Live Talk Radio: Experience of Being a Guest

I was on a local NPR show for a article I wrote in my college paper. It has been more than a few years but I can give you my experience:

Setting: It looked like normal office building meeting room that had sound dampening applied to the walls. There was about 4 hosts, I think, and I was the only guest. Each of hosts had a computer station with a microphone and headset in front of them but I just had a microphone and headset.

Pre-Show: If you have been to a party then it felt about the same. Everyone introduced themselves to me, we all got to know each other a little more. They asked how much experience talking on the radio I had, which was none, so they told me what to expect. Then they gave me a brief laydown of the format of the show.

Show beginning: A indicator told everyone that they were live, I don't remember what it was, and the hosts introduced themselves and the show. after a short time of banter they introduced the topic and then me.

Staff: The support staff were nice and helpful, just like any other office staff.

This was a once a week, local program so they all had full time jobs in addition to this side gig.

Mr. Maxwell was a call screener and guest wrangler for a talk show for a few years. I'll see if I can get any answers out of him for you.

You could also try looking into videos of specific people giving radio interviews versus video of general broadcasting. Like, I know there's one of Tom Hiddleston floating around the internet.

Ah, here, found it. That might help a little for the visual of it.

I'm a musician and I've been interviewed on the radio a few times, at a few different stations. I've taken some pictures of myself at the radio stations for social media. I've never done live talk radio and I'd imagine that situation would be slightly different, but the music interviews I've appeared on were super super casual. I'd imagine the live talk radio would be a little more organized but I'll share my experiences anyway.

- The setting -- This was a while ago with my bass player. You can see him holding up a card to read off it. The black stuff behind us is sound proofing, and on the other wall were tons of decorations and pictures of notable people who had appeared there. We got a little table to sit at. There was a "station" for each of us and each station had a mic had headphones to go with it. It was pretty cramped, pretty disorganized, but still really comfortable. It was like walking into my best friend's living room.
This pic is me standing (awkwardly) in Ozcat Radio. The interview happened in the window behind me. You can see one of the DJ's on the left in front of a boom mic still talking and across from him you can sort of see the DJ's station with the monitor and the mixing board. The whole place was really chill, and the station itself was actually inside a house that was remodeled into a business.
I also have experience at another radio station which was more corporate. Quite high end, very business like and professional, super expensive sound proofing and lots of space to move around in the booth. I don't have pictures of that one, but radio stations are just like restaurants. They run the gambit from one star to five star.
I have more unpublished pictures from these interviews and those pics would probably give you a better view of the rooms themselves. If you're interested I can PM you some more.

- Pre-show behavior -- that sounds about right. I was expected to come with some notes, so I handed the DJ an index card that was word-for-word how I wanted to be introduced, my website, how to pronounce my name, etc. Also, the DJ asked me, "Are there any question you want me to bring up?" So we both knew where the conversation was heading before we got there. Also, also, one station had an employee barge in on us during a commercial with chicken wings and beer. It was so chill I thought they were going to ask me if I wanted to roll some ganja next.

- Show beginning -- Hmm...I've never seen that. Mostly, the DJ I was being interviewed by ran the thing. There was a guy at the sound booth but he wasn't shouting commands. They did a sound check at both stations before I went on, which consisted of a simple, "Talk into the mic and tell me if you can hear yourself." The sound guy ran that portion. I've never been to a station where there was a count down. The DJ asked if I was ready and when I said yes he said, "Hold tight." Then we both waited for the commercial to end which we both heard through headphones. I imagined he hit the unmute button on the sound board (I didn't actually see what he pressed) and then started by saying, "Welcome back...today I have with me special guest...blah blah blah." There was no light or countdown or anything. The DJ orchestrated all of that.

- The experience of talking on live radio -- Nothing special, really. I like to talk with one ear piece on, one slightly off so my ear is exposed, but that's a common musician thing that comes from recording studios. Yes, I heard myself through the headphones, but I was hearing myself speaking normally too. Nope, no button to press. Because there's a sound engineer at the radio station I highly doubt there would be popping hailstones or any kind of echo - unless the sound engineer was totally incompetent, which might make an interesting bit in the story. In my experience talking into the mic was nothing special. It was more like I was having a normal conversation with the DJ and happened to have headphones on.

- The staff: Yeah, that sounds pretty similar to what I experienced. And the chicken wings. They brought us chicken wings and beer!

I've done a number of live shows on a small local talk station here in Englewood, FL. A small room in a converted house, room for one person behind the desk -- the host and controller of everything that went on -- chairs on the other side of the desk or 2 -- 3 people. Usually 2, 3 got crowded. Everyone pretty much knew everyone, so not much in the way of introduction -- or "treats." The host might or might not ask the right questions for the points you want to make, so you had to be prepared to do a segue from politely answering what he/she asked into the point you wanted to emphasize. You could also jump in when the other person was talking, and that could come across as either impolite/rude, or friends-having-fun. Sometimes they had call-ins. Sometimes the call-ins were locals who listened all the time and just wanted to talk or ask about their own agenda. "Hey, John, I just saw a big snake in the yard..." the host would handle them gently (for a small station a listener is a listener). One old time show I did was when cassettes were still being used and the host would pop them in and out and cue them for commercials etc. There was someone somewhere at this station who would cue in music to open and close and go to commercial if the host missed, but not in the room and not where someone could see him.

Did radio for years but not in the past several so things might have changed.
Studio was a big room with one giant console. DJ ( or "host" or "on air talent") ran the console. Guest mic was on the other side and controlled by DJ. You gotta wear headphones because when DJs mic comes on, it mutes the speakers. You may or may not get a chance to test the volume. A red "ON AIR" light will go on over the studio door so no one barges in (but they do anyway - "oooh sorry!") There was a glass window looking into the news room where there was a news mic (also run off the board by the DJ). As I remember there was an "ON AIR" light in there too. If you wanted to listen, you'd probably stand somewhere else (speakers all over the building). Some studios are huge (ours at the commercial station) and others smaller (community). There may not be room for anyone but the guest and DJ.

When guests were coming by, pretty much anything goes. At the country station, if it was George Strait or Clint Black (my boss did those) there might be some nice chit chat before hand, usually with the performer and his manager but the interviews were all about promo ing a concert or new album. At the community station, really you may very well be smoking ganga before hand. Same deal, promoting a concert, an album or something. Did plenty of those and yes, the artist would tell me what s/he wanted in terms of introduction, topics they DID want discussed, ones they wanted avoided. There is no count down. The DJ might say, "We'll go on after this" and then away you go. His mic will mute the speakers, he talks then pots up your mike and there you are. The ON AIR light comes on. And if you mess with the mic wire, it will make a helacious noise, so don't.

I liked to talk to people a bit before hand but not always time. They have sound checks and schedules and so forth to deal with Most performers are experienced with mics but some have not been on air much and get nervous. You can hear that high, tinny sound from someone who is tentative, lots of "ah..ah...ah..." After wards the guest might stick around to take calls (also controlled off the board by the DJ) or leave.

Obviously, that's all music radio. I have never done talk radio or had anyone else run my board.) But music radio is a blast. And we did plenty of stuff like dropping pants or lifting tee shirts when someone was on air, to see if we could break their concentration (sure done plenty to me!). You'll be on air with an engineer crawling around under your feet looking at stuff while you're trying to sound cool and calm. Or deal with callers while trying to cue up and splice a reel to reel (sad those days are over). Fun times!

I was interviewed at a big radio station once. The engineers and writers had their own console. The talent and guest shared a table. I started playing with the mic, moving its arm back and forth, and was told to stop because it creates air noise. I don't remember being given any instructions. I was just led in at the right time and sat down. It wasn't a booth within a room. If you wanted to watch you had to either be in the same room or in the hallway where you could look through a glass window, though I only remember being able to see the engineers through that window. A bit more recently, I was in a rentable sound studio where you could view interviews through a window in a separate room. The engineers were in their own room.

slhuang said:

Whoooo THANK YOU everyone, this has all been amazingly helpful!!!!

It looks like there's enough variation that I won't have to tweak too much. W00t. You guys are the BEST!

One quick follow-up question:



The sense I want to get across is that the MC (1) doesn't know what she's doing because of the way she's barged into the booth, (2) is therefore talking too loud / too explosively / too something. Is there something else she could do wrong at the mic that she would be able to hear, or are the sound engineers just that good that they can compensate for everything on the fly? Or maybe, would it be possible to hear herself doing something wrong and then the drastic adjustment as the sound people rejigger for her?

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN REP POINTS FOR ALL

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All the things she could do wrong...heh heh, I should call my old boss. I'm sure just the mention of my name will trigger a cascade of memories of what she can do wrong...

If your MC is on the on air person, she can
not pot up the guest's mic (ask me how I know...), so when the guest is talking there is dead silence (not a plus for any station) usually followed by someone creeping in to frantically point it out

run the intro to the weather when the guest is talking, so they start a sentence and then are blasted out by HERES YOUR WEAAAAAATHER!!!

not prep for the guest so confuse them with someone else and ask them about someone else's album or work/get their name wrong

swear into the mic

if it's a musician, and the talent has planned to play one of their songs, cue up the wrong song , always a crowd pleaser - so now we're going to listen to Doug's lastest single, In a Different Light...oh...wait...that's...that's...wait a minute....that's Tanya Tucker. What the-? What cut is it?

not bring down the guest mic - so go into music or a commercial with their mic still on. So everyone out in radio land hears them - sorry about fucking up that one question, man I hate those fucking callers... not a beautiful thing when your boss is listening

Or, do what I did one night, innocently (really). I did a call in request show and played a quy's request (he was sick or something). So he calls the next night to thank me. I played his thanks on the air which sounded like - hey thanks so much for last night. what you did...I just felt so much better. You really got me going, still thinking about it today and thanks. Sounds just like we were talking about playing his favorite song, right? Well, my boss didn't think so. He was very, very curious about what thing I did that really got the listener going (and whether or not it was done in the studio)

Or not prep your guest well and your guest is a dud. Recently I heard some poor host with a dud guest. He was trying to interview a fire figher or something and it sounded like this:
Host: So, what a great job! So exciting!
Guest: Yeah.
Host: You're the third generatio fire fighter in your family! Wow!
Guest. Yeah.
Host. You must have been to some really big fires. What's the biggest?
Guest: Ah....ah...I dunno. Maybe....hmm, well I guess the post office.
Host: That must have been really dangerous.
Guest: Yeah

It was awful. The guest never said more than two words to any question. Callers can do that too but then you don't play them live.
HEY! You're CALLER NINE!
Oh?
YES! CALLER NINE! YOU WON TWO TICKETS TO SEE THE TOROS!
What? What's a toro?
ITS OUR LOCAL BASEBALL TEAM (you idiot) AND YOU'RE GOING FREE! WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RADIO STATION????
Uh...I don't know. I don't listen all that much.


If your MC is NOT the host, she can
walk in with the on air sign lit up and say loudly - oh excuse me! Sorry! I didn't see! Can you hear me??? I'm really sorry! Hey, you want these donuts?

Stand around in the studio while the host is on the air, behind him, lurking, messing with stuff, particularly PAPERS

Come in the studio and when the host says - hang on, I've got to do a break (and put his headphones on) - keep talking.

As a guest come in unprepared, stutter (no offense to anyone who stutters but it is nightmarish on the air), swear, as in - here we are Bob, on the air! No shit! Is my mic live? play with the mic wire, find a crinklely paper and fold it, chew gum, c hew tobacco and spit

At no station have I ever had anyone run my board for me so I don't know what would happen if there were actual engineers. Those are the kinds of things that can go wrong running one's own board.

but there is plenty of joking too that happens. Not sure how it would impact a guest but it might. I did have a guy drop his pants (and boxers) my first day on the air. I was reading something and I looked up and saw him and said Oh...wow... he never let me forget that. and the things we used to say in the studio (imagine Trisha Yearwoods song Down on My Knees) but I don't remember saying them with guests there

I could go on forever on the topic of screw ups...

badwolf.usmc said:

Setting: It looked like normal office building meeting room that had sound dampening applied to the walls. There was about 4 hosts, I think, and I was the only guest. Each of hosts had a computer station with a microphone and headset in front of them but I just had a microphone and headset.

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That's pretty much the arrangement when I was a guest a few years ago. We sat at a small table with a speakerphone; the host was off to the side at his desk with the PBX and mixer board. Instead of headsets we had a speakerphone arrangement.

Pre-Show: If you have been to a party then it felt about the same. Everyone introduced themselves to me, we all got to know each other a little more. They asked how much experience talking on the radio I had, which was none, so they told me what to expect. Then they gave me a brief laydown of the format of the show.

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I showed up and went on the air ten minutes later. It was a very small station and a regular show; very informal. It was like a business meeting with some participants on remote, no "wow I'm on radio!" feeling to it.


[OP] I imagine if you call or write some local stations you could find one or two who would let you watch the process. The process at a major radio station or TV would probably be *much* more elaborate than the little local radio station I was at.

If you're wanting your main character to cause some mishaps at the radio station, I can list a few (I have a couple decades' experience as a radio interviewer):

• She can wear an annoying necklace that continuously swings and clangs into the table.

• She can react to the engineer's signals to "wrap it up" by suddenly clamming up (instead of ignoring the engineer and letting the host naturally wind down the conversation).

• She can smack the table for emphasis, thus causing a horrible thumping sound. After the host gestures for her not to do that, she can get excited and forget time and time again.

• She can "put on airs" and use artificially inflated/affected speech, like a cop or self-important person. Even if the character isn't self-important, she can still stop for maddeningly long periods of time while searching for the "right word." (Or she can "ummmm" and "uhhh" much more often than normal.)

• She can forget about keeping her mouth relatively close to the mic and alternatively sit way back/mumble and crowd the mic/almost yell.

• She can forget her manners by burping and then guffawing with laughter (depending on her personality), send out inappropriate "shout-outs," or answer curtly when she doesn't like the question ("Next question." or "Pass. Ask me another question.")

… and last but not least …

• In order to "get everything in," she can ramble on and on at the end of the show while both the engineer and the host are frantically trying to get her to shut up.

I'm not saying that I have witnessed anything like the above myself; I'm just throwing out some realistic suggestions, LOL.