-family: Arial;">Children are fearless and naturally curious. They imagine and are open to endless possibilities. They never consider or worry about what can't be done. Every child is an artist and truly creative, but then things begin to change. Fear sets in. Ideas stop flowing. <o:p></o:p></span> <span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, what happens? We lose something that removes fear, fuels curiosity and powers the imagination and creativity of every child. We lose our naïveté and its effect on what we think and do. <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Atkinson">Bill Atkinson</a></em>, one of Apple's super designers and programmers, gained this insight on his successful quest to meet Steve Jobs’ seemingly unrealistic expectations for the Apple Lisa computer. "I got a feeling for the empowering aspect of naïveté. Because I didn't know it couldn't be done, I was enabled to do it."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When you find yourself thinking something can't be done, try a little naïveté. Set aside your experience and what you think you know. Sometimes knowledge and experience can be dangerous to your creativity.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">By the way, the <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326850823&sr=1-1">Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson</a></em> is full of inspiration and wisdom for creatives.<o:p></o:p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-68895348280746019002011-02-20T01:25:00.000-07:002015-02-17T13:21:54.217-07:00We're All Born CreativeFrom a very young age we all have a quiet little voice in our heads that comes from somewhere deep inside. It whispers unique and amazing thoughts and ideas to us. In the beginning, we all hear these ideas, get excited, and do something about them. Unfortunately, the bigger and more unusual the ideas, the more resistance we encounter when we try to bring them to life. Eventually, most of us stop listening to that quiet little voice, dismiss its thoughts and ideas, and just try to fit in because it's too damn hard to do otherwise.<br />
The great artists never stop listening to that quiet little voice in their heads no matter how tough it gets. <em><a href="http://www.charlierose.com/watch/50126253" target="_blank">James Taylor was on the Charlie Rose Show</a></em> the other night. He talked about how hard it was for him early on in his life.<br />
<blockquote>
"I was born with a difficulty of being in my own skin. Living in human society,<br />
I just ran into trouble. I think everybody does to a greater or lesser extent. I<br />
did feel as though I was born on the dark side of the Moon and that I didn't<br />
have a place in this world when I was 15."</blockquote>
James Taylor's troubles living in this world inspired that quiet little voice in his head to help him write some remarkable songs. Here's how James described the process to Charlie:<br />
<blockquote>
"I don't really feel as though I write songs. I feel as though I hear them first<br />
and remember them and get them down. It's such a mysterious and subconscious<br />
process that I couldn't really say that I wrote those songs. I just channeled<br />
them or they happened to me first. There is a sort of lightning bolt kind of<br />
moment when you're visited by a song and you get, hopefully, as much as you can.<br />
Sometimes it's a whole song, but sometimes it's just a fragment. Then you have<br />
to collect those fragments and often later on you sequester yourself and hide<br />
away somewhere and work 'em."</blockquote>
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
Don't stop listening to that quiet little voice in your head. It's your genius. Write down everything it says no matter how weird, nonsensical, or fragmentary it may seem at the time. If you don't write it down, you'll forget it. Then, like James Taylor, spend time with the stuff you collect. Work it and shape it. Figure out what you were born to create. Build it. Publish it. The world is waiting for you to make a difference like James Taylor has with his songs. <br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-83837250933086784942010-03-06T16:55:00.000-07:002010-03-06T17:06:20.960-07:00It's Easier to Be BoringIf you are a remarkable radio personality you are an artist. The reason you are an artist is that you're doing personal work that's never been done before. You are not copying someone else or reading a script. You are putting yourself out there -- your feelings, your opinions, your thoughts, your ideas. It's damn hard work. The minute you put yourself on the line like that, the minute you say, this is what I really think and feel, this is my bit, I wrote it, what do you think, your fear kicks in. It becomes easier to make it average. It's easier to make it beyond reproach. It's really scary doing something original. You don't want to find yourself in the PD or GM's office getting criticized for this and that. It's easier to just be boring.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-24536846368784030932009-10-07T17:52:00.000-06:002009-10-07T20:54:22.964-06:00Restoring Trust in the News MediaReporting the news objectively is nearly impossible. Journalists who claim to be objective are living in a dream world. There is no way Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and Charles Gibson are objective. No way.<br /><br />Reporters and journalists claiming to be objective are a big reason people don't trust the news media these days. One recent <a href="http://tinyurl.com/lyu4mh">national poll </a>reported that only 55.9% of Americans surveyed expect the news media to tell them the truth. That's sad.<br /><br />Here's an idea for improving trust in the news media from a guy lots of people trusted:<br /><em><blockquote><em>"I think any one worth his salt is for or against certain things. It's<br />going to come through if only in the selection of what goes on the air and what<br />goes into the wastebasket. So it seems more honest for me to call it 'Paul<br />Harvey News and Comment'. That way listeners know they're getting their<br />news from my perspective." -- Paul Harvey</em></blockquote></em>I like it. Don't pretend to be objective. Be honest. Make your perspective clear. Reveal your biases and prejudices. It worked pretty well for Paul Harvey.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-59611013220493023142009-10-06T14:48:00.000-06:002009-10-14T09:48:15.667-06:00MissionGlenn Beck is getting plenty of attention these days. It's largely because Glenn is on a <em><a href="http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/28438/">mission</a></em>. It resonates deep inside him. He views the mission as a duty. Glenn's mission fuels his passion, energy, excitement, creativity and commitment. It also drives his presentation. And, oh by the way, Glenn's mission also resonates with lots of other people, too.<br /><br />Glenn begins nearly every episode of his program on Fox News Channel with a description of his mission. Here's an example from October 5:<br /><em><br /><blockquote><em>"If you believe this country is great, but corruption is bringing us down,<br />it's time to stand. Come on and follow me.... I'm not a journalist.<br />I'm doing a job as a private citizen right now. It is the future of our<br />children and our grandchildren. So, it's a fight I ain't givin’ up.<br />If you're with me and you want to expose the corruption in Washington, you're<br />just a mom or grandparent, become a <em><a href="http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/28438/">watchdog</a></em>. I'm just a dad doing this<br />for my kids. Would you like to help?"</em></blockquote></em>Glenn is not alone. Mission is one of the most important personal traits inherent in the best radio personalities. Mission is a sense of purpose beyond themselves, beyond fame and fortune. It can be as simple as "making people laugh every day" or as profound as "helping parents raise strong children". It's difficult to spend time every day with someone who is concerned only with themselves. The sense of mission helps make the best radio personalities real and durable over the long-term.<br /><br />Oprah is another example of a personality on a mission who's done pretty well. Her mission is simple, but far-reaching. Oprah is dedicated to helping her viewers and listeners "live your best life". Everything Oprah does is driven by this mission. Watch her television show, read her magazine, or check out her <em><a href="http://www.oprah.com/index">website</a></em>. "Live your best life" is everywhere.<br /><br />I recently canceled my subscription to O Magazine (out of concern about over developing my feminine side). Yesterday, I received a letter from Oprah trying to convince me to renew. Here's what she wrote:<br /><em><br /><blockquote><em>"O is a magazine designed to help you live your best life. Live your<br />truth. And live up to your limitless potential. O will get you to<br />think about your life: what is true for you; what you want, rather than just<br />what is wanted of you.<br /><br />There's nothing we share in O that I haven't<br />gone through or continue to move through myself. I'm a woman in progress,<br />creating and striving for new dreams, new goals, new ideas. We each have<br />an exciting journey -- and O is nourishment for the trip. My hope is that<br />we can grow on our journey together -- and have fun along the way."<br /></em></blockquote></em><br />What's your mission? It begins with what really matters to you?<br /><br />Glenn Beck fears that politicians and other people in power are corrupting the fundamental principles and values on which our country was founded. He's determined to help prevent this from happening.<br /><br />Oprah is committed to discovering and living up to her full potential constantly creating and striving for new dreams, new goals, and new ideas. She's determined to live her best life and help others do the same.<br /><br />Mission comes from inside you. It comes from what you do to make your life more interesting, meaningful, and fun. It comes from sharing the stuff that makes you laugh, marvel, or understand. It comes from a desire to give your listeners something each day that somehow makes their lives better.<br /><br /><br />Mission builds strong connections with listeners and is a driving force in the success of any radio personality. What is your mission? How do you make your listeners' lives noticeably better each day?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-84769124662623775212009-02-03T01:04:00.000-07:002009-02-03T12:09:11.116-07:00Timeless Formula for Success in Radio<em></em><br /><em><a href="http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=3130">Pat O'Day</a></em> created one of the greatest personality radio stations ever. KJR dominated the ratings as well as the hearts and minds of listeners in Seattle for 15 straight years in the 60s and 70s.<br /><br />Pat returned to KJR this week to celebrate his 50th year on the radio in Seattle. He talked about the role of a successful radio station in the lives of its listeners. Here's what he said. <em>"Radio is companionship or really it's nothing. It's no better than an iPod if it doesn't have companionship."</em><br /><br />Here's how Pat defined companionship for his disc jockeys at KJR. <em>"We made sure that we were talking and having fun and giving our listeners joy every minute of the day. You had to picture somebody out there. You had to say, I gotta make their day more enjoyable."</em><br /><br />Simple and timeless. Give listeners companionship and nonstop joy and they'll turn their radios on every day to listen to you and your station.<br /><br />PS Pat didn't tell the talented and colorful characters he hired how to give their listeners joy. He just set the expectation and told them to go do it, all day, every day. That's probably why no two shows sounded alike on KJR.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-85343910038583635902009-01-29T01:26:00.000-07:002009-01-29T21:23:32.249-07:00The Problem with Ryan Seacrest<em></em><br /><em><a href="http://www.ryanseacrest.com/affiliates/">"On-Air with Ryan Seacrest"</a></em> is a microcosm of what's wrong with radio right now. The problem has nothing to do with the show being created in Hollywood and syndicated to local radio stations across the country. The trouble is the show's content. It's ordinary, average, and forgettable. Mindless, soulless, lowest common denominator stuff the media, including most cookie cutter morning radio shows, are saturated with -- vacuous interviews with celebrities hyping their latest projects, a steady stream of superficial celebrity news and Hollywood gossip clipped from the pages of People, Us, and The National Enquirer and read breathlessly with much manufactured enthusiasm and amazement by Ryan and his cohorts. This is sad stuff.<br /><br />Here's what's really scary. In the past few months, <em>"On-Air with Ryan Seacrest"</em> has spread to approximately 140 markets, including most of the 50 largest cities in America. How did this happen? The show has no record of ratings success. The content is no different and no better than the average local radio morning show. Okay, Ryan gets more and better celebrity guests, but who cares. There's absolutely nothing special about his interviews -- no intimacy and no revelations. Listeners can get the same information by reading the press release for the new movie, CD, book, or other project the celebrity guest is hyping. Make no mistake about it; these are not Howard Stern-like interviews. There are no surprises in Ryan's fawning and shallow conversations. The show is not live, but that probably doesn't matter given its content. It's just a bunch of unoriginal recycled bits from Ryan's morning show in Los Angeles, which by the way, is not even the highest rated show on KIIS FM. So, what's going on here? Why is this show spreading? It's definitely not a virus.<br /><br /><em>"On-Air with Ryan Seacrest"</em> exists for two primary reasons neither of which has anything to do with what comes out of a radio’s speakers or making radio listeners’ lives better. First, Ryan Seacrest is famous -- not for extraordinary talent, not for producing amazing radio content, not for producing stellar Arbitron numbers. Ryan Seacrest is famous for being the host of American Idol. Ryan Seacrest is famous for his boyish good looks. Ryan Seacrest is famous for hanging out with Simon Cowell. Second, <em>"On-Air with Ryan Seacrest"</em> is cheap programming -- a money-saving alternative to paying local personalities in 140 markets. So radio station operators blinded by fame and celebrity and driven by the need to reduce expenses are programming this drivel. Yikes!<br /><br />Radio is in deep doo doo right now. Radio needs to create relevant and original content to survive. Radio needs rebels, mavericks, characters, passionate artists and innovators. Radio needs people to challenge the status quo not perpetuate it. <em>"On-Air with Ryan Seacrest"</em> is the status quo -- a very ordinary and average version of it. Exactly what radio doesn't need right now.<br /><br />Radio is headed for extinction if things don't change quickly. How did it come to this? <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Abrams">Lee Abrams</a></em> provided some pretty good answers in a recent interview conducted by Al Peterson at <em><a href="http://www.ntsmediaonline.com/">NTS MediaOnline</a></em>. Here's what Lee had to say about the radio business and the source of great ideas. <em>"Radio was one of the last great bastions of creative thinking. There were no rulebooks, you could come up with a new format idea in your basement, take it out and try it somewhere, and if it worked you were in business. Unfortunately the radio business, which was once a place with very few rules, evolved into a business with a whole lot of rules.... all great ideas start emotionally then you use science to determine whether or not you're full of it. In most big media today everything starts scientifically and the whole emotional component gets left out entirely."<br /></em><br />Lee's description of how radio's best programming ideas came to be and where great ideas begin sounds remarkably like what's happening on the Internet today. All kinds of goofy original ideas are being created. There is lots of experimentation going on. People are creating stuff in basements and garages all over the world and putting it out there in cyberspace to see if it flies.<br /><br />Big ideas like Google, Facebook, Pandora, and YouTube started as little experiments in a basement, garage, or dorm room. These ideas began with emotions, instinctive reactions to real life in the real world. The creators didn't do focus groups or seek approval from the corporate office. They just began to create stuff that they thought was missing in their lives, stuff they wanted and needed. They didn't try to predict how their ideas would be received or if they'd be accepted. They just created stuff they thought was cool and necessary. They created stuff that would make their lives and/or the lives of their friends better, more interesting, more fun.<br /><br />This is exactly how many of radio's most successful formats and shows came to be. Rush Limbaugh created the show he wanted to listen to -- a show reflective of his ideals, his values and beliefs -- a show that broke the rules and challenged the status quo. He discovered there were lots of listeners just like him who were looking for a place to hang out and connect with like-minded people who shared their conservative values. Howard Stern created the show he wanted to listen to. Lee Abrams created a format with the music he wanted to hear. Both discovered lots of listeners just like them who liked what they liked.<br /><br />Now radio creates stuff for some mythical target audience defined by simplistic and superficial research. No one breaks the rules or challenges the status quo. There's no experimentation. No risk taking. No new ideas. No innovation.<br /><br />There is lots of cloning and copying. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern wannabes trying to duplicate everything these originals do. Nearly every morning show has a boy and a girl. Most are obsessed with presenting "pop culture" defined by superficial and sensational celebrity news and Hollywood gossip delivered by the girl. They talk about the same current events and news stories. Try finding a radio morning show this time of year that isn't talking about American Idol. Yes it's the top-rated show on television, but it's watched in less than 20% of homes with TVs. Radio morning shows across the dial and around the country use the same show prep services for their inspiration. Formats, music, and imaging -- all the stuff of radio programming -- have become fully homogenized at a time when the real world -- fueled by abundant entertainment and information choices made available by technology and the Internet -- has become anything but homogenized.<br /><br />The problem with <em>"On-Air with Ryan Seacrest"</em> and far too much of the programming heard on the radio these days is that it's not distinctive, it's not relevant, and it's not essential to listeners because it doesn't make their lives better. That's why mobile phones, iPods, and computers are far more important in people's lives than radios.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5828325064508550951.post-76663953540317703742008-11-19T22:28:00.000-07:002008-11-20T13:37:23.375-07:00Trust<p>Trust is the foundation of long-term relationships that matter. You trust your best friends. You trust your husband or wife. You trust your mom and dad. You trust God. If you commit precious time each day to listen to a radio personality, it's likely trust is a big reason.</p><p>Sadly, trust is becoming a rare commodity. The list of things and people we don't trust seems to be growing. We don't trust politicians. We don't trust "the media". We don't trust our bosses. We don't trust many of the people we work with. We don't trust salesmen. We don't trust advertising. I could go on and on, so could you.</p><p>Consumer skepticism about advertising has made live-read personality endorsement commercials increasingly popular with radio advertisers and radio sales people. Advertisers know they gain instant credibility from the trust relationship successful radio personalities have with their listeners. Radio sales people love live-reads because they produce great results and repeat business from their clients.</p><p>While personality endorsement commercials are great making money tools for advertisers and radio stations, <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathon_Brandmeier">Jonathon Brandmeier</a></em> reminded me that live-reads pose a real dilemma for radio personalities concerned about keeping their listeners. During his recent presentation at <em><a href="http://theconclave.com/talentrak/agenda.php">TalenTrak 2008</a></em> he told the audience, <em>"I don't like live-reads</em>". He explained, <em>"Listeners know when you're faking on the air. I can't read a commercial for something I don't care about or believe in. I can't compromise."</em> Therein lies the difficult choice for radio personalities. Do you go for the money or protect the trust relationship with your listeners?<br /><br />The right choice in this dilemma is contained in the old adage, "short-term pain produces long-term gain". Trust is becoming more rare and more valuable each day. Guarding the trust established between radio personality and listener preserves this essential element of their relationship and increases the likelihood it will continue for a long time. Protecting this trust also ensures the ongoing value and effectiveness of live-read personality endorsement commercials.</p><p>There are plenty of money making opportunities for radio stations and personalities contained in the products and services personalities really love and actually use.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1