If you’re new to a station, there are two questions in the listener’s mind you need to answer:

1. Who are you?
2. And why are you that way?

That’s what works. I had a morning show partner in Dallas who resisted this at first, clinging to being funny as his identity. But it was “punch line” funny.

When we got into cracking his chest open and seeing what was in there and what drove his real humor, the show clicked.

People don’t usually buy your act. They buy you, warts and all.

It’s hard for small, understaffed radio stations to cover all the bases. Many have only one live show, with everything after the morning show voice-tracked. (And sometimes, mornings are also VT.)

But what if a tornado or a huge thunderstorm suddenly poses a danger?

Here’s a solution: if you haven’t done this already, work out a deal with a local TV meteorologist to do your weather, and update the forecast when necessary. Give the TV station a sponsorship mention. They’ll get at least 365 mentions a year – for no money!

If listeners don’t trust you to be up to date and help them, then they’ll go somewhere else. Plus, an affiliation with a local TV station is a bonus for your radio station. Again, for no money. (The magic words.)

I’ve written about this before, but the murder of the English language is still prevalent. So…

“It was just between He and I.”

NO. “It was just between him and me.” (Object of the preposition. You can Google it if you never learned it.)

Starting out a career in radio can be daunting. So let me help you with two foundational thoughts:

1. Learn the Basics. If you’re not sure what they are, ask the best talent on the station or the Program Director what they are (and why).

2. Be yourself as much as you possibly can. Trying to adopt other air talents’ strengths probably won’t work for you. And why be a clone anyway?

Here’s what I think is a good example: Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant studied every move Michael Jordan had. But, he didn’t have “the claw” – Jordan’s giant right hand that could control the basketball like it was a baseball.

However, Bryant took Jordan’s mindset, and added to that a skill all his own: He was a much better outside shooter than Michael.

Jordan’s still the greatest, but if he’s #1, then Kobe’s #1A. You can be that good, too.

A station’s Program Director once proudly told me, “We only play 280 songs. With today’s Time Spent Listening stats, that’s all we need. A hit every song.”

Wrong. While “variety” has lost its meaning in the Imaging palette, it’s very real in the mind of the music-radio listener. That’s why Sirius/XM, Apple music, etc. thrive. There’s something new available all the time.

While mainly working with radio stations over the last 30 years, I also worked with some television air talent. Spending the bulk of my career in Texas (Dallas and Houston), where they often outshone the major TV networks, I was able to help a few people in those markets. But coaching them helped me even more in dealing with smaller market TV folks.

Example: in Spokane, while I was coaching two radio stations, they also asked me to do some sessions with their TV stations’ news anchors.

In 30 years of Talent Coaching all sized markets, I’ve found that the smaller market radio stations often have something that the medium and large markets don’t have – Authenticity.

While their formatics may sometimes be weak by major market standards, they often MEAN more to listeners. The reason is simple: they can be local. So, they can reflect more easily what the majority of their listeners really care about and identify with – and that’s the whole Content ballgame.

One of the things that makes it hard to coach people is when their whole on-air position is just a catch phrase. A TV station in my hometown uses “On Your Side” as its ‘positioning’ statement. It’s in all their stupid promos. But it’s meaningless.

“On my side” for what? A lawsuit? A basketball game at the gym? A street fight? My political affiliation? My battle with every restaurant to not put onions or garlic in my food?

Their “position” is actually prone (as in “lying face downward” or “lying flat,” according to the dictionary).

When I listen to the radio, the first thing is – I want to feel a human being there. Not just some quacky-voiced announcer who’s sitting there playing Wordle on their iPhone during the songs. And certainly not someone in the Talk arena who sounds like their every remark is prepared. (BE prepared, but don’t sound too prepared.)

A foundational tip of mine is: Never assume that people want to hear what you have to say.

You have to earn the listener’s attention every time you open the mic – even if you’re just doing something simple like intro’ing a song (in a music format), or adding “colorful” details to a story (in any format). Your “interesting sidebar” may indeed add something – but not always.