INDUSTRY - HOW TO READ YOUR AUDIENCE'S COLLECTIVE MIND!



If there's one thing I've learned in my 40-plus years on this planet, is that we're all very, very different -- and very much the same! Yes, that's confusing. But I think you know what I mean.

We're different -- we come from different backgrounds with different values and different life experiences. I grew up in a union-heavy automotive town, raised by parents that are still married to this day. That's very different than my buddy, Mike, who was raised on 7 military bases by a father who has been married 3 times.

We're the same -- If you've ever worked at a restaurant, you know there's no in-between when it comes to business. It's either empty or packed. The request lines are either hot or not. The drive-thru at Chick-fil-a is either crowded or (wait, bad example, Chick-fil-a is ALWAYS packed).

There's no way of really explaining this -- could be the weather (rain, cold), or could be the day of the week (Monday vs. Friday), but we're very much the same while being very different at the same time.

So how can you get in the head of your audience? How can you predict if they'll call and be engaged with your show? You can't, at least not completely. But here are some tips to at least try:



  • How do YOU feel today? If you've been doing the same show for at least 5-years, there's a good chance your audience is very much like you. People tend to navigate to personalities they can relate to, so if you're in a great mood, chances are they will be, too. If you're not very pleasant to be around, then suck down some coffee and become Mr./Mrs. Cheery, because your audience will probably ALSO need a pick-me-up.




  • Twitter/Facebook: Check the tweets and postings on your social network accounts. There's a good chance you'll pick up a pattern. You'll probably see a lot of "I HATE Monday's!" or "Woo Hoo! Only one more day 'till the weekend!" or "this rain is driving me NUTS!" It's not that hard to check the mood-temperature online.




  • Read this article from Psychology Today about being a "Better Mind Reader." The tips, adapted for radio personalities, boil down to this:
    1. Get to know the other person - Peel back another layer to your listener at remotes or events. Really delve into their lives, almost to the point where it's creepy, but informative. Do that with several listeners and you'll pick up patterns.
    2. Ask for feedback - Ask if they're happy, angry, sad, drunk, etc. "Sounds like you're stressed, am I right?" suggests the article to get a better read on your listener.
    3. Pay attention to the upper part of the face - Primary emotions spill out across the upper half of your face. Your lower half can fake it, but your upper half tells the whole story.
    4. Be expressive - Respond to their self-revelations with outpourings of your own.
    5. Relax - If you're tense, the person you're having a conversation with will also be tense. Take a deep breath and smile.

    • Show Starters

    Cuttin' Cake

    • Joss Stone (25)
    • Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F (83)
    • Jennifer Esposito from Blue Bloods (39)

    Pop Quiz!


    It's National Submarine Day in America -- not the sandwich, the boat that travels underwater.

    From the movie about a classic war sub, U-571, can you tell me who played Lt. Pete Emmett?

    Answer: Jon Bon Jovi!

    Primetime, Baby!


    ABC    : The Middle (NEW), Suburgatory (NEW), Modern Family (NEW), Don't Trust the B--- in Apartment 23 (PREMIERE), Revenge (NEW)
    CBS: Survivor: One World (NEW), Criminal Minds (NEW), CSI (NEW)
    NBC: Betty White's Off Their Rockers (NEW), Best Friends Forever (ENW), Rock Center (NEW), Law and Order: SVU (NEW)
    FOX: American Idol (LIVE)
    CW: America's Next Top Model, America's Next Top Model (NEW)

    Joke of the Day


    A woman was arrested for shop lifting. When she went before the judge he asked her, “What did you steal?” She replied: “a can of peaches.” The judge asked her why she had stolen them and she replied that she was hungry. The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can. She replied 5.

    The judge then said, “I will give you 5 days in jail.” Before the judge could actually pronounce the punishment the woman’s husband spoke up and asked the judge if he could say something. The judge said, “What is it?”

    The husband said, “She also stole a can of peas.”



     30 Greatest


    Entertainment Weekly's music issue boldly listed the 30 Greatest Artists Right Now...and although it's no surprise that Adele took #1, see if you can spot who's MISSING from the list:

    Here's EW's 30 Greatest Artists including the nicknames EW gave to them)

    30. Beach House – Dreamy Indie Duo
    29. Kimbra – Quirky Chanteuse
    28. Calvin Harris – Dance-Floor Director
    27. Gotye – Awesome Aussie
    26. Beyonce – R&B Goddess
    25. Florence + The Machine – Alt-Pop Siren
    24. Lady Gaga – Mother Monster
    23. Bruce Springsteen – Forever The Boss
    22. Coldplay – Kings Of The Road
    21. Azealia Banks – Hip-Hop Wild Child
    20. fun. – Pomp-Rock Breakouts
    19. Jake Owen – Nashville Casanova
    18. Kelly Clarkson – America’s Pop Idol
    17. Fiona Apple – Swoony Songstress
    16. A$AP Rocky – Mixtape Prodigy
    15. The Civil Wars – Americana All-Stars
    14. Jay-Z – CEO Of Rhyme
    13. Kanye West – Mad Genius
    12. Foo Fighters – Hard Rock Royalty
    11. Bruno Mars – Pop-Soul Showman
    10. Rihanna – Dance-Pop Muse
    9. Mumford & Sons – Platinum Folkies
    8. Nicki Minaj – Radical Raptress
    7. The Black Keys – Garage Gods
    6. Jack White – Indie MVP
    5. Katy Perry – Bubblegum Queen
    4. Carrie Underwood – Country Belle
    3. Drake – Hip-Hop Heartbreaker
    2. Taylor Swift – Everygirl Superstar
    1. Adele – Undisputed World Champion

    What name was left out? How about the woman that just scored her eighth #1 album -- MADONNA! How could she NOT make the list.

    Phones/Facebook: Anyone else missing or misranked on the list?

    Let Go and Be Happy!


    The PurposeFairy website, and yes, that's the name of a website, came up with a list of things that are preventing us from being happy. Let them go and be stress free, they say. Here are the biggies, the top 5:

    1. Give up your need to always be right - It's not worth losing relationships just because you need to be right. Whenever you feel the "urgent need" to jump in and play the referee, just ask yourself this question: "Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?"

    2. Give up your need for control - Drop the need to be in control of everything that happens around you, and just allow them to be. Allow everyone to be who they are.

    3. Give up on blame. Stop blaming others for what you don't have, for what you don't feel, or what you don't feel. Take responsibility for your own life.

    4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk - Don't believe everything your mind is telling you -- you are better than that

    5. Give up your limiting beliefs - Stop telling yourself what you can't do. Spread your wings and fly.

    Source

    Skirt Length Tied with Age


    Curious how old she is? Measure her skirt length. Then, as you're being taken to jail for measuring a strange woman's skirt, do the skirt-math to come up with an age.

    The shortest skirts are worn by 23-year old women who are generally single and hitting the club scene. Skirts then lengthen after they get a serious boyfriend, but then come right back up between 28 and 34 years old when they're husband hunting.

    Skirts then stay steady while in their 30's, but shorten up again once they hit 40. In fact, this latest study found that women are wearing mini's until they hit 45, five years later than when the study was last carried out in 20009.

    Source

    Our Favorite Candy Bar Is...


    When it comes to chocolate, we like what we like and we don't change. A list of America's top 10 favorite chocolates discovered that 80% of the brands are more than 50 years old, and the newest brand is almost 20 years old. Our top 10 fav's:

    10 Almond Joy (Greatest candy bar jingle ever)
    9. Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme
    8. Milky Way
    7. 3 Musketeers
    6. Twix (1993 commercial starring Brittany Murphy)
    5. Kit Kat (90's commercial)
    4. Hershey's bars
    3. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (1980 commercial)
    2. M&M's
    1. Snickers (Classic commercials -- pure milk chocolate!)

    Source



    Surf This





    Too good to pass up... check out the World's Worst Sun Tans.

    #