Radio Presenter

Radio Presenter

As popular as TV and film are in today’s culture, one form of media that we just can’t stay away from is the radio. Whether it’s that early morning get up or that drive to work we spend quite a lot of time listening to the radio without even thinking about it. Being a radio presenter is a great opportunity to make a name for yourself without having to worry about the hassle of working in an ever changing high budget camera set where it is crucial to look your best every day.

The typical day to day jobs of a radio presenter can differ widely usually depending on the type of radio station that the presenter works on; for example the job of a presenter working on a station like bbc1 could be anything including dealing with callers and running on air game shows as well as interviewing music artists and talking about music.  However working on a talk radio for example talk sport the jobs would vary to a high degree.

Radio presenters may have massively varying working hours usually involving early starts and late nights, the job is best for someone who works well with people and is confident to talk and interview important people. Again this job role requires a lot of subject knowledge, not so much of radio in general but of the topic of the radio station, for example working on galaxy would require an up to date understanding of the music charts and current trends.

Skills required to be a successful presenter are highly related to keeping calm and collected in a crazy, busy environment. It is important to be able to make decisions about what should be on the show and remain comfortable in difficult situations. Performance skills are probably the most key skill because after all, the audience being entertained is the purpose of any radio show. As radio and TV can be live and important to get right the first time, it is important for the presenter to have knowledge of what can and can’t be done/said.

It is also important for the presenter to have a high level of IT skills in order to upload material onto websites, carry out research for the show that they need and to find audio files, videos and manipulate images all for the purpose of creating each show. It is important to be able to word process and use data handling software, one thing that most people don’t know about radio presenters is how much work they have to go through that the public doesn’t see including dealing with all the viewings and issues regarding licensing and research. Another obvious important skill to have would be for the use of all the specified equipment and making sure that the use of it would be done properly and used to create a professional outcome.

Nearly all radio presenters work self-employed with a fixed term contract with a specific radio station, this can be good for some people, but for others it can prove difficult to find work and too much to handle constant change. Depending on the type of presenter or lack of work a great deal of traveling can be necessary and varies through the different levels of radio. The different levels of radio involve high end radio stations such as BBC1 or Galaxy ranging to local radio stations such as Salford city radio. This can be a great way to get into the presenting business however. A good start can be simply assisting the workers on a local radio station by just making tea or answering calls and slowly learning about the day to day life of a presenter by just being around the business for so long. If someone has already established a name for themselves in another form of media for example TV or journalism they can easily make the career change to radio because it can be a big help to get the job if already known for some form of celebrity status. However it can be just as easy to get in if the right qualifications are gained by doing specific radio or presenting specialist courses; a lot of what goes into getting the job is the personality of the candidate.

Overall when it comes to getting the job, the key is to have as much experience as possible in the best places possible. It is definitely possible to get the job without having spent years training in courses or university. So giving yourself a lot of experience and over time developing a strong personality for yourself could easily be the best bet. With each job is obtained it is important to remember to continue developing skills and knowledge is crucial otherwise it can be too easy to end up too settled in a low end radio job that isn’t going anywhere.