TOOLS OF THE TRADE

When I say tools of the trade I'm not talking about control boards, microphones, cd players or vox pro. I'm talking about your oral cavity, that hole in your mouth through which food is taken and words are spoken.

Your mouth is an instrument. Just ask singers and vocalist. Singers, even a veteran singers warm up before a show. Are you warming up your tool or instrument before your radio show?

A few tongue twisters, mouth and breathing exercises before each show, even voice tracked shows, will loosen up your oral cavity and improve your vocal and speaking skills dramatically.

Take a few minutes before each show, and after you show prep, to do a few of the following exercises. Do each for at least 5 seconds and you'll see a difference immediately.

Tongue Twister:
1 ~ Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
2 ~ I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop.
Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.
3 ~ How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
4 ~ Sheena leads, Sheila needs.
5 ~ The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.

Mouth Exercises:
1 ~ Smile BIG and hold for 5 seconds!
2 ~ Fill your cheeks with air and hold for 5 seconds.
3 ~ Say "OOOOOO" with your lips puckered, then "EEEEEEEEEEE" with a big smile 5 times rapidly!
4 ~ Take a deep breath, pucker your lips and blow air through your lips making them vibrate.
5 ~ Stick out your tongue and try to touch your nose for 5 seconds then try and touch your chin for 5 seconds.

With everything you do practice makes perfect. So practice improving your instrument and you'll truly have the best Tools Of The Trade!

Lj

PROGRAMMING PHILOSOPHY

I'm often asked how to become a Program Director and while there is no one answer and there are many routes, more often than not you will be asked for your Programming Philosophy when applying for a Program Director position.

The next question is almost always how can I put together a Programming Philosophy and what should it include? For the most part I just provide the interested person an outline and ask that they just let their thoughts and writing flow. If you've been doing this for a while, you already have a good idea of your philosophy on radio but you just don't know how to format it into a written plan. But I'm going to share a quick outline for you.

Programming Philosophy
I ~ Thesis
II ~ Interactive
III ~ Music
IV ~ Imaging
V ~ Community
VI ~ Personalities
VII ~ Promotions/Marketing

Writing your Programming Philosophy is like writing an Essay, its used to argue your point and/or tell a story. And just like a good essay, your Programming Philosophy should begin with a strong thesis statement. After you write your thesis then expand on it in the body of work using the above outline. Ideally one page will suffice, but if your philosophy is that interesting with very intriguing content, then more than one page wont be frowned upon.

Not a lot of people will just give you their Programming Philosophy to just copy, but I encourage you to use this outline, write a paragraph for each section, and in no time you'll have your own Programming Philosophy and feel comfortable presenting it because it will be in your own words.

Lj

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME

wow, its been a long time since I've posted. It's not that I haven't had plenty to discuss or share, I've just been a little focused on other projects and interest.

If you've visited my blog before or if you're new to the blog, please take a minute to read some of my previous posts. I'm sure you'll find something interesting and still relevant.

I created this blog to share and to help so I promise to start blogging again, leaving little nuggets I've learned alone the way on my 20 year journey in radio. I may even post some video blogs.

Lj