Veteran programmer Mike Stern was a PD for more than ten years while working for companies like Emmis and CBS, but now he plays the role of his own boss at his new company, Talent Mechanic. Stern is carving out a new career as an air talent coach, helping to improve mechanics, adjust for PPM, and master the art of social networking.
By Mandy Feingold
Mike Stern
Veteran programmer Mike Stern was a PD for more than ten years at stations including Chicago’s Q101 and WLUP “The Loop,” as well as Alice 106 in Denver, and he was also an innovator of the X-treme Radio format in Las Vegas. Now, he has parlayed his years of radio experience into forming his own company, Talent Mechanic, where he coaches air talent on improving their mechanics, adjusting for PPM, building an overall brand and more. FMQB spoke to Stern about what he hopes to accomplish with his new venture and how the art of being an air talent has changed in the current technological climate.
Why did you decide to launch Talent Mechanic?
There are a couple of reasons. As I’ve gone from ten-plus years of programming in radio to pursuing some new career paths, the thing I miss the most is working with creative people. The air staffs are the people I really miss. That was the part of programming I enjoyed the most: working with talent, coaching them, helping them take great creative ideas and making them sound great on-the-air. I miss that, so this is an opportunity for me to be back in that type of mode and being around creative people.
The other thing is, having been a PD who ran multiple radio stations at the same time, I know how taxing that is, and I know one of the first things that often times can get cut out of the schedule is the time to air-check the staff and coach them. It’s not that you don’t want to, it’s just a matter of time and prioritization. Unfortunately the result is we’re really not cultivating as many great air talents as we should be. All great athletes have coaches. Most great scholars have tutors. Yet our most valuable commodity, the people who are in the studio on the air representing our brand, we don’t necessarily take the time to coach. Just because of the way the business is and lack of time, we’re not cultivating great talent. I feel this is something I can give back to the industry and maybe help cultivate more great air talent so when stations have openings and are looking around for a talent, the program director isn’t stuck, as I was many times, saying, “There’s just no talent out there.”
What are some of the services you specialize in?
The first thing is certainly the on-air product: how to make it better; how to be more compelling to listeners; how to grab their attention. A lot of air talent also has to deal with PPM coming to their market, which is a real change. It’s a really different outlook and a different approach. Timing and being economical with your words on-the-air have always been important, but now it’s even more so because if your break wanders and things get off-topic, the listeners press the button and it has a direct effect on your ratings. I help people learn how to navigate PPM, how to be more effective, and especially how to tease, because we’re seeing that teasing and moving the audience forward into the next quarter-hour, or giving them a reason to come back the next day, reallydoes have a big effect on ratings.
For people who are job hunting, I review tapes and resumes. In more than ten years as a PD I saw a lot of tapes and resumes. I have a good idea what mistakes not to make, and certainly some advice on what can help grab a potential employer’s attention.
The other thing is there are so many other ways to add to your personality platform (social networking, events, starting your own business) at almost no cost with the available tools on-line. It’s becoming imperative that you look beyond simply how you market yourself during your air shift, to how you can build a stronger platform for yourself. That serves two purposes: it shores up your ratings locally if you are more a part of the community and have built a platform for yourself that stretches beyond on-the-air. Also, for talent looking to move up and build their careers and move to larger markets, it shows a potential employer you have an understanding of these areas, that you can go beyond just, “Hey, I’m going to come in and do a great four hours for you.” You can come in and say, “I’m really going to build something here that makes me a valuable part of your air-staff and of the community.”
How can jocks use social networking more effectively?
I don’t think there’s any formula to it. A lot of it is identifying and playing to your strengths. Not all air talent people are photogenic, but if you are, is it a video blog that’s compelling? Or, if your strength is writing, is it a really well-written blog? The other really important thing people miss a lot is that there are ways to take advantage of the things you are passionate about. It’s not just writing a blog for the sake of writing a blog. It’s finding something you’re passionate about, and exploring it and being active in it, and using that to cultivate your personality and your platform that can translate into listening on-the-air.
Going back to PPM, do you believe that people really want to hear less talking on the radio, or is it just the right talking?
It always has been and always will be the right talking. What people want to hear less of is talk that means nothing to them, doesn’t grab their attention, and isn’t interesting or relatable to their lives. In the diary world and in focus groups and research, all through the years we’ve always seen that great personality is more compelling than music. The tough part about that is cultivating a great personality. It’s more of an investment and takes more time. It’s certainly more expensive than playing another Nirvanarecord. That’s always been the challenge, and that’s where I think Talent Mechanic can help out, because for an air talent that really wants to build their career, I can help them be more compelling. Then they go from being a liability in PPM to being an asset. People want to know what this person has to say, and that helps build ratings.
What are the biggest keys to being a successful talent that many people don’t seem to grasp?
Part of what isn’t taught nearly often enough is how to lead with the most interesting part of a story. It’s just like when you read a newspaper article, the lead paragraph is designed to grab your attention and make you want to read the rest of it. Too often I hear talent lead with the boring details, and then get to the part they’re all excited about. They’re promoting the station festival, and they’re really excited to see a particular band. There’s a reason they’re really excited, like this band hasn’t played together in a while or whatever, and that doesn’t come up until two-thirds of the way through the break. Leading with the exciting part is an art that often gets overlooked, especially for younger talent who are just getting started. It doesn’t get stressed nearly enough.
Many people feel that all the voice-tracking and consolidation in the industry is detrimental to developing new talent. What can radio do to combat that situation?
These companies are facing budget challenges, and voice-tracking is certainly an affordable option, so I think it’s here to stay. But I do think the thing that could stand to reverse the trend the most is having better air talent. All of these companies do research, and invariably what they get back is: “I wish the deejays didn’t chatter so much.” The logical reaction, plus the economic reaction, is: “Well, we’ll just voice track it, or we’ll keep it really short.” Or, in the case of Jack stations, “We won’t even have an air talent.”
But what the listeners are saying in the research and those focus groups is that they don’t want to hear non-compelling, non-interesting chatter. If more listeners were hearing talent talk about things relevant to their lives, you would hear fewer listeners say, “I don’t like it when the jocks come on.” You would hear more of, “I have to listen to so-and-so everyday because they tell me interesting things and they do an entertaining show. I always come away with something I can tell my friends about.” It’s that type of compelling content that can be delivered in a very time-sensitive manner that can really make a difference.
What advice would you give a young person today who is trying to break into the radio industry?
My standard advice has always been – and it’s as true as ever today – that you really have to love it. If it’s something you kind of like and you think it’s okay, you’re probably going to have a hard time. But if you really get jazzed about going into a studio and putting on a great show, and you really enjoy the performance of it and being around the music, and you’re looking forward to it everyday and you’re passionate about it, then stick with it. It’s not an easy road, but it can be very rewarding, and the key to that is really having a passion for it.
What’s next on the horizon for you? Is there anything else you want to accomplish in your career?
Right now I’m really focused on going from working for large broadcast companies like Emmis and CBS to actually launching a business and working for myself. It’s been a real learning experience. I’m in the infancy of it so I’m still learning everyday. I don’t ever expect this to become a multi-media, billion dollar empire, but if this became a solid way of making part or all of a living, I would put that down as a big accomplishment because it’s going from doing it at a place with a guaranteed paycheck to doing it for yourself. That’s really something I would like to be able to put on my achievement checklist.
I’m even teaching some broadcasting classes at The Illinois Center for Broadcasting. It is fun, but it’s also an interesting perspective for me with Talent Mechanic, because I’m talking to people and teaching people who are at the very beginning. It’s a good reminder of where we came from and how we all started our careers, and what we don’t know at that time. It’s interesting for me to meet these people who are really aspiring and creative and want to do this, and work with them and see them just coming right out of the gate in their careers. It really does help me keep perspective for when I’m talking to people in my role at Talent Mechanic. I think there’s great potential, and I still believe radio is a great industry. I just think there are some things that, because of the business situation we’re in, might slip by the wayside, and if there’s an opportunity for me to help, then all-the-better.
[eQB Content by Mandy Feingold]
