By Guest Blogger, Michael Madden, Broadcasters Mentoring Group www.BroadcastingSchool.com
Radio talk show hosts are intuitively perceived by the general public as experts, in spite of whether we agree with their positions or not. In the case of terrestrial (commercial) radio, the thinking of the average listener goes something like this: “Someone hired this radio talk show host, which means they must have a solid working knowledge of their subject material.”
In the case of Internet radio or podcasting, a different dynamic occurs than what we see in terrestrial radio, which is often times more powerful and compelling.
Prospective listeners realize there’s little or no money involved for the Internet talk show host, which subconsciously means one of two things:
1) The talk show host believes they’re an expert on the subject material, or
2) The talk show host is so passionate about the subject material, they’re willing to take risks and put themselves out there, in order to evangelize their message.
Becoming a radio talk show host, whether it be on the Internet, through a podcast, or on terrestrial radio, provides the host a built-in platform that’s waiting to be occupied by established or aspiring authors. The platform has been built by those who went before us, and is something that simply comes with the territory.
Hosting your own radio program obviously positions you as the voice of expertise, builds your brand and broadens your network.
For those who don’t yet consider themselves a voice of expertise or have a brand to build, you’ll soon see how hosting a radio program can broaden your network, which will help build your brand and develop you into a voice of expertise.
As the founder of the Broadcasters Mentoring Group, a mentor-apprentice radio broadcasting school, all of our students host their own Internet radio programs during training. One of the first questions I receive from new students is “what do I talk about during my program?”
The answer every student receives is always the same: “What do you most want to learn more about?”
Many radio talk show hosts use their built-in platform to share their expertise, which is fine if you have an expertise to share. However, the very best radio talk show hosts have an inquisitive nature about them and use their program to learn more about their current topic of discussion.
Admittedly, the closest thing to a book I ever wrote was a 10-page letter to my eighth grade girlfriend, explaining to her why she was making the mistake of her life by breaking up with me. However, if I was an aspiring author today, I would use my radio program – as cover – to gather Intel pertaining to every aspect imaginable about writing, publishing, and selling my book.
For instance, if I was interested in self-publishing my book, I would read up on as much about self-publishing as possible, in order to acquire a sound working knowledge of the subject. This would also provide me with a better gauge of what I most needed to know that wasn’t readily available.
I would then contact Dan Poynter, the most prolific self-publishing expert I’m aware of, and ask him to be on my program to discuss three specific areas of self-publishing that my listeners would benefit from learning more about.
In truth, these three areas would benefit me from learning more about them, but in turn, even future listeners would benefit by my having a sound working knowledge of self-publishing.
Dan would benefit from such an interview by expanding his brand and exposing his work to those who may not be familiar with him. My listeners would benefit because, through my preparation, they were gifted with nuggets of information that may not be readily available to the general public.
I, as an aspiring author and former bumbling boyfriend, would be one step closer to building my brand and becoming a voice of expertise, all the while adding Dan Poynter to my ever-growing network.
Did the interview I just depicted require me to be an expert, in order to create a win-win-win scenario for all involved? Of course not, but it required me to get off the sidelines and into the game of book authoring as an active player.
If I can survive the permanent trauma of an eighth-grade breakup, you can be assured that you’ll survive anything you’ll encounter when you take action to become a radio talk show host. You may even wind up knowing more experts – and being known by more experts – than you ever imagined possible.