Posts belonging to Category Talent Development

What I Learned at Boot Camp

Who still attends events like Don Anthony’s Morning Show Boot Camp?  Smart people. The 24th edition of Anthony’s 24th annual get-together for music radio personalities was jam-packed with opportunities to learn new strategies and tactics for surviving and thriving in the tumultuous radio biz.  Nearly all that advice applies to talk radio personalities.  The mood [...]

Share

What You Can Learn from Rush’s Apology

Rush Limbaugh’s unprecedented apology for his attack on law student Sandra Fluke provides an important reality check for spoken-word performers at every level of every platform. Some lessons and observations: DO NOT cost your employer money – This was hardly Rush’s first trip to the nasty-remark rodeo, so why did he apologize this time?  We [...]

Share

Twitter’s Lessons for Talkers and Podcasters

Mashable recently asked 10 Twitterverse comedians for the secret to being funny on Twitter.  I was struck by how much of the advice applies to building a successful spoken word media career, including: “Develop a unique voice” – As Rush Limbaugh used to say, “You can get the news from a lot of places, but there [...]

Share

Wise Words to Start the Week

As you start a new week in your spoken-word media career, take a few minutes to ask yourself what makes you unique — and whether you are bringing that compelling uniqueness to your talk radio show or podcast: “If you have an answer to the question, ‘Who are you like?,’ you have a problem. — [...]

Share

Podcasting: Comics Get It, Why Don’t You?

Jay Mohr is the latest comedian to launch a podcast. He tells The Press of Atlantic City his weekly “Mohr Stories” is different from his stand-up, and a ton of fun.  The paper says he’s working on his “virtual brand.” What about you, Spoken-Word-Media-Guy?  Guy-who-makes-his-living-by-talking?  What are you doing to expand your “virtual brand?”  Here’s [...]

Share

What Matters Most in Radio News

CKLW-AM’s  legendary 20/10 News is the subject of a great video currently flying around the Internet. If you haven’t seen it, watch it right now.  If you are responsible for audio content creation in any way — news director, program director, podcaster — this could be the most valuable nine minutes of your day.  The lesson [...]

Share

Another Reason To Be Glad You’re In TALK Radio

Bill Koenigsberg, one of Madison Avenue’s 800 lb gorillas, tells Radio Ink that radio needs to re-invent itself: “Radio has got to become more of an engagement vehicle. Engagement is critical for advertisers today. A lot of people listen to radio in the background and it’s not intrusive, and it’s not engaging. It is more [...]

Share

How to Get More Re-Tweets

Twitter, when properly employed, can help a talk show host or podcaster connect with his existing audience and promote himself to potential new listeners.  Re-tweets are key to that latter goal.  So, what makes a tweet more re-tweetable?  Social media researcher Dan Zarrella reports that tweets that include a link are far more likely to [...]

Share

The Difference Between Passion and Anger

While going through some old notes from a radio conference, I came upon a bit of wisdom worth sharing in this election year: “There is a difference between passion and anger.  Passion is strength without anger.  It is the foundation of moral authority.  People are drawn to passion, they are repulsed by anger.” Does anger [...]

Share

Five Ways Social Media Can Make Your Show Better

      Before devoting himself to the art and science of social media, Steve Allan programmed radio stations in DC, Detroit, Boston and Cincinnati and held corporate programming positions with AM/FM and Clear Channel. As a former radio guy, Allen despairs at the medium’s apparent lack of  understanding of social media.  Too many stations/personalities continue [...]

Share