It’s Time to Get More Out of the AI Tools Right in Front of You
The best problem you can have as an on-air personality is going into a show with so much good material that you’ll never get to all of it.
I mean, excellent material. You found tons of content you know the audience is into and worked up angles that make every break uniquely yours. Everything you’ve gathered to put on the air is so in-the-moment that none of it will play as well tomorrow as it will today.
You’ve nailed down attention-grabbing openers and closing lines that listeners will be thinking about for the rest of the day. All of the content strategy bases are covered: local, music, social trending, weird. You’ve even created profoundly engaging ways to work in that station promo or liner that usually slows you down. All that and you’re going to spike a weather forecast in six words that define your creativity.
Wow.
The worst problem you can have as an on-air personality is not being able to repeat, or at least come close to that kind of show tomorrow. We’ve all been there. Some days, everything clicks and you’re on fire. And on other days, you wonder if anyone would miss it if you skipped a few breaks.
That's because being on the air is the single most difficult creative performance in all of media. Other than branding, sponsor copy, and station material, finding and performing the content that keeps the audience engaged and makes them want to come back for more is all on you.
Multiple times an hour, for 4 to 5 hours each day, 5 to 6 days a week. The daily demands placed on a radio personality's creative abilities are overwhelming. And it's not just the volume of content. It's about understanding which content to choose, how to shape the message, and how to construct it for the listener and ratings maximization. That's the part of your performance that must be taught and learned. You showed up with creativity that goes into those things, and you steadily hone your craft —your version of entertainment —by studying the DJs and morning show hosts you aspire to.
And now, you host multiple shows daily. You’re competing with digital and mobile streaming, podcasters, video, and social media. You’re pressed for time and ideas. You're putting more time and effort into your performance than ever and know you’re capable of a great break every time you open the mic. But sometimes, the creative moment doesn’t show up.
It happens. I mean, you’re human, not a machine. Know where I’m going with this? AI is the machine, the creative valet, standing by every moment of every day to help tap into your creative soul. No, AI didn’t write that. I did.
Whether you’re leaning into AI, avoiding it, or somewhere in the middle, this applies to anyone applying AI at any level for a creative outcome: using AI is simple; learning how to make it work for you individually is a learned skill. As intuitive as ChatGPT may seem on the surface, it isn’t. It’s going to agree with you, make assumptions on your behalf, generalize, and eventually, deliver repetitive, increasingly less creative responses.
I’ve shared what, IMHO, is currently the most effective way to level up how you’re using AI for creativity in radio, here. Techniques, ideas, and templates you can steal are available now. Go on, click. You got this. Help from me is free.
I’m concluding that, for creative people who have customized, personalized, and tuned their AI tools to reflect what makes them human and unique, the more innovative they tend to be when they’re not using AI: something, almost imperceptible, changes in their creative process. A subliminal ideation tune-up, of sorts.
I could be wrong about that, but it feels right.
