When we radio people talk about programming do you know what tends to come up? It’s the stuff. Clocks. New music. Rotations. Liners. Commercial breaks. Traffic reports. Stuff that fits ever so nicely on a spread sheet.

Well, I have news for you. Good news, in fact. Your station has a secret weapon. And it’s not any of that stuff.

It’s people.

People care about people. Only people can tell stories. And it is the story that connects us. It can make us feel like we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves. “Me, too”, are powerful words of connection.

“Every person responds to story because they’re living in one.”

Donald Miller

There are a handful of stations that I can listen to for just a little while and get a sense of who the people are and how they connect with my life and values. Unfortunately, most I can listen to for days and days without any sense of real people living real lives. Just pleasant voices on the radio talking about radio stuff.

Let’s put your station through the Seinfeld test. What’s the story for each of your main characters? Harder to come up with for some than others, I reckon’. What is their humanity that connects with your listener’s lives and values? If you’re only hearing the stuff you’re missing out on your station’s secret weapon.

“You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.”

Herb Cohen