Guest Blogger: WYRK's Clay Moden

The management of Townsquare Media Buffalo has motivated Clay to become a very creative and prolific blogger. Most days, his listeners benefit, but now and then he gets inspired to write something he considered "too inside radio" to share on his station blog. Lucky you and me, we benefit. Here's his latest one:

I was speaking with a radio friend of mine recently about being a "fill in" for a certain air shift and I couldn't help but think that his dilemma is something that most jocks who have been on the air can relate to.

If you have ever been a part timer or even someone that wants a certain time slot, you can understand his story.

When the PD calls on you to fill in for someone, your first thought is..."here is my chance to show them I should be in that slot!" The next thing you do is go out of your way to prep for the show and try to make it sound like a nationally syndicated radio success!

What usually happens?

You FAIL!

Happens every time. You get caught up in trying to be something/someone you think will grab the attention of the PD/GM and have a perfectly polished show.

It may actually have all of the key ingredients and come out "sounding" the way YOU want it to, but here is the problem, the audience is not made of PD and GM's.

It is everyday people, most of which are casual listeners that are waiting to hear their favorite song or get a piece of information they need or a contest they are trying to win.

If you have ever listened to the Rush Limbaugh show, you will note that he has people fill in from time to time. Although they keep the format of the show, they are not trying to "replace" Rush. They are all very different than Rush and all have their own traits and styles. They clearly don't go out of their way to try to be someone.

It may sound cliche but it is true, being yourself is the best option.

After all, it is you being yourself that most likely caught the PD's attention in the first place.

Here is what I suggest. When you go to fill in for another air shift or even if you are doing a bonafide on-air audition, you PLAN what you intend to do, you PERSONALIZE it according to how YOU normally are when you do a show and you PERFORM according to your own style and ability.

Don't overdo it or you will sound PHONY!

Oh, and one more thing, try not to PREDICT what the PD/GM is thinking.

It has been my experience that they often times are not listening as closely as you think. They are just glad they found someone to cover a shift.

You'll find more from Clay on this blog, I am proud to say.

The Three R's

There are three goals that any radio station/show should be aiming for when it comes to both on air broadcast and web content. It seems to be something that should be ‘common sense” for any broadcaster.

However, it seems these days we as an industry have gotten away from what our focus should be and strayed into the theory that “just getting our name out there as much as we can” is good enough.

Although it is vital to be known in your market and brand yourself/station as a major player and take ownership of your town/ratings, broadcasters today miss the point of the underlying factor.

The question is what we are going to do with the audience when we get them? I heard a long time ago that as a an “announcer” my job is to keep the listen as long as possible.

I think it can be broken down in three categories or objectives. I call them the THREE “R’s”

REACT
One way or another, we want our listeners to react. Laugh? Cry? Get them angry? It’s all good.

The saying goes “you can’t please everyone all the time.”

Well, take advantage of that.

If it your goal to PLEASE your audience at every turn. You WILL fail.

Besides, in real life, it’s those people that do act that way that are viewed as phony. I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand phony people and I certainly don’t want to listen to them.

RESPOND
OK, so now that we have them laughing, crying or mad, what do we do?

Invite them to respond.

If listeners feel like they have an outlet to respond or give feedback, they will stay with you every time.

Is it FACEBOOK, TWITTER or on the phone?

YES. It’s all of those.

The only way people will keep be interested in anything you have to say or promote is if they can have some sort of reaction that is seen or heard.

We have listeners that don’t have time to listen to our broadcast in real time but they love our station so much they want to know what is going on and feel as though they are a part of the family.

RETURN
Like I said before, the job of an announcer is more than just being an entertainer.

We need to keep our audience coming back.

That won’t happen if we are not achieving the previous “R’s.”

If you simply try to promote your station without inviting people back, you have not gotten or gained anything.

In big markets with multiple stations of the same genre this is VITAL!

To be perfectly honest, if you are an announcer that is merely after getting “known”, your career will be a short one.

Some of the best jocks I have ever heard are no names. Yet, they have a way of getting me to come back every time.

Often times I don’t agree with them and many times they find a way to get a reaction from me and yes, I have even tried to “FRIEND” them so I can respond.

If you are REAL and have a way about you that gets listeners to react and respond they will keep coming back.

- Clay Moden, WYRK, Country 106.5/Buffalo