Shows that “fly by the seat of their pants” inevitably sound loose and have ‘dead’ time that needn’t be there.

Now, some 355 stations into this talent coaching stuff, one thing has become abundantly clear to me: people need to plan, not just “wing it.”

Here’s the easiest way to get a simple system in place…

Right after you finish a break, lay out the NEXT break.  If you’re in a team show, it’s doubly important.  A quick run-through (“Okay, next we’ll do the rodeo thing; I’ll start.  Remember your line that we’re going to get out on…”). Now, with that done, you now have several minutes to relax, chat, etc.

The old saying is “if you fail to plan, your plan is to fail,” and by and large, it’s true.

Note: This does NOT kill spontaneity; it just kills uncertainty.  And sounding SURE is what creates the “command presence” that all great air talents have.

There’s a huge difference between Confidence and having a big Ego.  A great Talent needs confidence.  Without it, you’d never try anything different, never find the things that are unique to you.

And confidence shows.  Think Sean Connery as James Bond.  Tiger Woods.  Paul McCartney.

But ego shows more – and usually it’s not a flattering image.  At all.

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If you’re so busy doing so many things – so many contests, so many (management) “initiatives,” so many other jobs (podcasts, voice tracking another station, writing website articles, social media postings) – you will inevitably lose Creativity.

You only have so many breaks during a show to talk about ANYTHING.  There are always things to plug, but you can’t plug everything equally.
The winning template is to only have one “big” thing and one “little” thing.  Say a major contest as your Big thing, and something else as your little thing.  That way, you still have time to do something creative on a regular basis as a main ingredient of your show. Continue reading →