Valerie Geller, the US broadcasting consultant who kicked off the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA)‘s 2024 conference with a masterclass to help communicators become more powerful, is the human equivalent of a podcast.
Word of mouth brought many of us into the room, having no idea quite what we were going to hear. We all took with us new concepts to apply, wherever we work in radio. I also suspect that Valerie gifted us each a chapter we felt was our very own in her story book that she shared throughout the day.
The core of Valerie’s message is the three pillars of tell the truth, make it matter and never be boring.
She turned upside down the concept of leading with a ‘what happened’ to instead a ‘who before the what’. For example, using my first paragraph above, you could instead say:
“If you aspire to become a more powerful communicator, Valerie Geller, the US broadcasting consultant who kicked off the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA)’s 2024 conference with a masterclass, can assist you in multiple ways that any written description can’t do proper justice to.”
This has also made the introduction more personal by speaking to ‘you’. Valerie said reframing radio speak from “we have coming up five chances to win concert tickets to Pink” to “Do you love Pink. You have five chances to win tickets to see her in Sydney coming up” had some of the most profound impact on how connected an audience felt to who they were listening to.
The chapter for me was when Valerie spoke to the unexpected joy that an audience can and should experience when listening to you. Humour, the element of surprise or even when your authentic response is counter to what they were expecting.
I’d also not thought enough about the distinction between personal and private sharing on air. Personal is what distinguishes us from AI, private should remain so. Personal stories were reframed to make it for the listener and not just an ‘I did this and then that happened’.
You all probably have had a moment on air where you have broadcast something simply because you had the content available, not because you found it interesting or a good listen. Valerie challenged us to never pay this disrespect to our audience again, saying:
“The minute the stuff happening inside your head is better than what is coming out of the radio, you’re done.”
And:
“If you haven’t formed an opinion on something, you don’t care.”
Both resonated with me as a person who hates to waste anything. Sometimes crap audio should just go in the bin, not be recycled or eaten just because you cooked up leftovers and its staring at you in a container in the refrigerator.
The test of a great communicator, Valerie said, was if you could happily imagine being stuck in a car with them for five hours. We all have broadcasters who have shaped us who we’d be delighted to call shotgun with for a road trip. This masterclass was towards us, in that car, providing more than music and snacks.
If ever you have the opportunity to be part of a session with Valerie, particularly as part of a group such as we were with different voices, styles and ways of communication, seize it.
You can read more via Valerie’s two part Creating powerful podcasts for radio articles below:
The 2024 edition of BEYOND POWERFUL RADIO – An Audio Communicator’s Guide to the Digital World is out soon.
International broadcast consultant Valerie Geller is an author, talent coach and trainer for radio and podcasting. An in-demand keynoter, and workshop leader, she is one of Radio Ink’s Most Influential Women, and has worked in 42 countries, helping more than 500 stations get, keep and grow audiences.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo