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EXTRActs

In conjunction with Methuen Drama at A&C Black, The Stage is please to present a chapter from the publication 'Essential Radio Skills' by Peter Stewart.

Permission to reproduce the material from the following title is kindly granted from A&C Black publishers

The title listed below can be purchased direct from the A&C Black website.

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Essential Radio Skills

How to present and produce a radio show

by Peter Stewart
© 2006

Part one - off air
2: So you want to present?

After reading those two quotes it should be clear how important a presenter is to a station, and also how important it is for you to get it right! Presenters are the public face of the station, with a job to entertain and inform, but crucially to keep people listening for as long as possible through the day and to come back the next. As a presenter you're the glue that holds the other elements together. Your specific job will be different from station-to-station and from show-to-show, depending on the size of station, the style that's needed, the timeslot that you're on and the help that's available.

Before a show you might research topics (perhaps for an interview or for your own short links), write scripts (either for longer features or short anecdotes) and select music (although not necessarily choose it, see p. 79).

During a show you'll most likely operate the studio desk, play music and jingles, interview guests, and read or introduce items such as the weather, travel news, what's ons and interact with listeners.

After the show there'll be a meeting to review how it went and to come up with ideas for the next one, and that may be followed by a public appearance.

James Bassam, Su Harrison, Alex Williamson in the Essex FM studios, Chelmsford. Note the number of screens, keyboards and mice! Courtesy of GCap Media.

What are the plus points?

In short: fun, freebies and fame.

It's not really hard work is it, being on the radio? Not like being a farmer or a firefighter? A few hours on air playing some music and being daft, then off to do some lucrative voice-over work before swanning off to a showbiz party to get free drinks and have beautiful people fall at your feet. Instant friends!

And then there's the money! If you're good (or perhaps I should say, if you're popular) the financial rewards can be great.

You may have the whole country as your stage, performing in front of millions, be sent free tickets and CDs, get to meet people you would never have had the chance to meet and go to places you would never have had the chance to go.

What are the negatives?

Well, actually it is hard work. At least it is if you do it properly. You're always trying to come up with things to say in a relevant, interesting and compelling way because you know you're only as good as your last show, and if your audience figures slip you may be out of a job.

Other work? Unlikely. There's usually no time. Stations, BBC as well as commercial, are increasingly run by money-men rather than programme-makers. The commercial stations have to report to their owners or shareholders about how much profit they're making, and the BBC has to report to its shareholders too: the licence-fee payers on whether its services are value for money. That means that a four-hour air-shift is only the start of your work at the radio station. There's pre- and post-production and a programme to do six days a week, as well as voice-tracking a show for another station in the group.

Showbiz parties? Possibly at the big stations, but not for the vast majority of presenters. And those 'friends' probably want to know you for what you do and how much they reckon you earn (vastly inaccurate), rather than because they genuinely like you, or maybe they're after a celebrity notch on their bedpost.

Consider all these other potential drawbacks:

• Unusual, unsocial or unpredictable hours and the knock-on with a disrupted personal life.
• Intense competition to get work and then stay in work.
• A low starting salary until you hit the big time. In commercial radio especially, but not exclusively, there's no job for life. And there's 'multi-skilling', the definition of which seems to be 'more work, no more money'.
• Meeting people who recognise your talents and stab you in the back to get the job that you were after, or being taken advantage of by the boss who knows that you're keen to impress ahead of your big break.
• Facing the same questions again and again: 'Are you that bloke off the radio? You're rubbish. I never listen . . .'
• Having to travel to a hotel, hang around, get five minutes in which to ask three censored questions to a rude and arrogant celebrity.
• Few training schemes - isn't that why you've bought this book?!

And here are some more points to ponder:

Do you like your bed? A breakfast presenter will have to be at work at 5am. That probably means getting up at 4am, which means going to bed at 8pm to get an 8-hour sleep. Think of the logistics for a midnight to 4am shift. What about working on Friday and Saturday nights, or weekends? How will these hours suit your metabolism and family life?

Can you force yourself to be happy? Your role on the radio is usually to be entertaining, but if you've just split up with your partner, the dog's got fleas and your car's been stolen, how will you feel about doing the act then?

Worried about your old age? It's precarious being a presenter. If your act gets stale or listeners aren't listening, you may be shown the studio door. Do you fancy hawking yourself around to find another gig? You may still be at the station if trends change, but not on air. How will you feel about that?

Fancy living as a goldfish? You'll be encouraged to reveal a bit of yourself on air to connect better with your audience. You may have your picture in the local papers, appear on stage at a roadshow and be asked to sign photos of yourself, and be stopped in the supermarket. Some people love all that, but what about being asked for your autograph while you're waiting in the doctor's surgery, or being stopped for a chat while you're in a toilet, or being stared at as you try and discipline your toddler in the high street?

Are you interested in presenting because you've been told you've a good radio voice? What is one of those? If it's 'dark and chocolatey' you may be pigeonholed presenting love songs for your whole career. Is that what you want? Good voice or bad, you'll certainly need more qualities to back it up.

If you've considered all of those points and you still think you've got what it takes, are willing to learn more and want to go for it - great!

Your qualifications

All sorts of people become radio presenters. You may be 'The Idiot' who presents the outside broadcasts and the Saturday phone-in competition show, or 'The Intellectual', perhaps the anchor for the all-speech breakfast programme or who fronts the budget and election programmes. You may be neither of these and have other talents. You may have been to university and completed a postgraduate course in radio journalism, or you may have worked your way from work experience to producer, with your sights set on being a presenter and then programme controller. Skills honed from time in further education can be useful:working to deadlines, having an appreciation of the wider world, knowing how to question and how to cut through complex ideas, having a life and interests outside radio.

A presenter might be a 'celebrity', either because they've been at the station so long, or because they are (or have been) a famous television presenter, or years ago had their own show on Radio 1. You'll be more likely to get through the door of the station if you can show that you have some background in radio. That may be practical experience in RSL, community, hospital, or university radio. Although qualifications may be useful, skills, interest, and passion probably count for more. What's on paper is less important than what's in your heart.

Your qualities

Whatever makes good radio, no one has been able to pin it down exactly. Listeners don't buy it, and you can't smell or taste it, but you can feel it. That is, the station and all its integral parts have an overall attitude, and your attitude is part of it. Here, in alphabetical order, are the top ten qualities it'd be good to have:

Adaptability

Have this and you're much more likely to get on. Put yourself out, help where it's needed and you may well be rewarded with a show, or another one in a better time slot, with more potential listeners. You also need to be adaptable in case of any change to your programme while you're on air: maybe an emergency news flash which has the potential to throw the rest of the programme running-order out of the window, or something as basic as moving around features to cope with the late arrival of a guest.

Confidence and friendliness

You'll certainly have to speak in front of an audience of hundreds, or thousands or maybe hundreds of thousands, but they'll most often be unseen. On other occasions you'll have to speak to a group where you can see 'the whites of their eyes' - half a dozen co-workers at an ideas meeting, a few dozen people at a Rotary group, or an auditorium-full when introducing a band on stage, or in the station's Christmas panto! Confidence is also needed to keep calm in a crisis (see p. 327-334,When It All Goes Wrong).

Courtesy

On air and off air you are representing the radio station as well as yourself. Unless you decide to become a 'shock jock', whose persona is one of being rude and arrogant to callers to gain more listeners (a format that works in the States, but less well in the UK), you'll lose an audience and maybe your job if you're plain rude to the people who pay your salary either directly (the radio station) or indirectly (the listeners).

Good personality

In your broadcasting role you want to be someone who your audience can trust and warm to. Someone they like and can relate to, and that needs to be reflected in the office as well. It's highly likely that you'll be earning more than those who are working in the background of the radio station (although their jobs are no less important than yours). They'll resent that salary if you're abrupt, unprofessional, late, rude, or even refuse to make the tea. There are plenty of stories in the industry about household names who are one person on air and another off air - don't let your name be added to the list.

Humour

'There is,' as the saying goes, 'a time and a place for everything.' And that's especially true with humour. Part of being funny is being sensitive to the mood and expectation of the audience, but when you're on the radio the instant feedback that a club comic might get isn't there. This is why it's important to picture a typical listener in your mind as you broadcast. By doing this, and meeting your listeners as often as possible, you'll get an idea of what they like. Even if you're not a presenter who's cracking gags every link (and most aren't) you must still be able to laugh at the idiocies of life, and at yourself, especially if things go wrong.

Lots of interests

All work and no play . . . as the saying goes. If you spend so much time at the radio station that all you can talk about is the radio station, you are, frankly, going to be a dull broadcaster. You need to have a life away from radio, doing things that your listeners do so you will have
something to talk about on your next programme. You'll have read books and newspapers, lived life, have anecdotes to tell and a yardstick by which to measure other experiences.

Sociable

Being a presenter is not the job for a wallflower. You may find yourself eating things on sticks with a glass of warm white wine at a school prize-giving ceremony, or meeting prospective advertising clients of the radio station. Develop techniques on everything from making small talk to making people laugh. You must love meeting and working with people.

Talkability

You should be able to articulate sometimes complex ideas in an interesting and compelling way, as well as being able to talk to listeners on air or at an OB, to children or grannies, poets, priests and politicians, as well as be able to ad-lib if it all goes wrong!

Team worker

Work well with the people around you and get to know those at the station in other departments. Your job will be easier if you make friends at an early stage with key staff such as the receptionist and the engineer, but don't forget those in the promotions or sales team, the staff who schedule the ads and so on. Make a point of going in to their office to say hello each week. It can only help everyone - including you. Treat others how you want to be treated. Despite the growing number of stations, UK radio is still a small industry and the chances are you'll keep coming across the same faces. Some of them, like you, will be on the way up and others will be on the way down. Some will make your heart leap when you bump into them again and others will make your heart sink. Some will be able to help you, others to hurt you. If you hurt them before, what do you think they will do the next time they meet you?

Well-organised

Presenting a three-hour show, six days a week seems straightforward enough, doesn't it? You just wander in with the newspapers and a list of friends to call on the studio phone while the songs are playing. There's more to presenting than that as we'll see, and that's off air as well as on air. You need to prepare your show, research your guests, devise and produce competitions, find the prizes for those competitions and send them off, conduct studio tours and appear at roadshows or outside events.

Each week you'll have to be able to pick up information on dozens of subjects, assimilate it and be able to interview someone about it intelligently on air. You may have to read books if you're interviewing authors and certainly read the newspapers each day to know what's going on in the world. If you're freelance, multiply all that by the number of different jobs you have and then add cold-calling prospective employers and sorting out your tax and national insurance paperwork; you can see that you have to be organised to be able to survive.

The above are all things you should strive to be. But there is one more - OK, that makes eleven.

Be yourself

Don't copy other presenters, although you may benefit from listening closely to what they do and work out why they're successful. If you put on an act you'll be found out as your real personality comes through and then your programme controller will wonder who they've hired.

In these pages you'll learn tips and techniques about what to do, what to say and what to sound like. What I can't do, though, is to teach you an overall style. You'll come to realise that your style has to fit with that of the station. Beyond that, 'style' is an imprecise 'something' that can be elusive to some and natural to others.

If two presenters were given the same programme elements (songs, features, and competition prizes) and a list of bullet points to communicate to the audience, each one would provide a programme that was completely different. Neither would be wrong, or bad, or unprofessional, but one may be better than the other. It may be because of their voice, their style, their personality, their life experience, their vitality, their humour, their empathy or their connection with the audience.

All those qualities add up to some kind of magic, a gift, a spark. Most presenters don't have it. The ones that do are invariably major stars (if they also have the self-belief, get the break, and don't mind moving themselves and their families to another city). You may be able to develop it, but you won't be able to learn it from scratch.

I can show you the mechanics. The magic has to come from inside.

Your name

Should you change your name to be on the radio? It's one of the big questions that aspiring presenters consider, especially those who set out to hit the big time.

Why would you want to change it and what would you change it to? Some people say that the answer to the former question is because their current name is boring and easily forgettable; others because it's awkward to say. The truth is that for everyone who's changed a 'boring' name to a more 'flamboyant' or 'showbiz' one, there's someone else who's changed theirs in the other direction.

Certainly some names are considered more radio friendly. I was asked very early in my career whether my name was my real one (it is) as it's supposed to be good for radio to have a first name and surname that are interchangeable (Peter Stewart, Stewart Peters). Others may think that a good strong name with hard first letters makes for better announcements on the radio, such as Radio Kent's Dominic King (again, his real name). Perhaps you consider your name is tricky to say, but then Mariella Frostrup hasn't been held back. Maybe you think that what you are called doesn't fit with what you do: perhaps Agatha Clutterbuck presenting the sexy late night love songs show may sound a surprising juxtaposition, but then it would be instantly memorable. Getting people to remember your name is half the battle as you forge ahead with your career.

If other people find your name awkward or even impossible to say then that could be another reason why you may consider changing it (I'm not saying you should, just that it may be easier than having to explain it to every caller to your show, or spell it out every time you give out your e-mail address). You may have a fantastically long Asian or eastern European name, full of heritage but a tongue twister for most English speakers. You may want to pick a new name so you can be anonymous when you're off the air (see the section on personal safety later, p. 144), to protect you if you present a controversial show or to add mystery. Perhaps you think your name sounds funny and people crack the same joke every time you say it. Then again, maybe you share a name with someone else in the radio business and you don't want to be confused with them or maybe you share a name with someone who's famous. I once worked with a Paul McCartney, not a bad name to have if it's got to be someone else's but imagine if it was Tony Blair or Peter Sutcliffe; someone who was disliked by some or all of your listeners.

A changed name can cause confusion in the office (on salary slips, for example, or if someone calls and asks to speak to someone in the office that no one's ever heard of ) and also on air if you say your real name instead of your stage one. If you're worried about this, perhaps you need to change your name by deed poll and only have one.

You can legally call yourself what you want as long as it's not for illegal reasons (like fraud or impersonation) so let your imagination run riot. Simply go to a high street solicitor and sign a sworn declaration in front of them. A few weeks and a few pounds later, you can be whoever you want to be. The choice is yours but remember, once you've changed your name there's little chance of you changing it back without great confusion.

A few final thoughts - some people think that making up another name can sound rather pretentious; what will your parents think? Will they be offended that you've denounced part of your heritage and history? Your name is part of what makes you, you.

Some people call themselves by a nickname: BamBam, The Fridge and so on but this is rare; so is a one-name name. If you're simply known as JoJo you may want to ask whether the image that you have on-air is really the one that you want: a single name (usually given to female presenters) can sound childlike and a touch demeaning.

Possible earnings

It used to be said that you wouldn't get rich working in radio. Certainly the highest earners in TV get more than most of the highest earners in radio, but arguably the gap has narrowed over recent years. As radio becomes more cut-throat, stations are willing to pay some large sums to attract and then retain the best talent, but a presenter in the middle of the night on a small local station may work for free.

Here's a very rough guide, bearing in mind that most people's salaries are confidential and those reported by the papers are usually either over-inflated, or over several years.

In the BBC, presenters may be BAs (Broadcast Assistants) who will anchor a show as part of their job. Their basic salary may be (according to length of service and experience), around £20,000. They may be a Broadcast Journalist (BJ) whose salary grade can be between £20,000-35,000, but again the higher level will depend on your experience and popularity as a presenter. A Senior Broadcast Journalist will be on anything from £35,000.

A local BBC presenter may be a freelance (with a fee decided between them and the station management for each show they present), who may get less than £100 a programme. There will be a contract between each party over the duration of the show, any preparation they have to do for it (either at the station or at home) and any notice the presenter has to give for holiday. They may, though, get paid much more than this.

I have no way of knowing how true this next figure is, but a correction never appeared:

At national level the presenters will be freelancers and will negotiate their salaries on an individual and confidential level. They may be higher than £100,000 a year, but remember they're big audience-builders for the station and as soon as their popularity wanes they may be forced to accept a lower fee or not get their contract renewed. Then they may find themselves slipping back down the ladder and becoming presenters at local level, where, as we've seen, the salaries are substantially lower.

In commercial radio, the salaries tend to start lower, but end higher than the BBC's. Indeed on a community station the presenters won't get paid at all as it's a not-for-profit set up, run by local people for local people. At a small local station a presenter may get as little as £10,000 (or maybe as little as £50 for a four-hour programme) and also be expected to work six days a week and do other jobs at the station as well (such as selling advertising time, writing commercials or inputting data into the music scheduling system). The breakfast presenter, whose show invariably attracts the biggest audience, will get more than the other hosts, but even that may be as little at £15,000. At some stations, presenters aren't paid at all because the managers have so many people wanting to be on air. If you have this opportunity and you can afford the time and travel expenses, don't turn it down.Working at any station, even for a few months, is worth the experience, and you'll have some on-air material that you can use in your next demo for a paid gig (see p. 348 for more on work placements).

At a larger station, perhaps a countywide, city or regional one, the salaries will be based on the audience figures. Pay may start at around £25,000 and rise to two or three times that. At the country's biggest commercial stations, either those in major cities or national ones, the sky is virtually the limit.

Remember: many commercial stations don't have staff presenters. The company's income is so much governed by the numbers of those listening that it's better for them to be able to end a short-term contract with a freelancer and replace them with another potentially more popular presenter, if necessary, without warning.

Career prospects

Radio can be run on a shoestring budget, especially at local level. It's quite conceivable that when you start you may be the producer, technical operator and performer all at the same time.This kind of experience is why starting off at a low level is so useful. You get the opportunities and get to understand the whole process of radio much more than if you suddenly find yourself involved with a programme at a national level.

If you're good you can make a good living, and with more and more stations on the way, there'll be lots of openings. There's the opportunity to boost your income at the station (depending on what your contract allows) by taking part in roadshows, personal appearances, writing a newspaper column and even pantomime. As you progress you'll be able to use the skills you have learnt in radio in other areas and make more money: maybe TV presenting, continuity, voice-overs, endorsing products and writing. But for all radio presenters, especially freelancers (and there'll be more and more of them over the next few years) job security is certainly precarious.

Competition for jobs in radio can be stiff, but the following pages will not only help you get in to radio, but also get on in radio.

3. So you want to produce?

The radio producer is the person who helps a presenter put a programme together, and who directs them while they're on-air. The job is different depending on whether the role is at a BBC or commercial local radio station. In fact, the job can vary widely between stations and between programmes partly depending on the role of each individual presenter.

Many large commercial stations will have a producer for each main show, for example, Radio Aire in the job ad above, although at smaller stations, the breakfast show is often the only one with a producer because it is the most important one of the day. In general, other programmes are more music-driven.

The more speech-heavy BBC local stations have a producer for each programme because of sheer practicalities: there are more items and stories to arrange, and because a presenter can't talk on air and take calls or answer the door to a guest at the same time. The producer may be called a Broadcast Assistant or the higher graded Broadcast Journalist. But for the sake of clarity, I'll refer to a producer.

Before the programme you will originate programme ideas that are creative and relevant to the show and station (such as links, competitions, phone-in elements, guests and so on, each of which have their own chapters in this Handbook); do the paperwork - getting money or authorisation for projects, setting up technical facilities, PRS returns, arranging fees; booking guests, facilities and studios and so on.

During the show you will keep the programme and presenter on track and on time, keeping an eye and an ear on the balance of the programme, its direction, technical quality and legality. If it's a news programme, you'll have to respond to breaking stories - what many producers relish as the perk of the job. That means thinking of who to contact for comment and reaction, writing a cue and questions for the presenter, and moving around other features and guests to accommodate the new items.

After the programme you may need to edit the show (if it's recorded), log it and store it. You'll have to arrange payment for contributors (although this is rare in local radio) and correspond with listeners.

Other administrative parts of your possible job spec:

• Making contact with the contributors, booking them and welcoming them when they visit.
• Researching and writing scripts and running orders.
• Attending programme planning meetings and liaising with and briefing presenters.
• Making sure that programmes fit a given brief, are appropriate for the station and its listeners and conform to station style and editorial guidelines.
• Keeping the presenter organised, producing them as they do pre-recorded interviews before the show.
• Maintaining a personal (or contributing to a station's) contacts file of regular contributors and callers.
• Co-ordinating the presenter's appearances with venues and/or the station's promotion/ marketing department.
• Working as a foil for the presenter for links and bits such as skits and sketches.
• Collating and possibly presenting programme elements such as weather or traffic details, requests and so on.
• Getting the show talked about.

Technical parts of your role:

• Editing, timing and checking pre-recorded programmes.
• 'Driving' studio desks to record, mix and play out programmes.
• Answering phones to the show as it is broadcast and deciding which callers go to air and in which order.
• Directing the presenter in matters such as timings and content.
• Editing phone conversations recorded by the presenter while they're on-air, for later broadcast.
• Identifying clips from on air items for programme trails, which you also write.
• Identifying longer items for 'best of ' compilation shows.
• Producing drop-ins and beds (see p. 179) for the show.
• Becoming a roving reporter out on the streets in a branded vehicle to do live call-ins, stunts and so on.

As a producer you will have to lose your ego, as listeners will give a lot of the credit for the show to the presenter (the 'name' or the 'voice'). You'll have to cope with the personality of the presenter. Most didn't get to where they are today by being a shrinking violet! Then you have to cope with the programme controller. They're in charge of everything that goes out on the station as their title suggests. They want one thing, but the presenter wants to do something else and you're caught in the middle!

Remember, if you're a producer, you're a producer; not the presenter! One thing that rattles some presenters more than anything is producers who want to be on air themselves. So, if that's your aspiration watch and learn, but it may be wise to keep your planned career path to yourself. It's not going to make for a good working relationship if the presenter's always wondering if you really are working as hard as possible to make them as sound as good as possible.

What are the plus points?

The work is fun to do, partly because it is so varied. You may be talking to famous guests, getting comment on a breaking news story or arranging an outside broadcast. There's nothing like the feeling you get just before a live show whose agenda can change while you are on air. Or the feeling when you're involved with making a programme whose content you love. Of coming up with new ideas or developing old ideas so they still sound fresh. It may be a long-form programme, perhaps a documentary, or maybe a consumer affairs phone in, or maybe a show whose music you're passionate about. There is nothing like loving your job, and with so many stations and programmes around there's a show just waiting for you to be its producer, and if there's not, write your programme proposal and get it on air yourself.

As well as those 'buzzes' there's also relief: relief when you get the guest you've been chasing for hours or weeks and when a fraught show is over without any mistakes. There's also a feeling of power! Often producers have more say about the content and direction of a programme than a presenter, both as it's produced and as it goes out.

Finally, for some people the biggest comfort of being a producer is that they're not the person whose name is on the credits. They don't want to be a star but they do want to be in radio and contribute to a successful show without the hassle of being famous.

What are the negatives?

The hours can be long, unpredictable and unsocial. If a programme needs to be edited and its transmission time (tx) is Saturday morning, you'll have to stay late on Friday to get it done. As presenters rarely want to work on Christmas Day and New Year's Day it is often producers who have to go in to work to play out pre-recs (pre-recorded programmes).

Here's something you'll see a producer do more than almost anyone else: look at their watch. Even though most have an in-built feel of what the time is (developed from years of working with deadlines and backtimes) they still need to check because in radio there's never enough time to get done what you need to get done. Being a producer can be highly pressured both before the show goes on air and especially while it's on. When that red light is lit all hell can break lose - equipment failure; a no-show from a guest; a competition that doesn't work; a phone in with no one phoning in; a pre-rec going out with a bad edit included; a presenter with a tantrum. No wonder the second strange trait of a producer is waking up at night in a cold sweat!

Your qualifications

As with many entry-level jobs in the media, qualifications are not always as important as practical experience. An understanding of radio, perhaps through student, hospital, community or RSL stations, or work placement, will stand you in great stead. Some producers may have completed a post-graduate course in journalism or communications, or a basic media course, for example a BTEC in media. These will help you identify stories, be able to research them and know what to do with them, as well as being able to spot possible legal pitfalls (outlined later). A year-long post grad course will go into these skills, and more, in greater depth to well equip you for your first producer position.

Your qualities

Here in alphabetical order is a top ten list of qualities that a potential employer would love to see in your application to be a producer. Read them and find something in your character that illustrates as many points as you can. Then when you write your CV make sure that you highlight them to prove to the programme controller that you're the right person for the job.

Assertiveness

You'll be able to explain clearly what you want and when to colleagues, including your presenter who may be older, more famous and on a larger salary. Often this will have to be said at times of great pressure or when there's little time. Assertiveness may also be needed when you're speaking with a PR person who's changed their mind about giving you access to their star, or to a regular caller who only phones in to whinge. It's not your job to be best friends with the host, it's not your job to make them feel good - it's your job to make them sound good. A producer may find themself the mediator between the presenter and the programmer; that means that you may hear things from both sides that they don't want the other to know. You'll need to be diplomatic and respect their confidence. (See also p. 142.)

Creativity

Come up with outstanding ideas for programmes, contributors and treatments (the ways of doing an item) and you'll make a good radio producer. If you can find new guests, approach problems in a creative and resourceful way, write fresh cues and questions and know how it'll all sound, then you could be a great one. Remember, from outside broadcasts and roadshows to one-off stunts, part of the job of the producer is to help attract new listeners as well as keep the ones you've got.

Good general knowledge

Stay informed by reading newspapers and magazines, watch TV, go to films. Like presenters, do what your listeners do - and more.You need to know what their interests are, and also what their interests may be. Go to a museum exhibition you may not have been to before, read an unusual book. This will help you connect and be creative.

Immediacy

A good producer will be able to see the crux of issues very quickly - what the main argument really is, what needs to be done or said to make an item or interview work better.

Organised

As you may be working on the production of several shows at the same time, being able to manage your time and be systematic with your paperwork is essential. You may also be sorting out a long-term project as well, like an outside broadcast or a Christmas show; and dealing with the presenter's paperwork; and liaising with the programme controller. Did I mention listeners' calls and letters too? Deadlines are appropriately named: if they're not met, the programme is as good as dead and buried.

Practical and adaptable

Don't just know your job, know other people's jobs too. That means understanding the cabling for rigging an OB, how to use the newsroom computer system and being an ace at fixing a mis-feed on the photocopier, as well as knowing how to make tea and coffee. You're at an outside broadcast and something goes wrong: will you know how to repair the bit of kit, or at least know who to call? Although I can't give you engineering lessons here, it's worth paying attention when you're shown the basic workings of equipment that you use, not so you can whip out a soldering iron, but so you can make an educated guess whether the problem is a dead battery or a faulty lead.

Research skills

Could you find a clown to lead the station's float in the carnival, and kit out the float like a studio, and a get celebrity on board - and have the day recorded, all within 48 hours? Talents from finding funny stories to phone numbers, biographies and a whole lot more, will be second nature to you. You'll need to use the internet, books and your own contacts to come up with the accurate information the presenter will need. But gathering material is not enough, you also have to be able to sift it and question it: 'Who's telling me this? Do they have a vested interest in this story or angle? Are they accurate? Can they prove it? Why are they telling me, and why now?'

Resilience

Not everyone works well under pressure, but a good producer thrives on it. More than that, your attitude will have a calming effect on others who'll look to you to respond calmly in times of change or emergency. Resilience is also shown if you can cope with a heavy workload and aggressive or temperamental colleagues.

Self-confidence

You'll be able to deal confidently with people at all levels, and give colleagues confidence in your ability. In addition, you'll have a belief in your own capacity and be able to say 'no' or to question managers when necessary. When you build trust with contributors and listeners, you get the best out of them. You do that by putting them at their ease and speaking to them on their own level, by understanding what their needs are. But communication is a two-way process that involves listening, as well as talking, and then perhaps negotiation to reach compromise: you'll be good at this too.

Writing ability

As well as coming up with ideas are you able to put them down on paper? A more-than-basic grasp of writing, spelling and punctuation will serve you well from writing a letter asking for a work placement, to putting together a CV for a better job in a larger market and when submitting programme proposals for a controller's consideration. Could your writing skills be tailored for a management job for writing reports, presentations and appraisals in a few years' time? You'll also have to be quick and accurate with numbers especially when calculating timings - adding up item durations, and working out backtimes (see p. 272).

Possible earnings

Typical salaries in local radio range from about £15,000-£25,000 although, as I said earlier, the roles vary between stations, and so too do salaries. A more experienced producer at a city station, on a high-profile breakfast show may get a salary more like £30,000-£40,000.

Career prospects

You work your way up the radio ladder in a similar way that a presenter does - producing on a variety of programmes which are more demanding (for technical or creative reasons) or more high profile, and in a variety of larger and larger markets (station areas). Jump at any chance to develop your skills: perhaps sit in and watch another producer work on a phone-in or outside broadcast, then stand in for them when they go on holiday.

It's quite common for a producer to stay at a station for two or three years and then move on after building a bridge from local to national radio, or from radio to TV. Some producers work so well with their presenter, that they follow them from job to job. If the hotshot presenter goes to a big station with big bucks and wants you to produce them, you could be in line for big bucks too.

The rule of thumb will come as no surprise: the bigger the show/the bigger the market/the more experience you have, the more money you'll get.

Down the line you could be a presenter yourself. After all, you know what makes a good one. Or you may decide to jump in to the world of marketing or PR.With your experience of dealing with those kinds of people while producing, and after selling the show on and off air to listeners and clients, it'll be a doddle: or a really competent producer could wind up as a programme controller.

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From 'Essential Radio Skills', by Peter Stewart
© 2006

'ESSENTIAL RADIO SKILLS' is available to purchase now from the A&C Black website.