by Jay Trachman
Just a couple of straws in the wind, but disturbing ones nonetheless. A Jock Doc student told me recently that at his first station, the PD once said, “If you program to one person, then eventually that’s how many listeners you’ll have.” I heard something similar again this week in a different context: the conversation was about program directors who intimidate. The comment was that eventually the jock ends up programming to just one person — the PD.
Naturally, I pointed out that the PD is exactly the wrong person to be doing your show for, but that notion, of programming for one person, had been raised again in a negative light. Maybe it’s time for a review of one of the basic premises of the One to One philosophy…
Each medium of communications has specific characteristics which are innate, and different from all the others.
In glib moments, we tend to think of radio as being “TV without the pictures.” But there are fundamental differences in the way people use the two media. TV tends to be all-absorbing and it plays to an “audience.” Radio tends to keep us company while we’re doing something else and, as a “companion,” works best when it’s directed at a single person. The One to One Illusion: One Person talking to One Person.
All the entertainment media — theater, movies, TV and radio — work through illusions in people’s minds. People know actors aren’t really the characters they play, and aren’t actually feeling the emotions they portray — but our “willing suspension of disbelief” is basic to our obtaining satisfaction from the entertainment. Similarly, in radio, no one really thinks you’re only talking to him or her — but if the listener has turned to you for companionship, then he’s inclined to believe it, for the same reason.
How do we create this illusion? The same way actors do. To convey an emotion convincingly, they learn to reach inside and recall something in their lives that created emotions like the ones they have to show. In a sense, their feelings are real — to them. That’s how they make the feelings seem real — to us. In radio, if you want to sound convincingly like you’re talking to one person, you have to believe you are.
Who should that one person be? Not the PD, for heaven’s sake! If you want to sound warm, intimate, full of life, caring, interesting, you need to be talking to someone who appreciates your warmth, intimacy, liveliness, caring and interesting-ness. A spouse, a lover, a best friend, possibly a parent (if they’re non-judgmental). Maybe even a fantasy-reflection of yourself. Not all of yourself — an idealized self: the “you” you like the best. The keys are non-judgmental (which eliminates anyone you’re working for), involvement with you, and liking you for who you are, and not just what you do.
Now, a few words about the PD. They seem to come in two extremes: “Say this, say it this way, and say only this!” and “Just go in there and be great!”
The conventional wisdom is that there are certain things which have to be said in a certain way, over and over again, and this isn’t my week to dispute it. But, “Say only this” guarantees that the only reason anyone will listen to you is for your music. If there’s another station in town with similar music, you’re vulnerable.
Like any performers, DJ’s need guidance. We need it regularly, and we need it in a form that we can accept and grow with. Ideally, the PD should deal with his air staff like a coach. “We are all members of the team; we all have certain jobs to do if we’re going to win. Part of my job is to help you do the best performance of which you’re capable, on the air.”
How? First, you schedule regular weekly or monthly critiquing sessions. The worst time to critique a performer is right after he or she has made a serious mistake. The best time is by appointment, routinely, before mistakes occur, and more for the purpose of enhancing skills, than correcting errors. You both make suggestions, criticisms; share ideas, kick things around as equals. Meaning that if the jock does something you basically wish he hadn’t, but he can convince you that it’s effective, he can prevail. Always: two people; partners working to improve a product.
This is not an easy thing to achieve, I know. Jocks tend to be defensive about their performances — and the most defensive are sometimes the ones who need the most help. PD’s, most of whom are former jocks, have their own ego problems in trying to establish their management status with people to whom they used to be “equal.”
But when there’s genuine team-work, as opposed to mere lip-service, the sound of the station and each jock on it will reflect the improvements that occur when everyone’s working toward the same purpose: keeping one listener company.
Jay Trachman is publisher of “One to One,” a weekly information and humor service for broadcasters. Jay can be reached at: phone (559) 448 0700, fax (559) 448 0761, e-mail at 121@att.net, or www.121online.net. Reprinted with permission.
