Whether You’ve Felt It or Not, Respect It

If you’ve ever been on the air, you’ve felt it. The tingle of adrenaline. You’re on the edge of your seat. You may clear your throat. The computer screen illuminates your face. You may be looking at a show partner, several team members, or you’re solo.

What you’re seeing in your mind is a listener, or envisioning a place. If it’s a conversation, you’re engrossed in the discussion, and you are paying attention.

You’re on the air.

When the microphone goes on, there is a heightened awareness of what you want to say and what you have to say, and because you’re prepared, there’s no hesitation in saying it. You know that there are people listening to you. You’re aware of where you’re being heard when it comes to listening locations. The audience is your friend. You are their friend.

My respect for air talent comes from being one. If I were great at it, that’s what I would’ve done for the rest of my career. It was listening to other air talent, those who were great, that influenced me to want to be in radio. I think that most of us on the content side of the business “caught the radio bug” by hearing someone who performed in a way that inspired us. The on-air part of my career took me from Wheeling, WV, to Los Angeles with stops before and after. I was “okay” at best, but having that experience helped me grow as a programmer.

Often, the biggest difference between a major market talent and the personality in a smaller market is that one is in the majors and the other isn’t.

I’m not suggesting that talent shouldn’t aspire to be in the big leagues. I’m suggesting that the delivery platform is often the same. The listener connection is often the same. Audience expectation is the same. The audience doesn’t expect the air talent in their market to sound lesser than the national talent they hear on the radio. I am also acknowledging that some of the very best talent I’ve heard are in smaller markets. 

If you’ve never been on the air, you’ve not felt it. The rush of executing a great break. Feeling as if you scored a touchdown or a goal, hit a homerun, threw a strike, or nailed a hole in one. The very best talent are driven by that feeling. That feeling is the reason for the investment in time prepping for a show, thinking about what resonates with the audience through all of your waking hours, and cherishing being on-air. They have to be allowed to be who they are.

The 10 commonalities of the very best air talent:

• Intelligence. I’ve never met a successful talent who wasn’t intelligent. 

• They hear a party in their head that no one else has been invited to. Not in reality, but they think as a performer. 

• There’s a constant evaluation process going on in their head as to what may interest an audience and what doesn’t.

• The best talent are continually doing show prep. Being observational and taking in what they see around them, what they read, see, and hear. Searching out what’s trending. Understanding their audience’s interests. Organized in how they prepare.

• They’re driven and competitive. It’s not just about doing a great show. It’s about doing a better show than anyone else in your market. This drive is sometimes interpreted incorrectly and assigned to a talent as being difficult. That’s a misdiagnosis. 

• The very best talent work hard to be everywhere and be seen everywhere. They may be introverted off the air, but when there’s a chance to be the center of attention, they show up and perform. 

• They are tireless. There are no time clocks. The attitude is “whatever it takes.”

• The very best talent are always striving to perform at a higher level. Improving. Evolving. Curious. They make themselves a project.

• They know who they are and what works for them.

• Good is never good enough.

On-air personalities are special. These are people sitting in a room, often by themselves, speaking into a microphone, and they’re convinced people are listening. What they do isn’t easy for everyone, but it often is for them. Because they worked hard to make it look easy. Because they’re talented. Because they care. Because they’re committed to doing their best.

Great personalities are not commodities that grow on trees. They’re rare. They deserve respect.