Coaches Corner
Nailed It! He’s Landed An On-Air Job Opportunity…
It’s becoming tight for new on-air positions. Media companies are getting rid of a number of air talents for one reason, they are being viewed strictly as budget line items. But with that said, I’m always glad to hear when an opportunity is on the horizon for someone. Especially when that person once worked for me.
Air Talent: I’m up for a job and I need you to be straight with me. What things do I need to work on if I get it?
Coach: The fact you are asking me this shows you’ve been working on one of your weaknesses, which is maturity. Some of what I’m going to say, you’ve heard me say before. One of the areas you need to improve is tightening up verbally on-air. The other issue for you to work on is keeping yourself employed.
Air Talent: I’m aware that I get a little wordy on the air sometimes.
Coach: It’s a practiced art, and you need to do so off air on your own time. Get in the production room, use a recorder or an audio editing app (on your smartphone or computer). Play back your efforts to fine tune your on-air delivery. It’s pretty much like rewriting a sentence; be as verbally word efficient as possible.
Air Talent: I have a 6-year-old and to get her to pay attention to me, I’ve found that I can’t go into too much detail. My wife made me understand that I need to keep things short to get her to pay attention. At that age their minds wander off so easily.
Coach: Transfer that approach with your daughter to what you do on the air. Simple and to the point is what you should always aim for. Now, as far as the office place, friendliness is great, but when you were working for me before, you were too trusting of others.
Air Talent: How?
Coach: I mentioned keeping yourself employed. When you worked for me, you would put yourself in harm’s way by saying things out loud that you should have kept to yourself. Before I hired you I gave you my “stay out of cliques and don’t gossip” speech. Your interpretation of what I said was off the mark. I realized you didn’t get it when your name started cropping up in negative ways around the station. You offered your thoughts in situations where you should have kept to yourself. You were naïve and believed everything said to you was fact.
Air Talent: Yeah, my previous experiences didn’t prepare me for what I dealt with when I worked for you.
Coach: You were starting to become a political liability and were costing me time and energy defending you all the time. I had some major station issues I needed to finesse to keep rating goals on track and you were becoming a distraction.
Air Talent: I understand a lot better what you were telling me back then. This new opportunity means a lot to me, and I don’t want to make the same mistakes I did back when I worked for you.
Coach: Remember, everyone wants to be your buddy in the beginning. Some people are being genuine, some look for ways to use you, and many are innocent bystanders who mean well. The best thing for you to do is to smile, listen, and not offer any opinions about co-workers. Only share what you want others to know about you, never get drunk at off-site interactions with co-workers, and keep to yourself as much as possible. Never give them anything to talk about other than how good you sound on the air.
Air Talent: It goes back to something you once told me, it’s okay to let someone else be the expert on everything.
Coach: You remember that? Well, this time I think you get it. Enjoy the new job and you know where I am if you need me.
Something To Remember …
New employees should stay in their lane and don’t buy into idle gossip. If you feel uncomfortable or need clarification on anything, go to the person who hired you. Both of you are invested in making you an asset to the team.
And if you need some friendly advice, drop me an email; samweaver@samweavermedia.com or text me, (972) 672-4812.
