This week's All Access newsletter may not hit mailboxes until tomorrow, but here's a Special Sneak Preview. Aren't you lucky? Anyway, it's about the need to not be like everyone else on the dial. "Obvious" is my middle name. Oh, right, it's Michael. Sorry, it's been a long day spent largely getting a tire replaced. Anyway:
What makes YOU so special?
I thought about this when I was idly punching through a bunch of stations, listening to random talk shows both local and national. I'd tell you which shows they were, but a) I don't do that here and b) I don't remember many of them. And I don't remember them because the host didn't give me anything TO remember. I don't need to tell you why that's a problem.
But that plays into the hands of the people who insist that there isn't enough talent out there. They may be right -- talk radio is hard, and a lot of hosts make themselves sound interchangeable. And that's where the question I asked at the beginning comes in: what DOES make you special? What sets you apart from the pack? What about you is different enough, SPECIAL enough so that when people hear your show, they know it's you?
You need to have an answer for that. Really. I've told you before how, when I go to some conventions (hey, one's coming up in a couple of weeks! I'm so excited! Is it over yet? Please?), I sit in big rooms with general managers and sales managers and group heads and the big Wall Street broadcasting industry analysts from BearStearnsDeutscheWachoviaBankOfAmerica and they talk about radio without once mentioning the need for, or value of, talent. As far as they're concerned, "talent" is just a budget line to cut. "Talent" is something that can be replaced by other "Talent," by computers, by syndication, by the next fad format. But when a top morning show flirts with jumping to a competitor, suddenly, they notice, and they call the lawyers to see if the non-compete is enforceable. The managers may not know what makes that morning show irreplaceable, but they do know a potential revenue hit when they see it.
So you want to be irreplaceable, and you do that by differentiating yourself. How do you do that? Well, you COULD do your entire show in a bizarre high-pitched voice -- different, yes, but unlistenable. You could do wacky stunts, like sitting on a billboard until the Eagles successfully field a punt (you KNEW I'd have to say something about that, didn't you?), but then you're just like a million Morning Zoo clones. You could hire a publicist, but that just means some poor sap radio trade editor's e-mail inbox will overflow and he'll silently seethe with resentment and plot his revenge against you.
Or you could have something to say, and say it in an entertaining way.
The common denominator among hosts who rise above the pack is that they all have something to say about whatever topic they're discussing, something more than just reading it out of the paper or taking the obvious position. The best hosts aren't predictable. They aren't easy to pin down as clones of some other host. They do offer original thought, original opinions, a unique viewpoint. They make listeners want to tune in every day to hear what their take is on whatever's going on.
You want to be that kind of host. But I can't tell you HOW to do it (not for free, anyway). I can just tell you that if you want to be one of those hosts who really stands out -- who really IS irreplaceable -- you need to be more than an anonymous host who sounds like every other host talking about the same standard topics with the same opinions and same personality and same voice. You need to be, well, special.
And that's why, when I try to explain to the curious (generally, that means everyone I meet from outside the industry who asks me "so, what do YOU do for a living?" and reacts with confusion when I tell them) exactly what "Talk Topics" is, I tell them that it's a long lost of potential topics for talk radio shows, but that the idea is not to just take what I've written and read it on the air, it's to read it, put your own spin on it, maybe come up with a question for the audience, and generally make it your own. You can fill a whole show just rattling off what's in "Talk Topics" (which is, of course, All Access News-Talk-Sports' show prep column), but anyone can do that. Your gift, should you choose to use it, is to take an item from the column and come up with an opinion, a question, an idea that might not immediately occur to most people. There's your "special." Do it in a compelling way and you're golden. And maybe you'll be the next host who has stations fighting over his next big-money contract.
What's in this week's "Talk Topics," anyway? Waiting for your special take are items on things like a Very Texas Rosh Hashonah (including gunfire), who's complaining that hybrid cars are too quiet, what people are doing to ensure that their homes get sold, a guy who should have just paid the five dollars to see a concert rather than ending up impaled on a fence, a bunch of stories about pervs and murderers that should raise your blood pressure, a bus driver who went way above and beyond, a stabbing resulting from an argument over produce, several pit bull stories, a legal battle over a tiki hut, the dispute over how to deal with gangs, what burping has to do with breathalyzer accuracy, the Great Pasta Strike, why oil futures are breaking records, conflicting news on American health, and why Homeland Security might consider rounding up Florida Marlins fans (it wouldn't take long). You can also check out "10 Questions With..." KSRO/Santa Rosa host (and former San Francisco Giants broadcaster and Petaluma mayor (!)) David Glass, and browse the rest of All Access with the radio industry's best/fastest/most accurate news, message boards, music charts, columns, jobs, ratings... you know, there's so much stuff here that I lose track sometimes. Just go to allaccess.com and check it all out.
Hey, will you look at that? I got through this entire thing with just one reference to the Eagles' debacle and not a word about what's left of the Phillies' season. I'm improving.
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