Interviews are common on AM/FM and podcast shows. A great guest can sometimes be an audience draw. However, Nielsen data shows that most radio interviews are a tune-out. Imagine that your show is a rocket headed to the moon and interviews are a giant, smoking crater where your show plummeted nose-first into the ground. The … Read more
What is more exciting than a live broadcast of something happening right now? Sometimes there is no substitute for a live radio show. And, today’s short attention span audiences appreciate well-edited content. Movies, television, music, podcasts even comedy specials are mostly recorded and pre-produced. Cutting to the chase and leaving the dull parts on the cutting room … Read more
Wouldn’t it be great if you could download new behaviors into your brain, like a program and make yourself more productive, error-free and focused? It turns out that we have an app for that. It is called habit. Good habits can help broadcasters and podcasters to do a better show. Habit is like software. A … Read more
In Italy, Ferrari racing fans are called “tifosi.” Formula 1 is their religion. The tifosi worship Ferrari drivers passionately when they win, but become wrathful when they lose. Passion is good business. It is rumored that Ferrari makes more money from Ferrari-branded merchandise than they do from cars. Ferrari is worth more as a company … Read more
When I teach storytelling for in-person workshops, I have each participant prepare and deliver a story no longer than 60 seconds. When they have each told a story and shared feedback, I say tell that story again – in 30 seconds. The audience always looks at me like I asked them to flap their arms … Read more
On names, the public has the final say. The Staples Center in Los Angeles, home of the Grammys, the Lakers, the Sparks, and the Kings have been renamed the Crypto.com Arena. Twenty years from now, as those naming rights end, Californians will likely still be calling it the Staples Center. In naming a personality-based show … Read more
Thousands of valuable viewers and listeners are tuned in to your show at any given moment. Keeping them is key to your success. That’s where teasing is crucial. Teasing sounds easy, but it is difficult work. Most broadcasters and podcasters underestimate the challenge of teasing well. Teasing has two essential moving parts: Consistency: teasing every … Read more
You can laugh out loud while learning to be a more powerful communicator. My homework assignment for you today is to watch stand-up comedy. Even if your goal is not to be funny, studying comedians is a master class on commanding the spotlight and being memorable. Great comedians are the best communicators in the world. … Read more
On-location shows can be fun for the hosts but torturous for the audience if not executed well, and a week of bad content can have a negative effect on Nielsen results. Consider these points as your show plans a beach-side or theme park broadcast. Don’t change the show. Keep all the regular benchmarks. Do your … Read more
It was very early morning in May 1964. A man was sound asleep in his Clearwater, Florida hotel room when a loud guitar riff suddenly jolted him out of bed. The sound did not come from a noisy neighbor. The guitar riff was a dream in the man’s head. The man was a musician. He … Read more