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‘Six Steps’ BY British Broadcast Veteran Brian McColl
As a radio presenter, you are constantly told that being on the radio is part of a continuous relationship between you and the listener.
The different ways you can effect or influence their day, their mood, and their outlook at that moment.
A lot of time is spent analysing how we do this. How we go about developing that relationship each and every time we go on air.
Whether we’re on a five-day shift during the week, weekends only or even overnights.
Each of us has that relationship with our listener.
Like any two-way relationship in ‘regular life’, it needs to be worked on and it needs us to pay proper attention to it.
I just finished reading a book called “Made To Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath (great names – could be on the radio)!
In this book, the authors list the ways in which people remember an idea or a concept.
When I put the book down, I realised we can use all that they were saying in the on-air studio.
That happens a lot. Anything to do with social learning can be brought right back into the field of radio.
We are people relating to people, right?
Doesn’t it make sense to find out as much as we can about how people behave and think and learn and bond?
My theory on radio is simple (a bit like myself): speak to the listener as you would a friend or family member.
That’s why I always recommend dropping the clichés in a link. You don’t use them in normal conversation, so why do so suddenly on the radio? It doesn’t make sense and it makes you sound unnatural.
Nowadays, the emphasis is being put on presenters sounding more ‘real’. Doesn’t matter what your format is, you can sound real and actually connect with the words you use. Yes, even on a CHR with fifteen-second links.
If you don’t have time to read this book, let me outline the main ideas for you.
These guys reckon that there are six factors in forming an idea. Most of these, I feel, we already use on air without even realising it.
They are…(drum roll please):
#1: Simplicity.
Ah, simplicity. How simple!
What is it we call this?
Yup, ‘One Element Per Link’.
We’re already using simplicity in our links when we self-edit. When we stick with the golden formula of finding one main element in the link and staying with it. When we do this, we sound focussed and help the listener to hear our words and understand our message, instead of rambling on and becoming distracted.
Simplicity. It’s a beautiful thing.
#2: Credibility.
I like this one because when you are credible, you are trusted.
Trust is crucial to any relationship, right?
When your listener trusts you, it also means they will forgive you. So, if you screw up a link or say something that they might not like, they will forgive you because they trust you. To them, you are fundamentally credible. You are believable. This also means that you sound ‘real’. You don’t come across as a jock crankin’ out the tunes!
You are a person they like and enjoy being with.
That’s credibility.
#3:Unexpectedness.
When you are credible and trusted, then you can get away with being unexpected. There’s that old expression, “predictably unpredictable”. That’s what we’re talking about here. You are being allowed shock occasionally and step away from your usual persona.
Not only does the listener allow it, they even enjoy it. It keeps them guessing. It adds spice to the relationship. If you are normally a wacky/funny presenter who is known for making listeners laugh, you can get away with one day coming across as the complete opposite. Imagine ‘Mister Crazy’ becoming ‘Mister Morose’ for an entire shift. That would be unexpected and your credibility would allow it to happen.
#4:Concreteness.
You might feel that this is similar to ‘credible’, but it is slightly different. To my mind, ‘concreteness’ on air means, knowing what you are talking about and not fooling your listener. If you are speaking about an event or a song or if you are giving a fact about anything, you should have your facts right.
Fair enough, you can’t know everything. In that case, just being honest is always best. But if you are putting it out there that what you are saying is fact, then it has to be. That’s being concrete. That’s what adds to your credibility. If you’re caught out on a lie while on air, you have just done your relationship damage.
#5:Emotion.
We could write a book on this one…oh hang on, there’ve been a few, haven’t there?
Everything we do and say comes down to emotion.
“How does that make me feel”?
That’s the crux of our life. How does something make us feel?
Human beings are forever thinking about how events make us feel.
Do I feel happy, sad, annoyed…how do I feel?
You have the ability to tap into people’s emotions with the words you use on air. You can say “I hate all red haired people” and you will have completely outraged red haired people and the general listener as well with your comment. Why do something like that? Well, it depends on your act. The point being, you have the ability to alter a person’s emotion. That’s a pretty amazing statement to take in, when you think about it. Use that one wisely!!
#6: Narrative Potential.
In other words: ‘Story Telling’.
Nothing communicates better than a story.
It’s the best way to get your point across.
Comedians know this. Not too many comedians come onstage and tell gag after gag after gag. They lead up to the punch line with a story. The story is what brings the emotion, the credibility, the unexpectedness, and the concreteness to the joke. The punch line brings the simplicity.
There you go. All six parts coming together at the end…just like a great story!
Maybe try using one of the six factors listed when you are on the air.
See how it feels. What way can you use one or all of them in a show?
Play around with them and get used to them. They are naturally programmed into your brain, so it really shouldn’t be too difficult. All six of those factors are part of basic socialisation and are already hard wired into our thinking.
That means, if you are aware of them automatically, then so is your listener (unless you broadcast to a dog kennel).
Excellent! I've just watched a few of Brian's Video's, this Guy is Good. He knows and understands the business well Thanks Brian, the request is for more
Great thread. Another idea would be to have the people in a room behind a microphone NOT talk from the mountain top. Be equal. Understand that great communication is as much about listening and learning as it is 'telling a story'. Master the absolute essentials of communication in all their simplicity and then study L Ron Hubbard's Emotional Tone Scale. The guy may have won that bet in the bar ("Hey, I'm '^itfaced, I betcha I can start a religion) but man, that particular point in Dianetics is some great reading.....or you could laugh because you already know everything and you're done watching the Tom Cruise statement on Scientology!!!
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