Carnival announcers on radio!

That is what comes to mind when I give ear to what’s happening on some of our FM stations.

In the good ole days, when carnivals were the ‘in thing,’ in our part of the world, the request stalls were quite popular, with those checking out these carnivals. And, invariably, quite a few of them head straight for the request stalls where, for a payment, you could get your favourite song played, and your name mentioned.

These carnival announcers were only good at reading out the names, of the requestees, at a fast space. Presentation and voice quality were nil.

And, now, I find such announcers on the airwaves of some of our FM stations.

The only difference is that listeners don’t have to pay to have their names read out, but these ‘carnival announcers,’ on radio, follow the same format – fast track reading of names that, I believe, not many listeners could fathom out what is being said, on air.

What I constantly hear, every time a record is played, or after, are repetitions, and repetitions – ‘On board the show,’ It’s a pleasure to have you on board,’ ‘locked on,’ and ‘A fabulous day to you.’

These so-called radio announcers seem to be having a very limited vocabulary, and some of them also have heavy accents, especially the females.

Even the news readers are very amateurish, in their presentation of the news bulletin and, here again, their accents make it extremely difficult for one to understand what is being said.

Aren’t these radio men and women trained, and groomed, before being given the green light to go on air?

And, aren’t they being monitored, while on air, by knowledgeable officers!

First and foremost, these radio guys must be told that they should always present as if they are talking to a friend.

Radio is an intimate medium, so they need to address their audience as ‘you’ as much as they can, rather than ‘listeners.’

People are usually multi-tasking and only half-listening – therefore, one must remember never to pluralise your audience as this will break the bond between you and your listener.

Most important is the ability to make the listeners feel like they are being spoken TO, not talked AT.

Using words like ‘you and your’ convey that personal touch, and not using ‘all of you’ in a way that sounds like the individual isn’t important, only the crowd is.

Radio announcers should be genuine. Nobody likes an announcer who is “way over the top” with their delivery, shouting, yelling, or just over pronouncing. Annunciation is important, but overdoing it can be just as bad as the guy who speaks too casually and sounds unpolished.

In fact, there are several characteristics that make a good announcer.

Unfortunately, not many of our radio folks have the qualities that go to make a good radio announcer.

Of course, in the past, we did have a few who were simply outstanding, and one guy, although based in Australia, is still doing his thing – every Saturday, on EFM…Brad Stevens, presenting The Brad and Kiara Show, from 7am to10 am.

Two international radio personalities that also come to mind are Howard Stern and Ryan Seacrest. Howard is possibly the most iconic radio presenter to hail from the US, while Ryan Seacrest is considered, by many, to be the top music presenter in US radio!

Yes, anyone can call themselves a radio presenter these days. But it takes unparalleled skill, unbreakable determination, and heaps of talent to captivate a radio audience.