Bored on air?

What do you do if you become bored while on the air?

I mean, properly bored.

You're in the middle of another '10 in a Row NonStop' and your next link is in 18 minutes.

All the splitters and features are loaded in the system, you've tightened a few intros and read your prep for the 10th time.

Now...most consultants will say you should never be bored in studio. If you're bored then you're 'Doing something wrong'.

Well, in the real world - radio presenters can become bored. It's a fact. Playing nonstop hits (no matter how much you love it) can sometimes be an uninteresting way to spend an afternoon. Any consultant who tells you otherwise hasn't been in a studio for a lonnnnng time. It's not their job (or your PD's) to MAKE it interesting for you but it is their job to understand that it happens and not pretend it doesn't.

I have no doubt that you have been one of those presenters who has loitered outside the studio after hitting song number two in a sweep, just to break the monotony of the next twenty minutes.

The problem for the presenter is, boredom can be very real - but it is crucial to overcome it because it can influence your mood and therefore your on air performance. I know you might say that you are a professional and that you can easily 'fake' excitement or what ever emotion is required by your format, but the point here is that it is 'fake'.

Sure there's an element of acting every time you open the mic...it is a performance after all. But making it sound 'real' depends on your mood.

If you are bored, it's quite easy to over compensate that mood by going over the top on the excitement level and that never sounds good (a little thing called 'Trying Too Hard'). The opposite is complete apathy...if you're feeling that, then maybe you need a holiday (or change of career!).

Ever hear a presenter say "I'm here til six o'clock..." ? That's them watching the clock...literally telling the listener when they finish work today.

So what do you do?

How do you break the boredom...no matter how temporary it is?

Well...you tell me!

Seriously.

What do you do?

Do you sit up straight, lower the studio temperature, crank the music, re-arrange your prep...?

The point is:

Presenters get bored. It happens. It's not a bad thing, it's just a 'thing'. Acknowledge it.

Then do whatever YOU need to do to get through it.

I'm here til Friday !!