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We can probably all at some point
name one or more persons that'd actually invested into our life.
Could be a parent, pastor, a teacher or even someone that we grew up
with? For me it was Bill “The Birdman” Thomas that still to this day
motivates me to be great in not just radio but in life. I believe as
it pertains to radio there are those people that have helped get us
to where we are right now and paying it forward from staff to
interns shapes radio for the better.
The great thing about
great radio is that great people begat more great people. If you are
a great program director it's probably because you worked for great
program directors. When it pertains to air talent you're probably a
great air talent because someone somewhere or more than 1 persons
took the time to invest into your show. If you haven't had anyone
invest into your show ever or in a while you're probably a pretty
frustrated air talent.
This is probably one of
the things that are brushed off into the garbage can when program
directors can't find the time to invest into their talent. With
staff consolidation and so many air talents be networked from some
other location, it's really difficult to see talents grow. Honestly,
if you want your station to be the best in your market you need to
make talent coaching a top priority especially if you are not gonna
to hire a talent coach. It doesn't take a lot of time but has great
reward. I’d love to hire a staff of people with 20% talent and 80%
teachable spirit. I can work with that vs. the other way around.
PD’s know what they want from their station and how they want it to
sound so why wouldn’t you want your air talent to be able to
accomplish more on their show when you can help them get there.
If you want to get involved with your
talent, there are a couple a key areas that you can do that will
make a huge difference in not only their abilities but their
confidence level.
1. Find 2 things to
say positive that they're doing well
In some cases, you may have to dig to find a few good things but
it'll be very easy to find something for those you work with
regularly. The positive reinforcement in showing what your air
talent is doing well will help them to know what is the to strive
for with each break. The content, making it today and not generic or
even revealing a little piece of themselves to the listener makes
for compelling radio and keeps your show from being obsolete.
2. Find 2 things they
need to work on each week
Even if there are more than 2 things, and in most cases there are,
you can't as an air talent functional or process all these changes.
You can only focus on what are 2 things per week. If you overwhelm
your talent its harder for them to get better. They have to believe
in themselves and have to respect you as a programmer so the
importance of your reinforcement is like that of the parent to
child; Explaining why you do or don't do something on the air helps
them to create a filter that will make their show very real and
relatable to the listener. All you’re investing in the air talent
when they make a mistake that’s gonna make them leave in time
because they aren’t growing. It helps to set people up to succeed in
order for the whole station to thrive.
Side note for all programmers: You have
to make sure that the talent you have no matter what time slot they
are in now is that were there best suited because if you hire
someone for mornings and they really are more cut out to do a solo
afternoon show you wanna put them there so that they can succeed and
be the best for your team. It doesn't mean there a bad air talent or
could never do mornings, it just means that they're not cut out for
that particular spot on the air at this time and helping them see
that now will keep them from growing frustrated with you or their
talent coach.
Air Personalities battle their own
inner voice of how good or bad the show was today so PD’s and talent
coaches help to stand far enough back from the painting to see the
whole canvas, not just the individual colors.
If you aren’t capable of
doing this for your air talent, find a way to feed them is key if
you want your station to stand out in your market.
The Jeff Collin’s “Good to Great”
concept is really what you're striving for. In this book he
describes that you want the best people in the right seats on the
bus in order to win as a team. However, going around from seat to
seat and making sure that all of your teammates have what they need
to be their best at what they do is how you’re going to win.
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Ace McKay is a
Consultant and Talent Coach for Ace Books Consulting. He can be
reached at
[email protected].
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