How To Become A Super Star Radio Presenter: Trish of Groove 98.1 FM
Ufomba Patricia Osinachi is a radio producer and presenter popularly known as “Trish your radio goddess”. Trish hails from Abia state and has been on the radio for 8 years now. She is presently working with Groove98.1 FM in Owerri, Imo state. At groove 98.1 FM, the radio goddess is running two shows, the “Morning Groove” and a mid-day show known as “WHAT’S PAPPING SHOW”.
The radio goddess is a broadcast journalist and also, MCs at events. She has worked with various radio stations including 99.9 kiss FM Abuja, Maloney FM Keffi, Platinum91.1 FM Keffi, Planet FM Uyo and Comfort FM Uyo. She has also hosted on the radio various interesting shows, which include; “Chic’s”, ”show night”, “Keep or Rip show”, “From the heart show”, “You and me show”, “Newspaper headlines show”. We spoke to the radio princess and asked her to tell us the secrets of becoming a superstar radio presenter.
“Do not compare yourself to other people, there is so much freedom in just you being you. Believe in who you are. Believe in yourself”.
1. Don’t Be Boring
I can’t remember anyone that wants to listen to a boring person, then imagine if you are on air on a radio station that has over 30,000 people listening to it at every moment. You have just killed the radio station because a lot of listeners will tune off and may never come back. The key thing in becoming a super radio presenter is to have a unique voice and a perspective that sets you apart from the crowd. You can’t afford to settle for being just another radio presenter so, you have to be very creative in mind and in thoughts. In fact, you have to develop the tactics of making a boring topic a super interesting one. You know why the best radio presenters do that on a regular through their enthusiasm and ability to offer a new perspective. You must always wear your passions on your sleeve and have fun with what you are doing. And your audience should also have fun too.
2. No one is born a radio host: go for all the practice you can.
You have to first trust in the process and then grow in it. If you focus on performing like the top talents in the industry from your first day, you may fail. And once this happens, you will begin to doubt yourself and anxiety will set in. The people that we call masters in this industry today, producing excellent shows, were once a boy entering into a strange and a new world. It is actually through learning, dedication and practice for a couple of years that these super presenters used in sharpening their skills and developing an intuitive feel for making great shows. Train yourself, Pick up microphones in events and MC it, it helps. So, don’t feel bad and don’t give up yet. Stop comparing yourself to the super presenters, if you put in the necessary hours you will also become a superstar presenter yourself.
3. Always give room for improvement
No matter how fantastic you think that your show went, always have room for improvement. Have an open mind and listen to even those “but guys”, they could chip in something that will help you grow. If there was a problem, at least you have identified it, you have learned about it and the next thing is to figure out how to avoid it completely in the future. If it was something fantastic, then you will be able to replicate it in your next show. That is you growing into becoming a superstar presenter.
4. take advantage of social media: prepare yourself before your show.
With social media today, the world is now more connected than ever before. With social media, you can share opinions with audiences from entirely different sides of the globe so easily. You can learn from other creators around the world. You can also engage your audience, get updates from them and share opinions. You need to read and be prepared for anything because on social media, your attackers will find you and they will strike. They may criticize, Insult or even threaten you, or probably all three. So you have to be able to handle all kinds of interactions on social media, in a professional manner be it positive or negative interactions. Believe me, a lot of radio presenters have tarnished their carrier through unprofessional behavior on social media.
5. Bring your shows to life with powerful storytelling.
Radio is a unique space, it is the only place where you paint pictures with words. You must be able to create endless and boundless possibilities that are only limited to the listener’s imagination. You must engage and inspire your listeners by bringing your show to life with powerful storytelling. You have to understand that in this industry every day is a learning day. You must absorb a variety of content, not just from radio, watch TV, watch movies, read books, play games, travel. These will enhance your ability to tell stories that captivate listeners.
6. Understand your listeners
Your listeners are your listeners, they will always tune to your station to listen to your show. They will talk about your show and they will indirectly converse with more people for you. Your listeners can go as far as stopping their friends from leaving just them feel the show. In return, how do you satisfy your listeners? You have to give them contents that will please and satisfy them. Contents that they will not find elsewhere. So it is important to know your listeners so that you can understand them. Understanding them is knowing what they like, what they don’t like, things that make them mad, their languages, their fights and frustrations, etc. with a clear picture of your listeners, you can relate better while providing content that will keep them.
7. Share your Life On-Air in Nuggets.
I know you will be like, why should I expose private life to the public. I don’t mean it that way. If you are delivering content to your listeners, and you have personally experienced that or you can relate to the story personally. Nothing stops you from sharing to your listeners your own version of the story or experience. Sprinkling your own personal experience in your shows adds flavor to the show, makes the story feel real and engaging for your listeners. It also makes your listeners feel you and know you.
8. Know Your Station and understand your working environment.
Producing a show on a radio station is teamwork. It is not a one-man soldier kind of something. You have to learn how to be friendly with everyone involved in your production as well as everyone at your station. So that you can cultivate an enjoyable work environment for everyone and you will also be kept in the loop. No matter what kind of show or commercial you are involved in, always value face time, your appreciation for their hard work, without them your production wouldn’t be possible! Always use kind words like please, thank you, I appreciate, well-done. Give hands shake or hugs, don’t be stingy with these free things.
9. Learn more: you must be knowledgeable
You must desire to learn more at all times, to learn more is the new culture you must imbibe. If you must grow as a radio presenter, you must keep learning. If you want to educate people or share information, you must have lots of information in your own head yourself. Always make sure that you take every day even at the station as an opportunity to learn something new. You can learn from your colleagues, you can also sit in other departments in the station and learn about what they do and how they do it. You can never tell when the skills you learned will come in handy.
10. Community Focused
To be a good radio presenter, you have to pay attention to your community. You need to know what is happening around you so that you can always chip in today’s things in your show. With this, you can easily demonstrate sincere care and interest for your listeners.
11. Show love to your fellow Presenters
Appreciating all the people that contributed to your show, the producers, DJs and assistants even the other presenters in the station that gave you a piece of honest advice or feedback. So, appreciate everything they contribute to your show. Show support and encouragement to other presenters in your station and they too will do the same for you. Do you know that cross-promotion is a great way of bringing new listeners to everyone’s show? A shout-out from a good presenter can be what is just needed for a new listener to take a chance on your show.