Today’s “e-personality” challenge is not to treat voice-tracking as work on an “assembly line.” Consider these tips on creating an entertaining show – whether voice-tracked or live – to make a great listener connection.  Also, this is an excellent list of programming basics.

Stop doing things on your show that you do only because you've always done them. Is there still a reason to do a particular feature?  If not...Why are you still doing it?  Inertia is a leading killer of radio programs.

We're often asked, "What new radio trends have staying power and will be successful?"  Answer:  Formats that have been researched for a particular market and demographic, from Rock to Country to Modern Adult Contemporary. Their cutting edge lies in marketing.  After programming and formatics are perfected, promoting aggressively, creatively, and cost-efficiently involves using the station itself as a selling medium. 

Quantitative research is good for measuring awareness, recall, and some images of morning shows; however, focus groups are better for digging into and discovering what people think about the show.  We’ve conducted many focus groups and provide the following major conclusions from watching people talk about mornings.

Writing and producing radio promos is an art.  Fun promos challenge the imagination and illustrate the synergism of the station and station attitude. Consider these Stationality rules for your imaging promos.

The stark reality is that you do not have one or two minutes to set up a bit at the end of a song. Instead, you must set the hook within eight seconds of cracking the mic. If listeners find you interesting in the first few seconds, they give you a little longer.  The younger the audience, the less time you have.  Ensure your social media and web content is also crafted for a quick reward.

There are ways to stretch that listener’s time. Promote a feature (content) or contest to bring listeners back for the next hour (or next break). “Win a free tank of gas today at 3.”  Time spent listening is also about increasing listening occasions, not just expanding the listening duration. 

One of radio’s key benefits is the ability to react swiftly to current events.  Top-of-mind mirroring makes radio the go-to medium when listeners want to be in the know, especially during major events in local communities. 

Listeners are drawn to the station when the programming is presented with passion, and the musical product is staged with charisma. Too often, a station will play great music but present it in a way that is too bland to spark any interest and excitement in its audience. The following examples illustrate how a station can develop this programming charisma.