How Radio Personalities Can Get Attention In An Over-Communicated World

To get attention, the audience must be invested in a radio station's personality, not just the music. If I can listen to your station and not feel anything, I won't think about it or talk about you. And when you're not top of mind, you're dead in the water. Getting attention used to be much easier, but today there are so many options and distractions. Consistency in performance is important. But if you really want to win on the air, you have to surprise your audience. And that's hard. It's made even more difficult when management is more cautious and resources are tighter. But don't let those distractions get you down. Personality and characters attract audiences by creating original, one-of-a-kind personality. No matter what your promotional budget, you can delight your listeners.

The Purple Cow

Have you ever seen a purple cow? A purple cow would stand out in a pen full of other cows, wouldn't it? In Seth Godin's book, "The Purple Cow," he describes it as being unique and remarkable. He claims that being different always beats being better. Better is good, but it doesn't guarantee a win. In entertainment, being different sets you apart by creating a reason to exist. And being remarkable means you're interesting enough to talk about. This is easy to say and difficult to do. You don't have much choice, though. If you want your work and career to matter, you simply have to find ways to surprise your audience. And delight them.

Surprises Stand Out

Provoking an emotional response with surprise is key to a successful brand. President Trump is a master in the art of creating talk. He's unpredictable (some would say reckless), colorful (some say over-the-top) and full of surprises. You never know what will come out of his mouth next. It creates suspense and controversy. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It may be terrifying for governing a country, but it commands attention. Nearly everyone in the world talks about him. Before politics, those traits served Trump well in business and on Celebrity Apprentice. And it's part of the reason he won the election.

Time magazine observed, Trump, in his ability to get attention for himself, seems to understand something NBC does not: That as much as the audience may want to see real, authentically flawed people, it demands above all to be kept in suspense, to be tantalized with the promise (or threat) of things veering off script. That feeling of never knowing what's going to happen next is intoxicating if you can deliver it on a regular basis. This is an important skill in effective storytelling, too. A storyteller's goal is to cause the audience to wonder what will happen next, and how the story will turn out. Predictability may be comforting, but it doesn't excite an audience.

That feeling of never knowing what's going to happen next is intoxicating if you can deliver it on a regular basis. This is an important skill in effective storytelling, too. A storyteller's goal is to cause the audience to wonder what will happen next, and how the story will turn out. Predictability may be comforting, but it doesn't excite an audience.