Local Angle for Radio News Report

Series Summary

Of course you've got a favorite radio show announcer. Even though you have never seen their face, you recognize the voice instantly, the rich intonation, the clear enunciation, the authoritative tone that separates a radio personality from the mere mortals listening. Whether they are bringing you news about your local sports teams, a bake sale or a storm headed your way, their voice is somehow always reassuring. But have you ever thought about become a radio announcer yourself?

In this free series of career advice videos for potential radio announcers, you will learn what it takes to begin a career in radio. An experienced announcer and program director gives you tips for announcing and reporting the news as well as creating a talk show that will have listeners tuning in night after night. Learn how to conduct an interesting interview, how to promote your show and how to talk to listeners calling in to your show. You will even find out tips on how to create an effective audition tape for your first radio announcing job.

Video Transcript

"Hi there, this is Eddie Matthews, on behalf of Expert Village. A few tips for announcers trying to get a career in radio. In this clip, we're going to be talking about show prep. Show prep is crucial for your success, even if you have a music intensive format, you need to observe what's happening around you. Especially in your own market. I mean you can subscribe to show prep and get ideas, you can get ideas from wired copy, especially from the kicker stories, the human interest type of stories. But the one thing that you need to do is create a local angle. Any story, you should be able to get a local angle from it. If you hear that coffee is not recommended for pregnant women, see if you can get a local pediatrician on the air to talk about it with you. Show prep doesn't always have to come from the intimate. Just observing the things around you. What's happening around you. And that always works, you know if Super Bowl is coming up, chances are that the TV shops are going to be having a sale on high definitions or plasma screens. Pizza and beer sales are going to be going on as well. You got to look around at what's popular, and see what the things are that you can connect to that main story. Just so that you can use it as the main story, and plan some show prep that way. "