I was at the Next Radio conference last week – a whole day of radio ideas enough to make anyone’s brain explode with fizziness before evening.
The themes for the day seemed to fall into the broad categories of social sharing, production relationships, technology and creativity, and big ideas.
Speakers from a variety of backgrounds and countries shared what they were working on against the backdrop of the lecture theatre of the Royal Institution.
It’s impossible for me to distil the day into one post, but here are some tips I learned you can use right away.
10 stealable tips from Next Radio 2014
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Believe in your really BIG ideas
(Jonathan Ruffle)
Live them, dream about them, make them happen.
Jonathan Ruffle has spent nine years working on a WWI project for the BBC. If you want to pitch a really big idea, caring about it is the only way to get it delivered.
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Write stories in parts with middle sections that can be made shorter or longer.
(Tony Churnside,
BBC R&D)
The technology of object-based audio means that podcast listeners may be able to listen to a programme of a different length, depending on their commute.
Knowing which parts of your content can be removed or added with it still making sense gives added flexibility.
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Love your presenter. Ask them to write the ten things they know to be ‘true’ about their life and find ways to weave their personality into their shows.
(Kate Cocker)
This one is gold.
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Say yes to the next project and work it out later.
(John Ryan)
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If you want audio to go viral, make your player pretty and easy to share.
(Ben Fawkes,
Soundcloud)
Too many sites have tiny audio players with very long pieces of audio and no way to embed them. Not that Soundcloud is biased.
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Become an expert at online content by playing and refining until your idea works.
(Steve Pratt and Mark Steinmetz,
CBC)
Online isn’t radio, but the skills you have in radio are easy to transfer. Always put your audience first and be clear about why you do what you do.
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Find 10 apps you really like. What is it about them you would recommend to a friend?
(Paula Corderio)
Teenagers don’t have radio apps, but they do like to hear recommendations from their friends. How can you build this knowledge into your radio app work? Or even into the next link that you write?
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Learn how Google’s advanced searches and analytics work to help your journalistic story generation.
(Stephen Rosenthal,
Google)
Here are some Google search hints and tips to get you started.
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You can change institutions one word at a time. What word can you swap today to make your organisation a more exciting place?
(Tom Loosemore,
gov.uk)
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Everybody loves lists!
(Steve Pratt and Mark Steinmetz,
CBC)
You read this, didn’t you?
Which suggestion did you find the most useful? How can you apply it to your radio station, podcast or show today?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Main image credit: Flickr/nextradio
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