Become a great radio presenter. Bring your shows to life with 5 essential tips to inspire your listeners for awe-inspiring shows.
Who wants to listen to a boring person? The last thing anyone wants to hear on the radio is a dull personality. Instead, you should paint pictures with words to captivate your audience. Discover here, in no particular order, our top 20 ways to become a great radio presenter.
1. Keep Cool
The world of live broadcasting is unpredictable, anything can happen that could derail one of your shows; an angry caller, technical issues, guests being uncooperative or not showing up. In these situations, it’s important to think of your station as a professional environment and behave appropriately. Don’t freak out. Don’t abandon all hope. Put your thinking cap on; it’s problem-solving time. You’re not the only one affected in these situations, everyone else at the station may start to panic, so it’s your job to keep calm and reassure everyone. If you can all stay composed you’ll be better equipped to solve any problems.
2. Engage With Your Radio Station
Back in the day, radio presenters used to stroll in, broadcast their show, then stroll out – nowadays this isn’t good enough, it looks like you don’t care about the station. You need to engage with your station; guests and contribute for other’s shows, mention them in your own broadcasts, and maintain good working relationships with your coworkers. Solidarity within your station makes it more of a community for you, your coworkers, and your audience. Listeners will engage for longer if they feel like part of a greater whole.
3. Do Your Research
In the internet age that we live in, people live to call others out. Avoid becoming next week’s big meme by always being as accurate as possible with any topic, otherwise, there’ll be a horde of people waiting to immediately dismiss you for what could have been an honest mistake. And that’s the best-case scenario.
As such; always do your research. It’s your job to inform and not spread misinformation, whether intentional or not, so if you’re making obvious mistakes and getting facts wrong whenever you’re on the air, it will destroy your audience’s trust in your ability as a presenter. You’ll also look lazy.
Research goes beyond skimming Wikipedia, too! It’s a great resource but, because anyone can edit articles, some of them are… less than reliable. If people can recognize you’ve done the bare minimum they may look elsewhere for someone more knowledgeable or engaging. Dedication to your work can be very endearing to audiences, so if you’re on Wikipedia, check out the sources at the bottom of the page, which often link to more in-depth articles to use for your research.
4. Always Pre-Read Scripts
Unprofessional is not a good look. While the occasional mistake can be brushed aside, constantly messing up makes you look bad and sometimes land you in hot water.
If you want to avoid mistakes like these, read your scripts beforehand and rehearse them, otherwise, you may make a fool of yourself.
5. Community Focused
To be a great radio presenter, you need to keep your ear to the ground and stay in touch with your community. Add that personal touch by demonstrating genuine care and interest for your audience. Get to know them on an individual level by holding events where you can interact with them personally, speak to them when you’re out at the pub, anything to build your investment in your audience. Building this kind of relationship with your listeners helps you to tailor your content to their interests and improves your ability to engage directly with their needs.
