Author name: Tracy Johnson

You can indeed make any topic or content entertaining, but if you start with relevant and familiar content, you’re ahead of the game. Here’s a simple and effective way to judge all content, including interview guests, news stories, and segments on your show: The Triple Threat Filter.

Your voice may be your superpower, but how you wield it turns casual listeners into devoted fans. That happens when you reveal character by exercising storytelling skills or drive them away. There’s not much middle ground. One key to becoming more endearing lies in The Novelty Penalty. The idea is simple: People gravitate toward familiarity over the

Radio listeners are a picky, fickle bunch. They don’t listen nearly as much as we would like, have little loyalty to even a favorite personality or station, and are quick to tune out anything that annoys them. It’s similar to your loyalty to a “favorite” restaurant. But every radio show can reduce audience turnover by fixing things that drive listeners crazy.

Everything on the radio should be designed to appeal to emotions. That isn’t a big surprise, because we all make choices based on emotions, not facts or logic. But how about contests and promotions? Listen to most radio giveaways; it doesn’t take long to realize they’re generally robotic and mechanical. One reason is to save time,

It’s time to repeat it. Air personalities are the future of radio. Many stations promote personalities with promos, but that’s just the start. Programmers should make their stars the face of your brand. In the past, radio was able to compete for four main positions: Music, Information, Promotion, and Personality. That’s changed, and you know

Imagine being at a party. You approach a group of people engaged in conversation and interrupt by launching a story without introducing yourself: “Guys drive me crazy because they never listen. You’re not going to believe what my husband did yesterday….”

Program directors are usually good at creating imaging and production pieces for a radio station, but what about personality imaging? Whether it’s a simple personality positioning campaign or a series of promos, stations should use every opportunity to spotlight character traits. Personalities can be stars if they’re positioned and promoted to increase their profile. Most

Listeners often complain about “too much talk,” but they don’t actually reject entertaining conversations on the radio, particularly if it’s funny. What they can’t stand, however, is meaningless talk that doesn’t relate to them. There’s a thin line between an engaging, personal performance and a self-absorbed show that causes listeners to feel alienated. Allowing the