Personal Appearances 101

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Star Time -- time for you to get out of the studio and into the public to mingle with the people, press the flesh, and let your listeners put the name and the face together with the voice. Promotions and events are a huge opportunity for you to make new fans and to solidify relationships with old fans and clients. They're a huge responsibility too because you are the radio station when you appear in public. The entire brand is on your shoulders, and it's up to you to put on a great show and fulfill expectations.

There is a system to staging a successful promotion. We're going to talk about how to prepare ahead of time, what to wear, take with you, how to act, what to say, what not to say or do, how to work the crowd, how to work the client, how to manage problems, and how to make your exit.

• How to prepare ahead of time. First you need a checklist. Have someone make up a template. Use it, and make sure everyone who is scheduled for this event has a copy of the checklist. Include the journalism of who, what, when, where, why, plus any special instructions anybody needs to know.

  • What is this? A programming promotion, a live concert, a client event?
  • Why are we doing this? What is the purpose/goal of this promotion? Is there a client to schmooze?
  • When is it -- the date and exact start and end times. Include required arrival time if different from the event start time.
  • Where is it -- the exact location with clear driving directions from the station.
  • Who goes from the station (talent, promotion, programming, sales, engineering, interns)? And who is the primary contact on site? Who is the backup? Get names and numbers.
  • What is being done to make the station and the talent look big? Success is much greater if the station's presence and the talent look like stars. Are there big banners with the station/talent name? Is there entertainment support for the talent (girls in bikinis, fans of the show, stanchions to square off the area where the event is to take place)?
  • Add any special instructions: Remember to take the giveaway guitar, take the big banner, etc. Is there a PA system for the event? (Even in scenarios where no PA is needed to be heard, most talent will feel more comfortable with a microphone in hand. It establishes their role.)
  • All persons should meet before the appearance begins. This meeting can be in the car right outside the client's location 15 minutes before or in the conference room a day or two before, but it needs to happen.

• Develop an act, routine or some type audience interactive. It could even be one of your audience interactive benchmarks you play on your show. You want to make a strong and positive impression that people will remember. What you don't want is listeners to say, "Yeah, there was some DJ there." Be entertaining, fun, funny and interact with the crowd.

  You have the opportunity to create word of mouth from the people there and actually increase your cume. Make it your goal to have people walk away talking about and remembering your show.

• What to wear. This depends on the station's format, on what your audience looks like, and to some extent on the venue. If you are manning a booth or table, you can be a little more casual. Wear cool station gear if you have it. If it's a concert, put on more flash because you want to be seen all the way in the last row. Better to dress up than dress down. And whatever you wear, make it clean -- laundry-wise, as well as PG-13.

  The issue of whether to wear station-logo clothing comes up a lot. Management will want to involve the airstaff when purchasing station clothing so they will actually wear them with pride. Women especially hate those polo shirts. They're not flattering on anyone. A windbreaker or jean jacket with the station logo is good all-weather gear.

• What to take with you. You need a central location for all the stuff that you normally take to remotes or onsite events. Let's call it a "Go Box." Before you head out, open the Go Box and make sure it contains the following stuff:

  • Your event checklist.
  • Duct tape (you can't be in the music business without it).
  • Bumper stickers, buttons, flyers, whatever free station goods you usually distribute or special goods you need for this particular event. Take more stuff than you need -- you can always bring back what you don't use.
  • Business cards, if you have them.
  • A fully charged cell phone (yours or the station's) loaded with all important contact names.
  • Extra pens (ink and big Sharpie) and a notebook or legal pad.
  • Bottled water.
  • Gas, a map, a credit card, and cash.
  • Camera.
  • DAT or minidisc recorder.

• How to act. Arrive early and stay late. Be on your best professional behavior. We do promotions to get votes, to cement important relationships, to increase the love. You are a rock 'n' roll politician, and your job is to shake hands and kiss babies. No drugs, no alcohol, nothing that momma wouldn't be proud of.

• What to say, what not to say. You are a representative of the station. If you have any issues about station policy or format or anything at all, an event or promotion is not the place to air them. In public we put on a united front. Same goes for competition. No bad mouth, only good mouth. We do our fighting behind the scenes.

• How to work the crowd. Don't stay in one spot and wait for people to come to you, move through the crowd and greet as many people as possible. Touch them, smile, thank them for listening to the station, and tell them we couldn't do what we do without their support. This is the truth. Don't let any one fan monopolize your time, and, should you encounter a listener with a negative attitude, don't let that person make you lose focus. Be polite, move on, and quickly adjust. Remember, he's in the minority.

• Good beginnings. It's a good idea if there can be some sort of icebreaker that makes it easy and natural for air talent to engage visitors when they arrive. This can be a prize wheel, a door-prize drawing or a fun contest in the store that the talent can direct visitors to when they enter.

• How to work the client. When you first get to the site, immediately find your contact and tell them you've arrived. If the contact is the client, spend an extra minute and put some star power on him. Let him know just how much you and the radio station appreciate his support. Bring him a little extra something from the station -- tickets, CDs, whatever you have. It's so easy to go that one extra step, and the impression you make is so valuable.

• Make it mandatory that the AE be present at any sales appearance involving an account. So often talents get held responsible for promises made to the client, or the client tries to pull one over on an unassuming talent since the AE who put the event together is not there.

• Take pictures, and get sound to use on the air. In this day and age of cheap photography, have a digital camera to take pictures of the talent with fans and fan's kids. Grab email addresses, and send them a copy. It's another thing that can be done cheaply, and flashing cameras make it look like a lot is happening. Take a DAT recorder or similar device with you to tape sound you might want to use on the air the next day.

• What to do when things go wrong. When things go wrong, which they will from time to time, you have to improvise and fix them. You can't say, "That's not my job" if the promotion assistant runs late or his car won't start. The show must go on, and you may have to run everything yourself. Know how to do that? Now you remember why you packed the cell phone.

• How to make your exit. Find the primary contact, and thank them again for the opportunity to work with them on this event. Unless you're excused by your colleagues, do your part and participate in the load-out. Run the checklist in reverse, making sure you have everything you came with minus the stuff you gave away. Be sure to make a mental note of the highlights of the promotion so you can share them with the PD when you get back to the station.

• Follow up all appearances with a thank-you note to the local contact (store or district/regional manager) and the agency, if there is one. (When first meeting the client, suggest you swap business cards so you'll have the contact information.) Invest in some nice stationery with your name and station info on the paper and envelope. Within three days of the appearance, drop a note in the mail thanking them for their support of the station -- and if it is new business for the station, drop some CDs in the package too. The few extra minutes this takes is really worth it.

We'll close with this is important point: When you appear at a station event, you are the radio station. You are the General Manager, the Program Director, the Marketing Director and the CEO all rolled into one. Be sure to act like it. We're counting on you to be a pro. Thanks for all your hard work.