World Radio Day 2022

Audio

11 February 2022

Happy World Radio Day! While other media come and go, radio is the world’s most widely consumed medium, and today is the day to celebrate that.

This year’s theme is radio and trust. Trust is such a precious commodity in radio broadcasting. The way radio works, we can build a one-to-one relationship with each person in the audience and our presenters become friends.

But we can’t take the trust for granted, we’ve got to earn it. There are three key ways to win the trust of our audience:

Be honest

Honesty is key to any kind of trust, but it isn’t just about being truthful and avoiding lying. The best presenters are the ones that are open with their feelings. Whether it’s how scared they were during the pandemic, how nervous they are about an upcoming interview, or just how they can’t decide what to have for tea tonight.

We’ve all heard radio presenters who tell you every song they play is great and give the impression that nothing bad ever happens in their life. We don’t warm to them in the same way as we do to the presenter who shares much more with us.

Enrich your listeners’ day, every day

We all gravitate towards people who improve our lives in some way. It’s the same with radio presenters. If the audience feel we add value to their day, then they’re going to trust us more. We can make them laugh, tell them something they don’t know, spark a nostalgic memory or introduce them to a new piece of music. If our listeners feel they’re better off for having listened to us, they are going to feel connected to us.

Untrusted presenters are constantly selling things and saying the same thing day after day, just like the kind of people we avoid in real life.

Listen to your audience

Live radio presenters are in a unique position of being able to listen and interact with their audience in real-time. Listening to what the audience are saying and acting on it is a great way to build trust. It’s showing that we trust our audience, what greater way is there to gain trust than by showing trust yourself?

If you listen to your audience you’ll find out what they want to hear, what music they enjoy listening to and what’s going on in their lives. Your audience are the experts in what they want, and by listening to that and acting on it, we create a trusted relationship that no other medium can deliver.

Enjoy World Radio Day. Trust me, it’s a great thing to celebrate.

Written by Euan McMorrow – Content Director at AVC Immedia.