Latest news from BmacMedia is that I have joined up with Mark Robinson of The Radio Academy Ireland to co-ordinate and teach a Diploma in Radio Broadcasting at the Independent Colleges in Dublin (operated by Independent Newspapers).
The course begins March 27th and will cover all aspects of being on air.
Diploma is awarded by the Institute of Commercial Management in Ireland.
I'm really excited about working with Mark on this course and look forward to meeting the great new voices of Irish radio.
More information at :
http://www.independentcolleges.ie/downloads/pdf/RB.PDF
Brian.
Radio thoughts and bits from Brian McColl. www.bmacmedia.com
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
New Website is Live!
I'm delighted to say that our new Website is now 'live'.
Along with the highly respected London based company, BlueRevolution.com, our new site is now active.
You can find it at http://www.presenterworkshop.com
The site details our latest Workshop DVD and includes special offers including;
*FREE eBook outlining Radio Presentation Tips.
*7 Top Tips for Presenters
*Audio interview I held with Paul Hollins at BlueRevolution (over one hour duration).
http://www.presenterworkshop.com
Along with the highly respected London based company, BlueRevolution.com, our new site is now active.
You can find it at http://www.presenterworkshop.com
The site details our latest Workshop DVD and includes special offers including;
*FREE eBook outlining Radio Presentation Tips.
*7 Top Tips for Presenters
*Audio interview I held with Paul Hollins at BlueRevolution (over one hour duration).
http://www.presenterworkshop.com
Monday, February 18, 2008
BmacMedia Workshop DVD is ready for purchase !
Yes, it's the must-have Easter gift for all the family. Watch as your (non-radio) relatives and friends marvel at non-stop Shop Talk.
OK, maybe just buying it for yourself would be a better idea.
This DVD is four hours in length and was recorded in the Guinness Storehouse (hic) Dublin on November 24th 2007.
It's available through BmacMedia in Ireland: brian@bmacmedia.com
Or for the UK, Europe and the rest of this lovely planet, through BlueRevolution in London:
Plus, when you make your purchase you will receive lots of other lovely FREE radio goodies too. Maybe even a chocolate bar*
*Warning - no actual chocolate bars available.
Watch out for upcoming Workshops: March 29th 2008 Dundalk Ireland and coming in May we'll be off to Limerick with 2FM / Atlantic 252 guest presenter Dusty Rhodes.
End of blog post.
Brian.
Friday, February 15, 2008
'Six Steps' (as featured in 'The Radio Magazine' UK).
We’ve spoken many times in the past about how being on the radio is part of a continuous relationship between you and the listener.
The different ways you can effect or influence their day, their mood, and their outlook at that moment.
A lot of time is spent analysing how we do this. How we go about developing that relationship each and every time we go on air.
Whether we’re on a five-day shift during the week, weekends only or even overnights.
Each of us has that relationship with our listener.
Like any two-way relationship in ‘regular life’, it needs to be worked on and it needs us to pay proper attention to it.
I just finished reading a book called “Made To Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath (great names – could be on the radio)!
In this book, the authors list the ways in which people remember an idea or a concept.
When I put the book down, I realised we can use all that they were saying in the on-air studio.
That happens a lot. Anything to do with social learning can be brought right back into the field of radio.
We are people relating to people, right?
Doesn’t it make sense to find out as much as we can about how people behave and think and learn and bond?
My theory on radio is simple (a bit like myself): speak to the listener as you would a friend or family member.
That’s why I always recommend dropping the clichés in a link. You don’t use them in normal conversation, so why do so suddenly on the radio? It doesn’t make sense and it makes you sound unnatural.
Nowadays, the emphasis is being put on presenters sounding more ‘real’. Doesn’t matter what your format is, you can sound real and actually connect with the words you use. Yes, even on a CHR with fifteen-second links.
If you don’t have time to read this book, let me outline the main ideas for you.
These guys reckon that there are six factors in forming an idea. Most of these, I feel, we already use on air without even realising it.
They are…(drum roll please):
#1: Simplicity.
Ah, simplicity. How simple!
What is it we call this?
Yup, ‘One Element Per Link’.
We’re already using simplicity in our links when we self-edit. When we stick with the golden formula of finding one main element in the link and staying with it. When we do this, we sound focussed and help the listener to hear our words and understand our message, instead of rambling on and becoming distracted.
Simplicity. It’s a beautiful thing.
#2: Credibility.
I like this one because when you are credible, you are trusted.
Trust is crucial to any relationship, right?
When your listener trusts you, it also means they will forgive you. So, if you screw up a link or say something that they might not like, they will forgive you because they trust you. To them, you are fundamentally credible. You are believable. This also means that you sound ‘real’. You don’t come across as a jock crankin’ out the tunes!
You are a person they like and enjoy being with.
That’s credibility.
#3:Unexpectedness.
When you are credible and trusted, then you can get away with being unexpected. There’s that old expression, “predictably unpredictable”. That’s what we’re talking about here. You are being allowed shock occasionally and step away from your usual persona.
Not only does the listener allow it, they even enjoy it. It keeps them guessing. It adds spice to the relationship. If you are normally a wacky/funny presenter who is known for making listeners laugh, you can get away with one day coming across as the complete opposite. Imagine ‘Mister Crazy’ becoming ‘Mister Morose’ for an entire shift. That would be unexpected and your credibility would allow it to happen.
#4:Concreteness.
You might feel that this is similar to ‘credible’, but it is slightly different. To my mind, ‘concreteness’ on air means, knowing what you are talking about and not fooling your listener. If you are speaking about an event or a song or if you are giving a fact about anything, you should have you facts right.
Fair enough, you can’t know everything. In that case, just being honest is always best. But if you are putting it out there that what you are saying is fact, then it has to be. That’s being concrete. That’s what adds to your credibility. If you’re caught out on a lie while on air, you have just done your relationship damage.
#5:Emotion.
We could write a book on this one…oh hang on, there’ve been a few, haven’t there?
Everything we do and say comes down to emotion.
“How does that make me feel”?
That’s the crux of our life. How does something make us feel?
Human beings are forever thinking about how events make us feel.
Do I feel happy, sad, annoyed…how do I feel?
You have the ability to tap into people’s emotions with the words you use on air. You can say “I hate all red haired people” and you will have completely outraged red haired people and the general listener as well with your comment. Why do something like that? Well, it depends on your act. The point being, you have the ability to alter a person’s emotion. That’s a pretty amazing statement to take in, when you think about it. Use that one wisely!!
#6: Narrative Potential.
In other words: ‘Story Telling’.
Nothing communicates better than a story.
We devoted a whole Ezine to story telling last year. It’s the best way to get your point across.
Comedians know this. Not too many comedians come onstage and tell gag after gag after gag. They lead up to the punch line with a story. The story is what brings the emotion, the credibility, the unexpectedness, and the concreteness to the joke. The punch line brings the simplicity.
There you go. All six parts coming together at the end…just like a great story!
Maybe try using one of the six factors listed when you are on the air.
See how it feels. What way can you use one or all of them in a show?
Play around with them and get used to them. They are naturally programmed into your brain, so it really shouldn’t be too difficult. All six of those factors are part of basic socialisation and are already hard wired into our thinking.
That means, if you are aware of them automatically, then so is your listener (unless you broadcast to a dog kennel).
‘Humans relating to other humans’.
That’s what radio presentation is all about.
It’s fairly simple when you strip it all back.
In my opinion.
Brian.
To discover more about ‘Speaking Like a Real Person’, contact:
brian@bmacmedia.com
Passionate About Radio.
The different ways you can effect or influence their day, their mood, and their outlook at that moment.
A lot of time is spent analysing how we do this. How we go about developing that relationship each and every time we go on air.
Whether we’re on a five-day shift during the week, weekends only or even overnights.
Each of us has that relationship with our listener.
Like any two-way relationship in ‘regular life’, it needs to be worked on and it needs us to pay proper attention to it.
I just finished reading a book called “Made To Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath (great names – could be on the radio)!
In this book, the authors list the ways in which people remember an idea or a concept.
When I put the book down, I realised we can use all that they were saying in the on-air studio.
That happens a lot. Anything to do with social learning can be brought right back into the field of radio.
We are people relating to people, right?
Doesn’t it make sense to find out as much as we can about how people behave and think and learn and bond?
My theory on radio is simple (a bit like myself): speak to the listener as you would a friend or family member.
That’s why I always recommend dropping the clichés in a link. You don’t use them in normal conversation, so why do so suddenly on the radio? It doesn’t make sense and it makes you sound unnatural.
Nowadays, the emphasis is being put on presenters sounding more ‘real’. Doesn’t matter what your format is, you can sound real and actually connect with the words you use. Yes, even on a CHR with fifteen-second links.
If you don’t have time to read this book, let me outline the main ideas for you.
These guys reckon that there are six factors in forming an idea. Most of these, I feel, we already use on air without even realising it.
They are…(drum roll please):
#1: Simplicity.
Ah, simplicity. How simple!
What is it we call this?
Yup, ‘One Element Per Link’.
We’re already using simplicity in our links when we self-edit. When we stick with the golden formula of finding one main element in the link and staying with it. When we do this, we sound focussed and help the listener to hear our words and understand our message, instead of rambling on and becoming distracted.
Simplicity. It’s a beautiful thing.
#2: Credibility.
I like this one because when you are credible, you are trusted.
Trust is crucial to any relationship, right?
When your listener trusts you, it also means they will forgive you. So, if you screw up a link or say something that they might not like, they will forgive you because they trust you. To them, you are fundamentally credible. You are believable. This also means that you sound ‘real’. You don’t come across as a jock crankin’ out the tunes!
You are a person they like and enjoy being with.
That’s credibility.
#3:Unexpectedness.
When you are credible and trusted, then you can get away with being unexpected. There’s that old expression, “predictably unpredictable”. That’s what we’re talking about here. You are being allowed shock occasionally and step away from your usual persona.
Not only does the listener allow it, they even enjoy it. It keeps them guessing. It adds spice to the relationship. If you are normally a wacky/funny presenter who is known for making listeners laugh, you can get away with one day coming across as the complete opposite. Imagine ‘Mister Crazy’ becoming ‘Mister Morose’ for an entire shift. That would be unexpected and your credibility would allow it to happen.
#4:Concreteness.
You might feel that this is similar to ‘credible’, but it is slightly different. To my mind, ‘concreteness’ on air means, knowing what you are talking about and not fooling your listener. If you are speaking about an event or a song or if you are giving a fact about anything, you should have you facts right.
Fair enough, you can’t know everything. In that case, just being honest is always best. But if you are putting it out there that what you are saying is fact, then it has to be. That’s being concrete. That’s what adds to your credibility. If you’re caught out on a lie while on air, you have just done your relationship damage.
#5:Emotion.
We could write a book on this one…oh hang on, there’ve been a few, haven’t there?
Everything we do and say comes down to emotion.
“How does that make me feel”?
That’s the crux of our life. How does something make us feel?
Human beings are forever thinking about how events make us feel.
Do I feel happy, sad, annoyed…how do I feel?
You have the ability to tap into people’s emotions with the words you use on air. You can say “I hate all red haired people” and you will have completely outraged red haired people and the general listener as well with your comment. Why do something like that? Well, it depends on your act. The point being, you have the ability to alter a person’s emotion. That’s a pretty amazing statement to take in, when you think about it. Use that one wisely!!
#6: Narrative Potential.
In other words: ‘Story Telling’.
Nothing communicates better than a story.
We devoted a whole Ezine to story telling last year. It’s the best way to get your point across.
Comedians know this. Not too many comedians come onstage and tell gag after gag after gag. They lead up to the punch line with a story. The story is what brings the emotion, the credibility, the unexpectedness, and the concreteness to the joke. The punch line brings the simplicity.
There you go. All six parts coming together at the end…just like a great story!
Maybe try using one of the six factors listed when you are on the air.
See how it feels. What way can you use one or all of them in a show?
Play around with them and get used to them. They are naturally programmed into your brain, so it really shouldn’t be too difficult. All six of those factors are part of basic socialisation and are already hard wired into our thinking.
That means, if you are aware of them automatically, then so is your listener (unless you broadcast to a dog kennel).
‘Humans relating to other humans’.
That’s what radio presentation is all about.
It’s fairly simple when you strip it all back.
In my opinion.
Brian.
To discover more about ‘Speaking Like a Real Person’, contact:
brian@bmacmedia.com
Passionate About Radio.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Five Links.
As a radio person, you will have noticed by now that you listen to the radio in a very different way to non-radio people.
The non- radio person may tune into a station and stay there because they like the music, or enjoy the talk, or just through pure habit.
I’m sure you’ve been sitting in someone else’s car when they turn the radio on.
They listen to songs all the way through and tend not to change the station much. Or, horror of all horrors, they change station when the presenter starts talking! What’s that all about!?
Radio people, although most of the time we’re not aware of it, will channel hop like crazy. Preset buttons are always being pressed as we search out the next link. That’s right, we’re generally not looking for music, we’re looking for links and promos and the nuts and bolts that make each station either great – or not so great!
I think most presenters do this.
I guess we’re just trying to find out what the ‘other guys’ are doing and whether they have any new ideas.
I know, personally, I’m a compulsive station flipper.
In my car, I have one of those frequency changers attached to the steering column, so I can keep my hands on the wheel and still flip around. Lovely.
Here’s how my routine begins.
Get in the car, start it up and put on the radio. Then it’s a rapid flick through the first six presets to see what’s going on. Then the next six. After that it’s back to the original six to see if anything has happened in the fifteen seconds I have been away!
Aha! Someone is coming to the end of a song. I’ll hang around here for a bit just in case there’s a link. Invariably, there is one and I’m off.
This continues until the link is over and then I’ll scan around for another upcoming link from somewhere else. Never once waiting to hear a full song (unless I’m in the mood).
Do you do something similar?
OK, I’ll admit when I’m working with the radio on, I will stick to one station that I have decided to monitor, but that’s different. In the car, it’s general listening and done only as a radio person would do it!
I have been doing a lot of driving this past week and, therefore, listening a lot too.
I now present for you, the five links I reacted to most over the past seven days…drum roll please!
Link 1:
This involved a presenter coming out of an ad break. The break was rounded out with a station jingle. No problems there. I expected a song and was just about to flick stations when…the DJ spoke!
The jingle went along the lines of (sing along if you wish): “Billy Bland in the afternoon on XYZ Radio”.
The presenter’s link was: “Yes indeed, this is Billy Bland on XYZ Radio and here’s the latest from Kylie Minogue”.
Did he not hear the jingle?
The jingle announced his name and the station ID. Just to make sure you heard it the first time, he repeated it. How very thoughtful…and totally unnecessary.
Link 2:
I liked this one. Going into an ad break the presenter said, “In the next fifteen minutes we’ll play a song from a lady who likes walking around town in her bra…and it’s not Amy Winehouse”.
The first person I thought of was Amy Winehouse. Who else could it be? I flicked around a while and came back after about ten minutes to find out. He got me!
OK, it might not be the greatest Hook and Tease in the history of the Universe, but it was quick, to the point and served it’s purpose – getting the listener back. The good ole Tension and Release was doing it’s magic.
By the way, it was Madonna.
Pretty obvious really, but effective nonetheless.
Link 3:
Coming out of Bryan Adams ‘Everything I do’, the presenter opened the link in a nice sultry, soothing voice and said “What a beautiful track that is…”
To some, it may be a beautiful track (song?).
The point being, hasn’t it become a bit of a cliché that whenever we play a slow ballad or love song, we always come out of it by behaving very sincerely and saying what a “beautiful track” that was? You nearly know it’s going to happen before it happens.
What are we saying here? Are we trying to convince the listener that it’s not a load of rubbish? If it’s a beautiful song for me, then I don’t need to be told. If I have no real opinion on it’s beauty, then do I need to hear someone tell me that it’s beautiful? Why not just leave it be?
That song spent five thousand weeks at number one – it’s a very popular song. Do we need convincing and if so, why?
Link 4:
This one made me scream at the radio. I really thought we had moved on from this, but no, apparently not.
The presenter went looking for requests and said at the end, “You know the number by now…and if you don’t – shame on you”!
Then he finished his link – without giving the number! (Excuse all of the exclamation marks, but sometimes I need to use them)! (!).
You know the number by now. It’s one of the oldest and most tired clichés of the lot and here was a professional on a national station using it.
Maybe I don’t know the number by now. Maybe it’s my first time listening to you. Maybe you should just give me the number and then I’ll know it.
Link 5:
Start of a show. I was turning on a roundabout at the time and nearly veered the car onto the grass verge when this one struck.
It was Wednesday afternoon when I heard this link. I wouldn’t have known this but for the fact that the presenter told me.
He then told me the time and hoped I was enjoying myself. Actually, here is the link as I remember it:
“Two twenty five and I certainly hope your enjoying this Wednesday afternoon”.
I don’t mean to sound cynical, because I know we all do the best with what we have available to us at any particular time. However, this is basic stuff. The very fact that the person has been hired to be on air mid-afternoon on a weekday should indicate that he has learned enough about presenting to know not to fall into this bottomless hole of bad links.
If you analyse what he has just said, basically he’s saying that he hopes we’re enjoying this Wednesday afternoon. Well, what about last Wednesday afternoon, or the one before that? Would he like to hear about those? Don’t they matter too?
If you are going to mention the day, then have a really long think about why.
I have a funny feeling that most of your listeners have a rough idea what day of the week it is. Why stop at the day? Let’s give the date and year too – “It’s Monday, December 10th 2007 at twenty one and a half minutes past the hour of nine o’clock”!!
There you go, just my thoughts on random links heard in the car over the past week.
Like you, I hear an awful lot of really entertaining and well thought out radio too. Most of the ones highlighted above are just reminders of the basics – both good and bad.
We still do them. All of us. When we break one bad habit you can be sure another one will try and come along to replace it.
It’s just a case of being aware.
Be aware of the clichés and the traps. Trying to avoid them can be difficult, but it’s your profession. Sometimes it’s hard work getting it right.
Put in the hard work and you will sound focussed and in control.
Avoid the hard work and you’ll get away with it for a while…but that’s about all.
I need to do less driving!
Have a great week.
Brian.
brian@bmacmedia.com
The non- radio person may tune into a station and stay there because they like the music, or enjoy the talk, or just through pure habit.
I’m sure you’ve been sitting in someone else’s car when they turn the radio on.
They listen to songs all the way through and tend not to change the station much. Or, horror of all horrors, they change station when the presenter starts talking! What’s that all about!?
Radio people, although most of the time we’re not aware of it, will channel hop like crazy. Preset buttons are always being pressed as we search out the next link. That’s right, we’re generally not looking for music, we’re looking for links and promos and the nuts and bolts that make each station either great – or not so great!
I think most presenters do this.
I guess we’re just trying to find out what the ‘other guys’ are doing and whether they have any new ideas.
I know, personally, I’m a compulsive station flipper.
In my car, I have one of those frequency changers attached to the steering column, so I can keep my hands on the wheel and still flip around. Lovely.
Here’s how my routine begins.
Get in the car, start it up and put on the radio. Then it’s a rapid flick through the first six presets to see what’s going on. Then the next six. After that it’s back to the original six to see if anything has happened in the fifteen seconds I have been away!
Aha! Someone is coming to the end of a song. I’ll hang around here for a bit just in case there’s a link. Invariably, there is one and I’m off.
This continues until the link is over and then I’ll scan around for another upcoming link from somewhere else. Never once waiting to hear a full song (unless I’m in the mood).
Do you do something similar?
OK, I’ll admit when I’m working with the radio on, I will stick to one station that I have decided to monitor, but that’s different. In the car, it’s general listening and done only as a radio person would do it!
I have been doing a lot of driving this past week and, therefore, listening a lot too.
I now present for you, the five links I reacted to most over the past seven days…drum roll please!
Link 1:
This involved a presenter coming out of an ad break. The break was rounded out with a station jingle. No problems there. I expected a song and was just about to flick stations when…the DJ spoke!
The jingle went along the lines of (sing along if you wish): “Billy Bland in the afternoon on XYZ Radio”.
The presenter’s link was: “Yes indeed, this is Billy Bland on XYZ Radio and here’s the latest from Kylie Minogue”.
Did he not hear the jingle?
The jingle announced his name and the station ID. Just to make sure you heard it the first time, he repeated it. How very thoughtful…and totally unnecessary.
Link 2:
I liked this one. Going into an ad break the presenter said, “In the next fifteen minutes we’ll play a song from a lady who likes walking around town in her bra…and it’s not Amy Winehouse”.
The first person I thought of was Amy Winehouse. Who else could it be? I flicked around a while and came back after about ten minutes to find out. He got me!
OK, it might not be the greatest Hook and Tease in the history of the Universe, but it was quick, to the point and served it’s purpose – getting the listener back. The good ole Tension and Release was doing it’s magic.
By the way, it was Madonna.
Pretty obvious really, but effective nonetheless.
Link 3:
Coming out of Bryan Adams ‘Everything I do’, the presenter opened the link in a nice sultry, soothing voice and said “What a beautiful track that is…”
To some, it may be a beautiful track (song?).
The point being, hasn’t it become a bit of a cliché that whenever we play a slow ballad or love song, we always come out of it by behaving very sincerely and saying what a “beautiful track” that was? You nearly know it’s going to happen before it happens.
What are we saying here? Are we trying to convince the listener that it’s not a load of rubbish? If it’s a beautiful song for me, then I don’t need to be told. If I have no real opinion on it’s beauty, then do I need to hear someone tell me that it’s beautiful? Why not just leave it be?
That song spent five thousand weeks at number one – it’s a very popular song. Do we need convincing and if so, why?
Link 4:
This one made me scream at the radio. I really thought we had moved on from this, but no, apparently not.
The presenter went looking for requests and said at the end, “You know the number by now…and if you don’t – shame on you”!
Then he finished his link – without giving the number! (Excuse all of the exclamation marks, but sometimes I need to use them)! (!).
You know the number by now. It’s one of the oldest and most tired clichés of the lot and here was a professional on a national station using it.
Maybe I don’t know the number by now. Maybe it’s my first time listening to you. Maybe you should just give me the number and then I’ll know it.
Link 5:
Start of a show. I was turning on a roundabout at the time and nearly veered the car onto the grass verge when this one struck.
It was Wednesday afternoon when I heard this link. I wouldn’t have known this but for the fact that the presenter told me.
He then told me the time and hoped I was enjoying myself. Actually, here is the link as I remember it:
“Two twenty five and I certainly hope your enjoying this Wednesday afternoon”.
I don’t mean to sound cynical, because I know we all do the best with what we have available to us at any particular time. However, this is basic stuff. The very fact that the person has been hired to be on air mid-afternoon on a weekday should indicate that he has learned enough about presenting to know not to fall into this bottomless hole of bad links.
If you analyse what he has just said, basically he’s saying that he hopes we’re enjoying this Wednesday afternoon. Well, what about last Wednesday afternoon, or the one before that? Would he like to hear about those? Don’t they matter too?
If you are going to mention the day, then have a really long think about why.
I have a funny feeling that most of your listeners have a rough idea what day of the week it is. Why stop at the day? Let’s give the date and year too – “It’s Monday, December 10th 2007 at twenty one and a half minutes past the hour of nine o’clock”!!
There you go, just my thoughts on random links heard in the car over the past week.
Like you, I hear an awful lot of really entertaining and well thought out radio too. Most of the ones highlighted above are just reminders of the basics – both good and bad.
We still do them. All of us. When we break one bad habit you can be sure another one will try and come along to replace it.
It’s just a case of being aware.
Be aware of the clichés and the traps. Trying to avoid them can be difficult, but it’s your profession. Sometimes it’s hard work getting it right.
Put in the hard work and you will sound focussed and in control.
Avoid the hard work and you’ll get away with it for a while…but that’s about all.
I need to do less driving!
Have a great week.
Brian.
brian@bmacmedia.com
Saturday, January 19, 2008
'My Wish For You'.
(The following was the final BmacMedia Ezine of 2007).
Funny time of year this. Short days, dark nights. Sometimes it’s difficult to pick yourself up and feel inspired. It’s a good thing they put Christmas on at this time, otherwise we’d all go a little bananas!
At the end of each year, you will find people putting a lot of pressure on themselves. Pressure to be better next year. Pressure to gain more, to be more, to achieve more.
That’s all great and admirable.
Naturally, there is no harm in trying to advance yourself to be the best you feel you can be.
It becomes a problem, though, when we ask too much of ourselves too soon.
You’ll hear people say that they are going to lose weight, quit smoking and go to the gym from now on.
Brilliant.
But, what happens when they find that after one week the are back smoking, have packed on a couple of more pounds and can’t remember where their gym gear is?
I think that’s what’s called feeling like a ‘failure’.
Let’s face it, we all want to be better and strive to be better people, both personally and professionally.
Asking too much of ourselves too soon, though, will only lead to ‘failure’ and therefore re-enforcing the idea that we’re not able to do ‘it’.
So what’s the solution?
Figuring out one thing that you would like to work upon and sticking with it until you have brought it as far as you think possible.
It all comes down to the basic premise of having your goals set out.
If you have been receiving this Ezine for a while, you may have noticed by now that I am very big on the whole concept of ‘Goals’.
The reason I feel so strongly about Goals is that it really is an incredibly simple way of stripping back all of the ‘mind talk’ that goes on in your head.
‘Mind Talk’ being the constant chatter that you hear whenever you are left to think your thoughts.
“What if I can’t? / How did they get the gig? / Maybe I should move / Maybe I should stay / What did he mean by that? / Does the PD think I’m rubbish on air? / I should quit now / I should stick at it / I do everything at work and never get recognised / I wish I could speak up more / Where am I going with this…?”
That’s Mind Talk.
It’s the constant soundtrack that we hear in our head, telling us what to do and not to do. Talking us through each scenario. Questioning our abilities. Making us doubt ourselves.
Mind Talk exists because we allow it to exist.
The great news is that it’s really easy to extinguish.
Pick a Goal.
That’s it!
When you have your Goal and concentrate on it every day, it sets forth a series of events in your mind. It’s vital that you think about it every day in order to allow your mind to focus on it.
What you are doing here is basically re-training your mind. You are re-training it to your advantage.
It’s funny, when you think about it.
The only person who can place thoughts in your own mind is…you!
You’re it.
I can’t place a thought in your head if you don’t want it there. Neither can anyone else. Sure I can suggest something, but in the end, it’s you that decides whether you want to go with that thought or not.
Why then, I wonder, do so many of us, think self-damaging thoughts.
“I’m not good enough…They don’t like me…I’ll never make it…”
These are your thoughts about YOU.
In our lifetime, we will hear enough people try to put us down or keep us in our place or give their (unwanted) opinions of our skills and us as on air people.
They will have their own reasons for doing this.
What reason do you have for adding similar thoughts?
None, as far as I’m concerned.
Imagine what you could do if you gave yourself a chance.
Imagine how you would feel if you were able to stop those voices.
Imagine what it would be like to be able to control the Mind Talk and decide what it is you wanted.
One Goal.
That’s all you need.
Decide what that Goal is and work on it.
Every day.
Focus on that Goal and it’s outcome. Stay focussed.
You are re-training your brain, not to knock you down and question your abilities. You are re-training your brain to build you up and help you succeed.
Is that what you want – to succeed?
Whatever success means to you, then that is what you aim for.
Success could be getting a fulltime on air gig. It could be to land the morning show or become APD or just get on air for the first time. It doesn’t matter what your personal goal is. The point is, there will be enough people telling you that you can’t do it. Why be another one of those people?
Your mind is there for a reason. It’s there to help you. That’s its job. It’s not doing its job very well if it’s not allowed help.
How can your mind help you, if you won’t give it the chance?
Take a look at yourself right now.
What have you achieved that you are proud of?
Can you think of anything?
Most people, when I ask this question, try to think about big events in their lives that have had a major impact on them.
That’s not necessarily what I’m talking about here.
I am trying to show you that everything in your life that you have aimed for and achieved has been a major milestone.
When you were a kid in school learning to read, did you stop because the teacher told you you got a word wrong?
No. If you did, then you wouldn’t be able to read this Ezine now.
Did you stop when an adult said that you were wasting your time ‘messing around’ with that fantasy of being on the radio?
No. If you did, you wouldn’t be a radio professional now.
They are two examples of how you, unconsciously, stopped the ‘Mind Talk’ and focussed on your Goal.
Your goal was to read – you learned to read, despite the setbacks.
Your goal was to get on the radio – you got on the radio, despite people telling you that it was a waste of time.
You just knew that you could do these things and nothing and no one was going to stop you.
Can you take that drive and that belief into the New Year, do you think?
Can you take that self-belief and determination that has taken you this far, further?
I believe you can.
One Goal.
Find it and face it.
Then concentrate on it.
If you have too many goals at one time, then it just becomes too difficult to maintain the level of dedication needed to see them all through.
If you were the person who needed to lose weight, give up smoking and get fitter – you would be better off maybe trying the smoking thing first and reaching that milestone, before taking on another.
If you are the person who wants to work the breakfast shift at Major Market FM and are currently the Weekender at Minor Market FM, then setting yourself your first goal would be the task for you.
Figure out your steps and take those steps. Step one is Progress Goal Number One as you go for the Big One!
When you let up on your focus, then it’s just like quitting the gym and eating the extra slice of chocolate cake. You won’t drop the pounds while you’re concentrating on Black Forest Gateau, in the same way you won’t reach your Goal if you don’t concentrate on it every day.
Thanks for a great year.
I have loved writing these Ezines and am genuinely grateful that you have chosen to receive them.
To all the people I have met and spoken with through BmacMedia over the past twelve months, it truly has been my honour.
There are so many wonderful, professional people in the radio industry and I have been lucky enough to meet a massive amount of them in 2007.
I wish you the best and know that if you want it and if you focus on it, then you can achieve it.
By the way, my Goal at the start of 2007 was to start BmacMedia. Then it was to work alongside radio presenters and hold Radio Workshops.
It’s been a good year.
I have set my Goals for 2008 and have no doubt that I will achieve them.
That’s not me trying to be cocky.
That’s just the confidence you can bring to yourself by losing the ‘Mind Talk’.
Best wishes for 2008.
Brian.
Funny time of year this. Short days, dark nights. Sometimes it’s difficult to pick yourself up and feel inspired. It’s a good thing they put Christmas on at this time, otherwise we’d all go a little bananas!
At the end of each year, you will find people putting a lot of pressure on themselves. Pressure to be better next year. Pressure to gain more, to be more, to achieve more.
That’s all great and admirable.
Naturally, there is no harm in trying to advance yourself to be the best you feel you can be.
It becomes a problem, though, when we ask too much of ourselves too soon.
You’ll hear people say that they are going to lose weight, quit smoking and go to the gym from now on.
Brilliant.
But, what happens when they find that after one week the are back smoking, have packed on a couple of more pounds and can’t remember where their gym gear is?
I think that’s what’s called feeling like a ‘failure’.
Let’s face it, we all want to be better and strive to be better people, both personally and professionally.
Asking too much of ourselves too soon, though, will only lead to ‘failure’ and therefore re-enforcing the idea that we’re not able to do ‘it’.
So what’s the solution?
Figuring out one thing that you would like to work upon and sticking with it until you have brought it as far as you think possible.
It all comes down to the basic premise of having your goals set out.
If you have been receiving this Ezine for a while, you may have noticed by now that I am very big on the whole concept of ‘Goals’.
The reason I feel so strongly about Goals is that it really is an incredibly simple way of stripping back all of the ‘mind talk’ that goes on in your head.
‘Mind Talk’ being the constant chatter that you hear whenever you are left to think your thoughts.
“What if I can’t? / How did they get the gig? / Maybe I should move / Maybe I should stay / What did he mean by that? / Does the PD think I’m rubbish on air? / I should quit now / I should stick at it / I do everything at work and never get recognised / I wish I could speak up more / Where am I going with this…?”
That’s Mind Talk.
It’s the constant soundtrack that we hear in our head, telling us what to do and not to do. Talking us through each scenario. Questioning our abilities. Making us doubt ourselves.
Mind Talk exists because we allow it to exist.
The great news is that it’s really easy to extinguish.
Pick a Goal.
That’s it!
When you have your Goal and concentrate on it every day, it sets forth a series of events in your mind. It’s vital that you think about it every day in order to allow your mind to focus on it.
What you are doing here is basically re-training your mind. You are re-training it to your advantage.
It’s funny, when you think about it.
The only person who can place thoughts in your own mind is…you!
You’re it.
I can’t place a thought in your head if you don’t want it there. Neither can anyone else. Sure I can suggest something, but in the end, it’s you that decides whether you want to go with that thought or not.
Why then, I wonder, do so many of us, think self-damaging thoughts.
“I’m not good enough…They don’t like me…I’ll never make it…”
These are your thoughts about YOU.
In our lifetime, we will hear enough people try to put us down or keep us in our place or give their (unwanted) opinions of our skills and us as on air people.
They will have their own reasons for doing this.
What reason do you have for adding similar thoughts?
None, as far as I’m concerned.
Imagine what you could do if you gave yourself a chance.
Imagine how you would feel if you were able to stop those voices.
Imagine what it would be like to be able to control the Mind Talk and decide what it is you wanted.
One Goal.
That’s all you need.
Decide what that Goal is and work on it.
Every day.
Focus on that Goal and it’s outcome. Stay focussed.
You are re-training your brain, not to knock you down and question your abilities. You are re-training your brain to build you up and help you succeed.
Is that what you want – to succeed?
Whatever success means to you, then that is what you aim for.
Success could be getting a fulltime on air gig. It could be to land the morning show or become APD or just get on air for the first time. It doesn’t matter what your personal goal is. The point is, there will be enough people telling you that you can’t do it. Why be another one of those people?
Your mind is there for a reason. It’s there to help you. That’s its job. It’s not doing its job very well if it’s not allowed help.
How can your mind help you, if you won’t give it the chance?
Take a look at yourself right now.
What have you achieved that you are proud of?
Can you think of anything?
Most people, when I ask this question, try to think about big events in their lives that have had a major impact on them.
That’s not necessarily what I’m talking about here.
I am trying to show you that everything in your life that you have aimed for and achieved has been a major milestone.
When you were a kid in school learning to read, did you stop because the teacher told you you got a word wrong?
No. If you did, then you wouldn’t be able to read this Ezine now.
Did you stop when an adult said that you were wasting your time ‘messing around’ with that fantasy of being on the radio?
No. If you did, you wouldn’t be a radio professional now.
They are two examples of how you, unconsciously, stopped the ‘Mind Talk’ and focussed on your Goal.
Your goal was to read – you learned to read, despite the setbacks.
Your goal was to get on the radio – you got on the radio, despite people telling you that it was a waste of time.
You just knew that you could do these things and nothing and no one was going to stop you.
Can you take that drive and that belief into the New Year, do you think?
Can you take that self-belief and determination that has taken you this far, further?
I believe you can.
One Goal.
Find it and face it.
Then concentrate on it.
If you have too many goals at one time, then it just becomes too difficult to maintain the level of dedication needed to see them all through.
If you were the person who needed to lose weight, give up smoking and get fitter – you would be better off maybe trying the smoking thing first and reaching that milestone, before taking on another.
If you are the person who wants to work the breakfast shift at Major Market FM and are currently the Weekender at Minor Market FM, then setting yourself your first goal would be the task for you.
Figure out your steps and take those steps. Step one is Progress Goal Number One as you go for the Big One!
When you let up on your focus, then it’s just like quitting the gym and eating the extra slice of chocolate cake. You won’t drop the pounds while you’re concentrating on Black Forest Gateau, in the same way you won’t reach your Goal if you don’t concentrate on it every day.
Thanks for a great year.
I have loved writing these Ezines and am genuinely grateful that you have chosen to receive them.
To all the people I have met and spoken with through BmacMedia over the past twelve months, it truly has been my honour.
There are so many wonderful, professional people in the radio industry and I have been lucky enough to meet a massive amount of them in 2007.
I wish you the best and know that if you want it and if you focus on it, then you can achieve it.
By the way, my Goal at the start of 2007 was to start BmacMedia. Then it was to work alongside radio presenters and hold Radio Workshops.
It’s been a good year.
I have set my Goals for 2008 and have no doubt that I will achieve them.
That’s not me trying to be cocky.
That’s just the confidence you can bring to yourself by losing the ‘Mind Talk’.
Best wishes for 2008.
Brian.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
I love holding Presenter Workshops. Not only because it means I get to talk endlessly for hour upon hour (!), but also because so many new and different comments and questions come up over the duration of one day events like these. Questions that get me thinking in a new way and make me look at a common problem from a different angle (see, it’s all about ME)!!
At our most recent Workshop in Dublin, one of these questions came up.
It was a beauty and gets right to the heart of the reality of being on air:
“Why does radio pay so badly”?
Isn’t that brilliant?
Where’s all the money and how come we’re not getting our fair share of it?
Sometimes, when you are asked a question, you just have to answer it with your gut, as honestly as you know.
My honest, gut level answer was: “Because we let them pay us badly”.
OK, let me expand on that one a little bit.
You’re possibly thinking, “But it’s not up to us how much we get paid, is it”?
Well, I think it is…to a degree.
Let me put it to you this way.
If you go for a job in McDonalds, the pay is set out before you. There is no haggling about salary or perks. This is the money, take it or leave it.
If you go for a job as a receptionist or secretary, generally the salary is already stated. How many job ads have you seen that say, “Salary starts at 24K and rises to 32K after three years”?
You know where you stand immediately.
Radio jobs don’t do this.
You will never get a preview of the available salary. It’s just not advertised. So how do you know what to ask for? How do you know what the management have in mind? How far will they go?
I believe that in order to make the standard of pay rise for you in your radio career, you have to be professional about it.
Unfortunately it’s been beaten into us over the years by the people who run radio and pretty much everyone associated with radio, that we Radio Presenters are the lowest people working at the station.
What do we do? We play a few songs, talk a little bit and go home. How difficult is that? Anyone could do it.
I’m sure in the past; you’ve been told that you have it ‘easy’. A nice cushy gig. Three hours a day?? That’s not work, is it?
Well, if we’re told something enough times, it eventually sinks in. If the same message is repeated often enough, it tends to become fact. After a while, we start to wonder if maybe we do in fact have it easy.
I’m here to tell you that you don’t.
I’m here to tell you that, not only do you not have it easy; you actually have the most difficult and most important job at your radio station.
Without you, the radio station has no personality, it has no soul, and it has no distinctive voice.
Without you, the radio station cannot communicate properly.
Being a Radio Presenter is not just a job or a 'gig'. It is a profession.
Like any other profession, you are automatically a Professional. There can be no debating this one in your mind.
We all, at one stage or another, have ‘landed’ ourselves a gig and though “brilliant, I’m on the radio”.
Once on the radio, we will do anything to stay on the radio.
The GM or CEO could decide that they are going to cut our salary in half due to “Budget restraints”. No problem, we’ll take less money because we are ‘on the radio’.
We’re delighted with ourselves. We’ve got a gig. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you thank you.
Is that behaving in a Professional manner?
I don’t believe so.
What is then?
To me, behaving in a Professional manner as a Radio Presenter (note the capital letters there) involves carrying yourself in a Professional way and being a real Pro.
Part of that means not fighting with the other guy for scraps. Not allowing your ability to be undermined.
Asking for what you believe you are worth.
If you go into a PD’s office with a salary request, the first thing he/she will do is laugh it off. That’s their job. The PD, though, is willing to play the game.
The game being, you aim high, they aim low and you will eventually meet somewhere in the middle.
Usually.
If they won’t budge at all, then you can ask yourself, do you really want to work in a building where your talent and ability is not recognised?
How does it feel when you are undervalued? That’s basically what is happening to you when you get less money than you are looking for. You feel undervalued.
The sales rep that started work in the station six months after you is now driving around in a new BMW, while you are still there battling away for pennies.
Good for the Sales Rep (well done), but not a nice feeling for you.
How does the sales rep get to that stage?
By bringing in the money. Money talks. GMs and CEOs love money.
Speak their language. Tell them what you will do for them. How many listener you will get for them. How you will increase their AQH.
More AQH = More Listeners = More Money!
Ask them questions: “How much would an extra 2,000 listeners per AQH be worth" to them?
Find out the advertising rates for your shift (or the shift you are applying for). Do the maths yourself and show them that by you coming in and performing that shift, you will increase their revenue by XXX amount of money.
Show them that you know what you are doing here. You’re not just some person who “wants to be on the radio”. You are a Professional. You have done your research. You have done your homework. You are telling them that you can increase the value of their product.
You can.
If at the end of this they still see you as having a ‘handy gig’, then I’ll ask you the same question again: Do you want to work long term for people who don’t value or respect what it is that you do?
Sure, you’ve got to eat and you’ve got to work. Do you quit immediately after a failed salary meeting?
No. Hang on, but start looking elsewhere.
Staying where you are indefinitely will bring you into a low paying comfort zone that is very difficult to get out of. Stay where you are until your search for better comes to an end. Then move, on your own terms, to the better place. It’s always out there.
Don’t take any rejection of your salary request personally. It’s not personal. It IS business. Be Businesslike.
You are a Business.
So, why does radio pay so badly?
Because we all, as a body of Professionals allow it to.
We’ve swallowed the line forever: “Anybody could do that”. Deep down we think, maybe they’re right.
I’m here to tell you that they’re not.
Fact.
The presenter is the most important person in a radio station. Never forget that.
Sales are important, promotions too. Music is important, production too. They are all parts of the radio station. I agree.
But who puts it all together? Who presents and creates around these? Who brings these elements to life and relates them to the customer?
You do.
Without you, there is no complete end product.
No listener ever says, “Oh, I love the way the different parts of that promotion were thought out”. They talk about how the promotion felt to them. What it meant to them. They are talking about how YOU nurtured and developed that promotion.
Without the Presenter, a radio station has lots of elements…none of them are complete until you pull them all together in your own individual way.
Quick example:
I went in for a contract meeting in the past with my then ‘boss’.
All the usual lines came out – ‘Budget’, ‘Ratings’, ‘Projections’, ‘Tougher market place’ etc.
None of which I cared about, some of which I didn’t understand.
The problems they lay before me were, as far as I was concerned, their problems. Not mine.
My problem was getting what I wanted out of them. I had increased their ratings and brought in more money for them, now I felt I deserved my share.
After three meetings I got about 60% of the money I asked for. The rest I was able to make up in items that they could write off.
I got a monthly expenses allowance, a paid holiday each year, an allowance to go and buy a computer and computer software (for Show prep)! And a few other minor items including the introduction of a Bonus Scheme. These cost them nothing as they could write them off. For me, they were very nice ways of saving money.
I was able to do this because after years of not asking for what I wanted, I began asking. Once I started asking, I started receiving.
As simple as that.
Just ask.
All they can say is ‘No’. And they will say ‘No’. At first!
Keep asking.
Keep convincing. Have your facts. Have your figures. Be a Professional. It’s business.
Don’t believe the hype.
Don’t listen to the putdowns.
Once you listen to the putdowns, you can very easily believe them. Then you undervalue yourself and you will gratefully accept whatever they offer.
Imagine if we all decided today to become Professional. In every way. In our outlook, in our meetings with Programming, in the way we dressed at work, in the way we spoke at Presenter meetings…in every aspect of our day-to-day life in the radio station.
Do you think it would be noticed?
You bet it would.
The reason it would be noticed is because we don’t do it.
We’re the ‘Crazy DJs’.
You don’t take a clown seriously, and you definitely don’t pay them much.
A Professional?
You’ve got to take them seriously.
That includes paying them properly for their unique services.
Brian.
To find out more about ‘Being a Professional Presenter’, contact:
brian@bmacmedia.com
Passionate About Radio.
At our most recent Workshop in Dublin, one of these questions came up.
It was a beauty and gets right to the heart of the reality of being on air:
“Why does radio pay so badly”?
Isn’t that brilliant?
Where’s all the money and how come we’re not getting our fair share of it?
Sometimes, when you are asked a question, you just have to answer it with your gut, as honestly as you know.
My honest, gut level answer was: “Because we let them pay us badly”.
OK, let me expand on that one a little bit.
You’re possibly thinking, “But it’s not up to us how much we get paid, is it”?
Well, I think it is…to a degree.
Let me put it to you this way.
If you go for a job in McDonalds, the pay is set out before you. There is no haggling about salary or perks. This is the money, take it or leave it.
If you go for a job as a receptionist or secretary, generally the salary is already stated. How many job ads have you seen that say, “Salary starts at 24K and rises to 32K after three years”?
You know where you stand immediately.
Radio jobs don’t do this.
You will never get a preview of the available salary. It’s just not advertised. So how do you know what to ask for? How do you know what the management have in mind? How far will they go?
I believe that in order to make the standard of pay rise for you in your radio career, you have to be professional about it.
Unfortunately it’s been beaten into us over the years by the people who run radio and pretty much everyone associated with radio, that we Radio Presenters are the lowest people working at the station.
What do we do? We play a few songs, talk a little bit and go home. How difficult is that? Anyone could do it.
I’m sure in the past; you’ve been told that you have it ‘easy’. A nice cushy gig. Three hours a day?? That’s not work, is it?
Well, if we’re told something enough times, it eventually sinks in. If the same message is repeated often enough, it tends to become fact. After a while, we start to wonder if maybe we do in fact have it easy.
I’m here to tell you that you don’t.
I’m here to tell you that, not only do you not have it easy; you actually have the most difficult and most important job at your radio station.
Without you, the radio station has no personality, it has no soul, and it has no distinctive voice.
Without you, the radio station cannot communicate properly.
Being a Radio Presenter is not just a job or a 'gig'. It is a profession.
Like any other profession, you are automatically a Professional. There can be no debating this one in your mind.
We all, at one stage or another, have ‘landed’ ourselves a gig and though “brilliant, I’m on the radio”.
Once on the radio, we will do anything to stay on the radio.
The GM or CEO could decide that they are going to cut our salary in half due to “Budget restraints”. No problem, we’ll take less money because we are ‘on the radio’.
We’re delighted with ourselves. We’ve got a gig. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you thank you.
Is that behaving in a Professional manner?
I don’t believe so.
What is then?
To me, behaving in a Professional manner as a Radio Presenter (note the capital letters there) involves carrying yourself in a Professional way and being a real Pro.
Part of that means not fighting with the other guy for scraps. Not allowing your ability to be undermined.
Asking for what you believe you are worth.
If you go into a PD’s office with a salary request, the first thing he/she will do is laugh it off. That’s their job. The PD, though, is willing to play the game.
The game being, you aim high, they aim low and you will eventually meet somewhere in the middle.
Usually.
If they won’t budge at all, then you can ask yourself, do you really want to work in a building where your talent and ability is not recognised?
How does it feel when you are undervalued? That’s basically what is happening to you when you get less money than you are looking for. You feel undervalued.
The sales rep that started work in the station six months after you is now driving around in a new BMW, while you are still there battling away for pennies.
Good for the Sales Rep (well done), but not a nice feeling for you.
How does the sales rep get to that stage?
By bringing in the money. Money talks. GMs and CEOs love money.
Speak their language. Tell them what you will do for them. How many listener you will get for them. How you will increase their AQH.
More AQH = More Listeners = More Money!
Ask them questions: “How much would an extra 2,000 listeners per AQH be worth" to them?
Find out the advertising rates for your shift (or the shift you are applying for). Do the maths yourself and show them that by you coming in and performing that shift, you will increase their revenue by XXX amount of money.
Show them that you know what you are doing here. You’re not just some person who “wants to be on the radio”. You are a Professional. You have done your research. You have done your homework. You are telling them that you can increase the value of their product.
You can.
If at the end of this they still see you as having a ‘handy gig’, then I’ll ask you the same question again: Do you want to work long term for people who don’t value or respect what it is that you do?
Sure, you’ve got to eat and you’ve got to work. Do you quit immediately after a failed salary meeting?
No. Hang on, but start looking elsewhere.
Staying where you are indefinitely will bring you into a low paying comfort zone that is very difficult to get out of. Stay where you are until your search for better comes to an end. Then move, on your own terms, to the better place. It’s always out there.
Don’t take any rejection of your salary request personally. It’s not personal. It IS business. Be Businesslike.
You are a Business.
So, why does radio pay so badly?
Because we all, as a body of Professionals allow it to.
We’ve swallowed the line forever: “Anybody could do that”. Deep down we think, maybe they’re right.
I’m here to tell you that they’re not.
Fact.
The presenter is the most important person in a radio station. Never forget that.
Sales are important, promotions too. Music is important, production too. They are all parts of the radio station. I agree.
But who puts it all together? Who presents and creates around these? Who brings these elements to life and relates them to the customer?
You do.
Without you, there is no complete end product.
No listener ever says, “Oh, I love the way the different parts of that promotion were thought out”. They talk about how the promotion felt to them. What it meant to them. They are talking about how YOU nurtured and developed that promotion.
Without the Presenter, a radio station has lots of elements…none of them are complete until you pull them all together in your own individual way.
Quick example:
I went in for a contract meeting in the past with my then ‘boss’.
All the usual lines came out – ‘Budget’, ‘Ratings’, ‘Projections’, ‘Tougher market place’ etc.
None of which I cared about, some of which I didn’t understand.
The problems they lay before me were, as far as I was concerned, their problems. Not mine.
My problem was getting what I wanted out of them. I had increased their ratings and brought in more money for them, now I felt I deserved my share.
After three meetings I got about 60% of the money I asked for. The rest I was able to make up in items that they could write off.
I got a monthly expenses allowance, a paid holiday each year, an allowance to go and buy a computer and computer software (for Show prep)! And a few other minor items including the introduction of a Bonus Scheme. These cost them nothing as they could write them off. For me, they were very nice ways of saving money.
I was able to do this because after years of not asking for what I wanted, I began asking. Once I started asking, I started receiving.
As simple as that.
Just ask.
All they can say is ‘No’. And they will say ‘No’. At first!
Keep asking.
Keep convincing. Have your facts. Have your figures. Be a Professional. It’s business.
Don’t believe the hype.
Don’t listen to the putdowns.
Once you listen to the putdowns, you can very easily believe them. Then you undervalue yourself and you will gratefully accept whatever they offer.
Imagine if we all decided today to become Professional. In every way. In our outlook, in our meetings with Programming, in the way we dressed at work, in the way we spoke at Presenter meetings…in every aspect of our day-to-day life in the radio station.
Do you think it would be noticed?
You bet it would.
The reason it would be noticed is because we don’t do it.
We’re the ‘Crazy DJs’.
You don’t take a clown seriously, and you definitely don’t pay them much.
A Professional?
You’ve got to take them seriously.
That includes paying them properly for their unique services.
Brian.
To find out more about ‘Being a Professional Presenter’, contact:
brian@bmacmedia.com
Passionate About Radio.
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