How do you prepare new on air-talent for the brutality of the keyboard warriors?
Management is more than making sure the staff is show prepping properly and conducting remotes on time…it’s also about making sure you are prepping them as you would your show. What does that mean? People new to the industry may not be aware of the hate the on-air staff can field. How do you develop their thick skin without taking the fun out of the job?
It can be difficult to have this conversation. Some of these newbies are coming straight out of college with a rainbows and unicorns image of what it’s like to be on the radio. To them, they will have the best job in the world and do something that maybe they’ve dreamt of since they listened to Ryan Seacrest growing up. However, as those of us who have been in radio for decades know, it can be soul crushing.
I started in radio in 2004. I originally went in to be part of the promotions team. Within about 6 months, I was a co-host of the morning show. It was quick and I was not ready for the heat that would come my way, especially taking the place of a beloved woman who’d been on the air with my co-host for a long time. No one prepares you for the unnecessary word vomit directed at you, for no reason at all! This would have been an opportune time for my manager to sit me down and share what I might endure the firs few months. How do you address this?
Now, it’s easy to see when someone has a little bit of notoriety they can get the ever loving “trolls” on them. The Kermit the frog meme of him aggressively typing on a typewriter with words of hate to a person they’ve never met. This is exactly what I picture when I would get the dark comments. That was my way of coping with those negative Nancys. Everyone has their way of dealing with them. Hopefully, those coming into the job, see these trolls on Tik Tok and other forms of social media, so maybe you won’t have to go into detail who bad it could get. 20 years ago I didn’t have the luxury of comparing what I received to other avenues. Luckily, my charming character shined through and the snarky emails stopped pretty quickly. There are the ones with drive that will keep going until they get a rise out of you. As the manager, it could be beneficial to sit down the newbs and see where their head is as far as negative comments go. Find out what their thoughts on something like this are. From there, have a conversation about how you could get comments or calls from listeners who could be harsh. Make a game plan on how to deal with them and what to do in those events. Protecting the new staff members’ mental health is important. No, you don’t have to act like their parent. And you don’t have to have a meaningful and emotional conversation. A quick, “Not everyone is nice when it comes to their thoughts and opinions on you as a person, and this could happen…” type of discussion is all you need. Definitely make it part of the introduction process. A simple heads up can go a long way.