Remember your first days in radio? You couldn’t wait to get to the station, just like kids looking forward to the first day of summer vacation. Those were the days. Radio was magical. It was awesome. We were having fun.
Improv Rule #1: Having Fun
If radio isn’t as much fun as it once was, there’s a fix. And it comes from improv.
Every list of Improv Rules include “Have Fun” as a primary rule. The definition then includes a snippet about how people can tell when an actor just isn’t “into it”. If the performer is not having fun, the audience isn’t having fun.
It’s true. If personalities aren’t having a good time, listeners can tell. If you’ve “checked out” or exhausted because you stayed up too late the night before, the audience knows. They KNOW!
So how does improv help with having fun? Three key ways:
Be In The Moment
Every so often, things start to feel forced. There is no spontaneity. There’s no fun. It happens to all performers. At some point, the radio show starts to feel like a never-ending repetition of the same elements.
It can be hard to be in the moment when you have a checklist of things to do or not do.
Improv stresses the art of active listening.
Active listening makes a radio show more engaging by naturally building rapport and trust with partners. It helps to actually hear what the other person is saying, not just what you think they will say or what you want to hear.
