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Be You …Whoever That Is
September 1, 2020
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It’s difficult for new or inexperienced air personalities to find themselves. Early on the talent starts to wonder how they come across on the air.
I enjoyed my e-mail exchange and eventual conversation with an up and coming air talent
Air Talent: I’m lucky, I interned at this station before getting a job here last Fall. It’s been kind of hard learning because Coronavirus has most of us working from home. I’ve only been back inside the building four times since all of this started. The reason for my email is to find out what I’m doing wrong.
Coach: Doing wrong in terms of what?
Air Talent: That didn’t come out right. I’m not sure if I sound right on the air.
Coach: Since I have not heard an aircheck of your show, I can only advise you to try and sound like you’re having a good time on air. Unless of course the subject matter doesn't call for sounding happy.
Air Talent: I will send you an aircheck and can we then talk?
Coach: Sure, but before you send me anything, I want to know what you think you’re not doing?
Air Talent: Being authentic.
Coach: I’ve been hearing the authentic word a lot over the last few years. I explain being yourself or authentic this way; Be true to whatever character you create for yourself on the air. If it’s really you, that’s fine, but it’s okay to create. The audience will never know if it’s a character. Radio is a combination of scripts and improv. Liners and live reads are radio scripts. You are an actor.
Air Talent: Won’t listeners know if it’s not the real me?
Coach: It will be whatever “real you” that you want them to hear. It’s no different than professional wrestlers. They create a character and that’s what they sell the crowds. Or another example, Bernie Madoff created a believable persona that defrauded investors for billions of dollars over the course of 17 years. His paperwork caught up with him, not his ability for high finance schmoozing. He was good actor and that’s what you have to be.
Air Talent: I never heard anything like that in college. Hmm, okay. I never thought of it that way.
Coach: Here’s another example. I used to work with a young lady who evolved as a person, but let her awakening change the character the audience had come to know on air. She was part of a morning show and was a hometown girl from a hardworking family. She had always talked about her life growing up and the things she still believed in. Suddenly she let her hefty salary and air celebrity take over her on air personality. She stopped being the hometown girl and abandoned the character the audience had come to see as authentic. The result reared its ugly head in perceptual research, with no luck we tried to reason with her, the morning show numbers began to drop, and we had to sacrifice her for the good of the morning show ensemble.
Air Talent: I get it, whatever character I create on the air, be authentic to it.
Coach: Yep, welcome to money radio. It may take a while to find out which character will work for you, but with the help of your PD and your observation, you’ll figure it out. Now send me your air check.
Remember…
Your voice is an instrument and a powerful tool. You must learn how to use it. Ours is a platform for theater-of-the-mind and effective communication. The sound of your voice paints the canvass, it provides the periods, question marks, commas, excitement, and transitions from one thought to another. I believe there are four essentials for an air talent to get better at their craft.- Record every show and listen to it
- Be patient with yourself, it becomes easier with practice
- Practice ... practice ... practice
- Work with an experienced coach or mentor
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