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RADIO JOCKEY or RJ
RJ or Radio Jockey has been with us for almost a century, but since
the advent of FM channels the Radio Announcer suddenly being referred as
Radio Jockey or RJ. These days a RJ not only plays a part of the navigator
but his/her main aim is to entertain the listeners and simultaneously
provide regular online information. Every successful RJ has its own style of
communicating. A sweet, mid to heavy voice is considered suitable for
broadcasting but moreover its your own aptitude, your overall confidence,
your personality to deliver all of it through your voice.
Although Radio Jockeys are required
for all channels of Radio, but a Radio Jockey is usually related to FM. But
why FM ?. FM channel broadcasts in stereo and has very good sound quality as
compared to other short, medium wave channels. FM channels are relatively
new medium and has gone through lot of changes since its formation. The
style, expression, delivery, and content too has developed. FM Radio is a
fast progressing industry with more and more channels opening up in every
city of the world.
What does an RJ has to do everyday
First of all, an RJ does not have a regular 9 to 5 job. He can be called to
host or anchor a show anytime of the day or night. An RJ has to be very open
to himself. Whatever may be your emotions an RJ is always happy. He should
be culturally active. He/She should know his/her city well, the culture and
be aware of main events taking place. You should know of the language or
further some dialects of other languages also, to punch in whenever
necessary. Since Radio cannot survive without Movies, Songs or Bollywood in
terms of India, so awareness about them is considered a necessity. An RJ
should also be able to write scripts for a show. One thing more if you have
written your script yourself, you know of the subject matter and can change
or manipulate at your own will.
An RJ has also to anchor Live shows.
If speaking is your passion, talking to people comes naturally to you, fun
never ends. Your every word is Live. You react to every song or item played.
Everything is spontaneous but very relevant and entertaining. In short you
may have the following qualities-
You enjoy talking to people and have a
desire to be aware.
You must be original and should have your own style.
Your other voice performance or qualities like mimicry, local dialects and
comedy or humour items helps to carry on the show.
You can't afford to have inhibitions.
You should know how to provide variations and modulation in your voice. You
should be fluent but not monotonous as this may create boredom in your
audience monotone is a surefire way of losing your audience. Modulate your
voice well and your fan following will increase and open the way to other
assignments. If you can sound different on your show, people will enjoy
listening to you.
Humans have a tendency to make
mistake, if somehow a mistake has been made, either admit it or cover it up
diplomatically. This may come up with experience or better listen to
experienced RJs how they tackle these issues. Their professionalism, their
relationship with listeners, the flow they are speaking, their
interactiveness and so on. Also note how they interact live with listeners,
how do they tackle some awkward queries or comments from callers. You should
be ready to face that and cover up in your style quickly by changing the
topic or by taking a break or playing a song. Mostly the telephone callers
are briefed before for a minute or so before they come on live, this gets
you an idea of the caller.
Another thing an RJ is familiarity
with the sound equipment and computers. An RJ has to deal with sound mixers,
faders, CD players, Call equipment, Computer for his songs and Ads database
and microphones & headphones. An RJ has to be with them in his studio, so
one has to be computer savvy or have a desire to learn more on that. He
should be able to know, if a goof up happens or should switch over to
alternate equipment quickly. Never the less there are technical support to
help you.
Is formal training required to
become an RJ?
No. Anchoring or Radio Jockeying
depends on how you deliver, your originality, the punch in your content,
your style, your personality, how you present your programme and further how
you connect with your audience. An RJ should have good communication powers
and language skills. Never the less, RJ courses do help to develop your
confidence or bring out your personality or inbuilt caliber in hiding but
are not a necessity Many of the RJ's today have never gone through any
course and have a good name today. RJ hunts or talent search are often
conducted by FM channels to bring out original unique talent.
Gains
There is a lot of scope for quick
growth. All you need is talent, confidence and perseverance. As a radio
jockey, besides getting contractual good money you earn by doing Ad
commercials. As you get famous and your voice is recognized, other Radio
Channels tend to attract you with better package. Alternatively RJs are also
busy with doing voice-overs for ad films and movies. When they are being
connected to their audience RJs also can anchor or compere TV shows or live
shows / events.
Read other articles on how to improve
your voice on
http://www.voiceartistes.com and hope your journey in this voicing arena
continues for long with success.
Written By: Neeraj Mehra
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Writer
Profile
Neeraj
is based in Gurgaon and has been in the electronic media since last 12
years.
[email protected]
www.voiceartistes.com He is a Post Graduate
in Hindi and as well as in the English language, along with a Diploma in
translation.
Neeraj has performed some mimicry shows in India and USA and has also
rendered his voice for AIR, Gustakhi Maaf for NDTV, TOUCHTEL and more -
Thomson TV(amitabh voice), Balak Bidi, Balak Pan Masala, Touch tel
celebrity Greetings (dial 1750 from your Airtel Landline phone). Neeraj would like to
broaden his horizons by doing dubbings, ads, cartoon dubbings for films,
TV ads, Radio Ads, FM Ads or any thing on microphone.
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