Hosting Your Show

 

 

Pick a theme or format for your show. Before you start broadcasting, you'll want to have decided on a "purpose" for your show. While many shows are remarkably flexible in terms of their structure and the topics they cover, in general, most successful talk shows have a pre-defined theme or goal. This can be quite broad, so don't feel the need to pigeon-hole your show with an extremely specific theme. Simply ask yourself, "what is my show about?" Below are a few common talk radio show themes to get you started:

• News/current events
• Political commentary
• Music news/Underground music discussion
• Humor/parody
• Educational topics (history, science, etc.)
• Advice (relationships, DIY projects, etc.)
• Niche topics (paranormal, conspiracy theories, etc.)

 
 

Schedule out your show's time beforehand. Don't "wing it" in the studio unless you're an experienced broadcaster. Scheduling (or "blocking") out the time you have available for your show is a must, especially if it's your first show. Having a plan beforehand allows you to keep the momentum of the show high and makes it harder for you to run out of things to talk about. During your first few shows, you'll inevitably discover that your schedule doesn't perfectly match with reality — some segments may take longer than you anticipated, while others take less time. Take note of these differences and adjust your schedule as needed.

• Let's say that we've just gotten our first 90-minute political talk radio show. Here's an example of a schedule we might have for our first show:                                                                              (5 minutes) Theme song and introductions.                                                                                     (20 minutes) Guest interview: Author Jane Smith.                                                                      (15 minutes) Discussion topic 1: Minimum Wage — too high or too low?                                   (5 minutes) Ads.                                                                                                                            (10 minutes) Take calls.                                                                                                               (15 minutes) Discussion topic 2: Gerrymandering — how big of problem is it in the modern age?                                                                                                                                               (5 minutes) Ads.                                                                                                                               (10 minutes) Take calls.                                                                                                                 (5 minutes) Allow guest to plug upcoming events. Follow with farewell and outro music.          
  

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    Have a consistent, recognizable structure. When it comes to talk radio, consistency is key. Listeners want to be confident that they'll be able to hear the same content and style of discussions whenever they tune into your show. Some change may be unavoidable: for instance, if a particular aspect of your show isn't working out, it's better to drop it than allow it to limp along as an unpopular part of the show. However, whenever possible, you'll want to keep the basics of your schedule the same from one show to the next while allowing for fresh content in the form of new segments and so on.  

    
    

     

     

    Invite new guests and old favorites to participate in your show. One way to keep your show fresh and interesting while keeping its format consistent is to continuously invite interesting, exciting guests on to your show. Guests bring their own knowledge and conversational style to the show, contributing to enlightening (or at least entertaining) discussions. Usually, in exchange for coming on the show, the guest is allowed to promote his or her personal projects on-air.

    • The types of guests you should invite will vary based on the format of your show. For instance, if you're running a serious art criticism talk show, you might invite guests who offer new perspectives and unique expertise, like professors and artists. On the other hand, if you're hosting a crass "shock jock" comedy show, you might want to invite fellow comedians or even bizarre local personalities.

     

     

     

    Take calls from listeners. It's almost always a good idea to encourage a friendly, open atmosphere between yourself and your callers. If you've got an active audience, it's easier to keep the momentum of your show's dialog high than if you don't. Opening up your phone line to callers allows you to briefly take a break from thinking up new, interesting avenues of discussion. Instead, you can let your listeners direct the conversation for you — all you have to do is respond.

    • If you're on a station with rules against profanity, be on the lookout for prank callers. Always know how to quickly disconnect a call. If your station operates on a time delay, be aware of how to delete the last few seconds of airtime in the event that a caller says something inappropriate. Most stations will have an easily-accessible delay button somewhere near the main sound board.
    • If you're broadcasting online, you may want to experiment with taking callers via voicechat software like Skype. Otherwise, you may want to have a text chat channel for your listeners which you occasionally monitor for relevant discussion.

     

     

     

    Avoid "dead air". Whether you've got a show on community radio with a tiny local audience or a nationally-syndicated morning show, you'll want to follow the golden rule of radio broadcasting: avoid "dead air" (distracting periods of silence). Ordinary pauses in conversation are one thing — you don't need to be talking for every single second of your show. However, you will want to avoid stretches of silence that are more than a few seconds long. These are awkward to listen to, sound unprofessional, and can lead to an immediate dip in listenership if it sounds like you're having a technical error.

    • You may find that it's a good idea to keep a piece of new music (or a similar audio clip) queued up and ready to play in the event that something takes you by surprise and you need a few minutes of time.

    
     
    
    Seek out advertisers. As noted above, it's a very real possibility that you may have to pay for your show's airtime. To help pay for your show, try to find advertisers who are willing to put up a little money to have their message broadcast on-air. Advertisers can pay you a fee or agree to cover some of the costs of your show in exchange for you dedicating a chunk of your airtime to ads. Some radio show hosts read the advertiser's ad themselves, while others opt to play pre-recorded ads. Generally, rates for radio advertising increase with the length of the ad, the desirability of the time slot, and the number of listeners to the show. Ad prices can also vary greatly by market. For instance, 60 ads in a market like Los Angeles can cost up to $500, while the same number of ads might go for as little as $3 in a small rural town.
    
     
    

     

    Don't forget to promote your show. Never forget that as a radio show host, you live and die by your listeners. The more listeners you have, the better. With more listeners, you can charge your advertisers more per ad, negotiate more lucrative deals with your station, and promote yourself and your guests to a wider audience, so always be trying to increase your listenership by promoting your show.

    • One great way to do this is by advertising on other shows (especially those in desirable time slots) that broadcast from the same station as you. Many stations offer a reduced in-house rate for cross-promoting your show.