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The movie "War Of
The Worlds" by H.G. Wells, the original, was one of the first movies
I remember scaring me. Everyone in the theatre jumped at the scene
where they heroes cut the "eye" from the spacesuit or whatever, and
took it to a laboratory where they set it up and arranged to look
through the eyes of the invader from outer space, and see what they
world looked like to them. While the effects seem pretty cheezy now,
it's still an apt metaphor for what we do, and don't do, with our
listeners.
While I'm not advocating you go out and dismember your listeners,
one of the most important things you can do is to view the world
through they eyes. But most of us don't. Instead we assume we know
what their perspective is. Only a few actually do research to find
out what the listeners are seeing. Just as the people in War Of The
Worlds were shocked when they hooked the eye up to the camera and
saw things like the alien saw them, many of us are shocked at what
the listeners see in us.
But think what would happen if we could look through our listeners
eyes and see the world?
Suddenly the ongoing debate about what size the music library should
be would evaporate. We'd see that the listeners want to hear their
favorite songs - nothing more. Library size would be decided by how
many of those songs there were.
Next, we'd begin to see the rest of the world through their eyes,
and find out what interests them and what doesn't. All those morning
show features about "on this day in history," and it being national
pickle day would disappear, and instead we'd be talking to them
about what really interests them. Given this new insight we'd be
able to not only talk to them, but engage them. We'd be able to
involve them in the station because we'd become involved in their
lives. After all, isn't that what friendship is really about,
sharing things you have in common?
We'd also get to see how they see us as people. Are we the kind of
folks they'd hang out with, or do we distance ourselves by talking
about ourselves and seemingly never listening to them? Are we seen
as being people they can relate to, or are we older people, talking
down to them? Are we the kind of people they'd invite over to
dinner, or are we seen as being too stodgy and distant for them?
Finally, we'd get to see how they see us as Christians. Are we
really seen as "seeker friendly," people with arms wide open, ready
to embrace them for their belief in God and understanding of Jesus?
Or would they see us as judgmental and political, always telling
them what they should be doing and passing judgement on their lives?
Would the buzz words we use on the air make them feel invited, or
like strangers?
One of the reasons many of us don't spend time trying to see the
world through the eyes of our listeners is it scares us. We don't
want to see what they do, because we'd have to change our own
paradigm instead of expecting the to mold to ours. We don't want
their input on music and library size because we'd have to do things
differently than we are now.
But seeing the world and yourself through the eyes of your listeners
is one of the most important things you can do, if you're really
dedicated to a role of servant.
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Alan Mason has been
consulting successful CCM and mainstream stations for decades. He
has been married to his wife Becki for 39 years, and they currently
live in Lincoln, California. His other interests include genealogy
and political strategy. He was the recipient of the 2007 Rob
Campbell Award, and the Radio & Retail Echo Award for industry
impact.
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