By:Jay Trachman
Businessmen are funny about risks. Their whole lives are built around risks they take, based on their own judgment. But when it comes to the people they hire, they want to take as few as possible. If programming were left up to businessmen, many of them would buy pre-packaged programming “proven to have worked” in other markets. The ones that didn’t would hire consultants to make lots of rules for their talent, to leave as little room for mistakes as possible.
The fact is, programming is up to businessmen. And that’s exactly what they do. Here’s the problem for us: talent, like business, thrives on calculated risks. It’s the natural inclination of most successful performers and artists to stretch the limits, skirt the boundaries, experiment with the new. One Family Member called it “creative cheating.”
Another fact is, most of us are even more timid than our perception of businessmen when it comes to actually taking these risks — which are necessary to our growth and success. Good air talent jobs are hard to come by, and we may secretly believe that if we blow this one, we’ll never be able to “fool” anyone else into hiring us again. Our native insecurity makes us cower before authority figures. Many of us are even afraid to show our “real” selves before strangers, for fear of rejection.
So here we are with this natural conflict: part of us wants to try something unique, wild and crazy, and part of us is terrified of the consequences. It’s a dilemma we have to resolve in ourselves, if we’re ever going to succeed as performers.
“Safe risks” is an oxymoron. But there are ways to minimize the likelihood of bad consequences from the chances we take…
First, plan your experiments. Any businessman (or scientist) can tell you that. For us, it’s usually a pretty simple process. If you’re going to do an off-the-wall bit, script it out, or at least make extensive notes. Then you have time to edit before you air, and you also have a script to follow, so you can concentrate on execution rather than “What next?”
Second: you almost surely can’t be a successful performer without revealing some of your inner self. Originality is central to artistic success, and the only thing about you that’s guaranteed “original” is you — your experiences, your feelings, your opinions. When you’re talking intimately, focus on your Personal Listener, that one person who likes you, no matter what. Instead of thinking about “putting my innermost feelings out there for the world” (or for the boss), share them with that close friend. You’ll feel a lot “safer,” and sound more real.
Third: when giving an opinion which might be controversial — and that’s another unavoidable thing you’ve got to do occasionally, in order to be credible and original — acknowledge that you respect those who hold an opposing view. It can be in the form of a disclaimer right then: “Don’t shoot me just because I think ‘American Idol’ is stupid!” Or, “I know there are a lot of people who think we’re just wasting time and lives in Iraq, but sometimes I can’t help thinking…” Or it can be a general overall balance — one line teasing conservatives; another, later on, teasing liberals. Remember: you’re there to entertain and keep company, not to preach.
Fourth: consider getting your material approved before air time. That may sound radical, but let me tell you about my own experience. At KFRE, after a few listener complaints, they imposed that on me. The GM instructed me to submit all my pre-scripted lines to the PD each day. On rare occasion, the PD would say to me, “You don’t really need those (emotionally charged) adjectives to make your point, but otherwise, it’s okay.” That was the worst of it. 99% of the time he simply approved my stuff.
What a wonderful feeling it was, after I got over my initial resentment. The PD backed me. If I put my foot in it, if the phones lit up over some comment I’ve made — hey, I’m certified! I got approval! I grew to enjoy that confidence so much, when I went to my next station, I asked the PD to pre-read my lines.
Fifth: save your results. You should be air-checking every day and critiquing yourself, anyway, but in this context, it’s critical. It allows you to spot your mistakes and think about how to do better. After all — isn’t that the central idea behind an experiment? Learn from what fails — and from what succeeds.
Finally, be gentle with yourself. If you’ve prepped carefully, and the thing just doesn’t work — even if it’s a disaster — remember, you were doing the best you knew how. And not everything you’re going to do will work. Furthermore, it doesn’t need to. Not everything Letterman or Leno tries works. They take chances; win some, lose some. But how would you like to have their ratings?
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.
