The radio studio is a small enclosed space, save for the studio manager, the producer, and a co presenter, a guest or two maybe, there is no physical audience or crowd to contend with. The radio audience is imaginary, unlike that of an event host. It is nevertheless present, and real.
Even at that, some DCAs feel uneasy talking while others are watching. With time, a DCA or presenter overcomes the sense of intrusion she feels when more than a pair of people are present while she’s at work.
Being a radio presenter does not
necessarily mean being confident before an audience. It’s a solitary job that
places a demand on one’s creativity and oratory skills. Many are at their best,
however, when alone in the studio.
On the day of my emancipation, I
thought to myself, if I am this good at this, then I’d make a good MC. My
immediate barrier afterwards was stage fright.
I was beyond shy, in my early days as
an announcer. I had struggled with bashfulness as an adolescent. I felt morbid
fear at facing an audience of any type. I would wonder at ‘all those eyes’
looking at me with so much expectations. I would say to myself, “who knows what
they’ve been reading and where they’ve been? How could I have anything to say
to them?”
The truth is that true learners are
like sponge, they soak up knowledge wherever they go, no matter how seemingly
insignificant. They are reticent, non-judgmental, and never too pompous to
learn something from anyone.
I realized with time, that I needed
to be a person of value, who will add value to the event. I started paying attention to
masters of ceremony, how they carried themselves. Many were accomplished,
including fellow presenters, they had gone beyond being studio rats. There was
something they had done well, or were famous for, often times, their voices,
on-air persona and candour. These were pretty much like the stripes they had
earned that qualified them for the role.
I embraced books. One of them was Tim
Lahaye’s ‘Why You Act the Way You Do’, its about
personalities and temperaments. I started to understand myself and develop a sense of worth.
I did more.
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