Coming Out Of The Dark

Coming Out Of The Dark

We’ve been in the dark far too long. It’s time to come out. It’s time to return to our daily lives, our day-to-day, our jobs. It’s time to reflect on what we’ve learned in the past few weeks. How much we

missed being entertainers, just entertainers. Not news and information authorities. Not experts on the crisis. Just entertainers. Entertainers that make people’s day. The ones that make people laugh. The ones that look forward to what we have to say. Time to be a true companion again, in a way we are expected to be.  Let’s reevaluate.

Our audience looks to us for everything they need in a time of crisis.  They trust us and need us. Sometimes, it’s just the simple things we do that are the most appreciated by our loyal audience. A little goes a long way. It’s fun to step out of the box (pardon the cliche) and be different.

Now, it’s time to reset. It’s time to remind the audience why we’re here and what we do on a daily basis to satisfy their needs.  It’s time to sell ourselves (our station) and thank our listeners for being there for us.  After all, we were all in this together.

Maybe it’s a time to reinvent ourselves.  Time to really look at what we do and decide if it’s old and tired or still fresh and new to our listeners.  Be honest with yourselves.  It’s time to break down the walls and the open the doors of creativity again.  Time to try something new. Time to take the essence of what we’ve learned in quarantine and remember what matters most to our audience and how we must deliver it on a daily basis.

Before you get back to the same ‘ole, same ‘ole, ask yourself these questions.

How’s the show’s production value?  Does it match your performance when the mics are on?

Are we delivering at least 6, really good 30-minute shows every day? It’s time to remind everyone of their roles on the show and how important it is to stay in their role. It’s time to concentrate on what you do on your show and not what people around you are doing. It’s time to not be so critical about the music the station plays.  It’s not your call. Never was, never will be. That’s not worth the effort to try to change. Let it go. It’s time to ask if anyone else on the staff needs help and not focus only on what your show needs are. It’s time to bring an idea or two to the table. It doesn't have to be perfect. It can spark ideas in a brainstorm that benefit the station.

Good things come out of bad times. We just need to recognize them before it’s too late. Once we’re back on the air from our station studios instead of our homes, in about two days it will all be back to “normal.” Trust me, it will all become the past after a couple days.

Don’t let it this reevaluation pass. Upper management is assessing all that happened during this pandemic and how their stations performed with and without talent.  You need to step it up and prove how valuable you are to the station and the market.  Not to sound threatening but there are lots of talented people looking for work right now and their desperation to accept less than what they’re truly worth may save a lot of companies a lot of money.

Be smart. Work hard. Stay employed. Stay happy.