1.) Keep away from "square pegs in a round hole" - If it don't fit, don't force it.
Stay away from out of life group information and bits. Today's listeners are more wired into other mediums and media than most air talent. They can smell phony a mile away. You can talk about Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts on Top-40, but talking about Kesha and Jay-Z on a Country station makes no sense.
2.) Make sure news, traffic and weather all tie in as part of the show and not distractions.
This cane from Harker - Great idea, weave these elements into the show and production to avoid bumps and snags. Especially if the traffic and news delivery is weaker than the morning show. Quick hand-offs without all the noisy beds and intros - Don't bring attention to long strings of talk.
3.) More short calls over song intro's between stop-sets.
Use the intro time between and after stop-sets to air calls. Reasoning - The short intro will cause you to edit and get to the point without a thesis.
4.) Become aware of the :30 rule - If it goes past thirty seconds - It better be good!
Harker said "Get to the point quickly", we don't need the old school set-up material that drags on forever. This has got to move from element to element fast and without snags. They occasions of listening are shorter and more frequent - There is no TSL with the PPM.
5.) Outward not inward!
Morning shows massage each other's egos and this will not grow the audience and the life group. I love the Harker line "Listeners don't golf". Morning show's can sometimes be out of step with the audience and life group like politicians. Disjointed with the public. Be in touch with what listener's are talking about.
6.) Conversational tones with peaks and valleys for high points and emotional points.
Why do air talent talk in the same tone most of the time with no change in their inflection. This is theater of the mind and acting - It's not announcing. Get excited and get emotional.
7.) Play hits - Never drop powers - PD's don't let AM SHOW play with the logs any longer.
Never let a morning show edit the log, you control the drop options. You will get every story in the world to why two inane titles played back to back. Don't let it happen. We need to play concentrated hit titles in the PPM-world.
8.) Be honest, no more fake!
Disc-jockeys doing mornings won't cut it and un-trained morning show professionals will give way to syndicated personalties or talent from other dayparts coming to mornings. Playing games and contests mixed with music and contrived content will fail.
9.) More change and surprise!
Mundane and boring will be perceived as such. Make marks by being in touch with their interests and work to find out what perks their interests.
10.) Talk about what interests the audience!
Timing is everything, hit it early, often and get off it before it becomes yesterday's news. Talk to people, join organizations, talk to your kids teachers and parents, make it mainstream and make it happen. Never blue or crass, but off the wall and unpredictable. Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it cool.
twitter.com/FTCtweets
facebook.com/FullThrottleCountry
Share
Can you explain the line about "contests mixed with music"?
ReplyDeleteI've found some of my best reaction / engagement are to contests that use phrases from the listeners' favorite artist's songs ...