19 Secrets Radio Presenters Will Never Tell You

    It’s more than just talking rubbish between songs.

    Jen Thomas
    by Jen Thomas

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    1. Radio presenters need to be loved.

    Walt Disney Studios

    Attention, validation, and approval are all must-haves for most presenters.

    2. You really are just sitting in a room and talking to yourself.

    3. Presenters can be chronic oversharers.

    FremantleMedia / Via americanidol.tumblr.com

    Presenters love to tell a story any chance they get, so friends and family often get thrown under the bus for a tale. There is no privacy: Nothing is sacred in a radio presenter’s life if it’ll make the perfect link.

    4. Everyone lives in fear of an “Accidental Partridge” moment.

    BBC / Twitter: @AccidentalP / BuzzFeed

    Everyone has done it. As soon as you open your mouth with an unintentional pun or a rubbish joke, you know you’re about to sound like the fictional radio presenter – and there’s nothing you can do to stop yourself.

    5. A lot of co-presenters actually don’t get along.

    Warner Bros.

    A mutual dislike can be fun to listen to, though, and negative pairings can still be successful if the co-hosts paint a convincing picture of being BFFs.

    6. There's an insane amount of competitiveness.

    NBCUniversal

    You sometimes find yourself hating someone for coming up with a great idea for a link, feature, or giveaway. It’s violent admiration. No matter how good of a friend they are, a part of you still sees other hosts as a threat.

    7. There's a constant fear that a guest or caller will swear on air.

    Flickr: punkjr / Creative Commons

    Many talk radio stations have a “dump” button that will remove the last few seconds of audio, which is handy if an angry caller decides to drop an f-bomb.

    8. Some breakfast presenters have been drunk on air from the night before.

    Endemol UK

    9. A presenter probably doesn’t “absolutely love” the song they’re playing.

    Flickr: kidstatic / Creative Commons / Twitter: @canyondentalcen / BuzzFeed

    If you think playlists are repetitive, how many times do you think the presenters have heard what's being played?

    10. There are many rules and guidelines.

    Twitter: @johnmyersteam

    It's not just a case of chatting idly between songs; there are quite often stringent rules and style guides to follow, even for the silliest-sounding shows.

    11. When you see a radio station's branded car being driven around, there’s a strong chance the driver isn’t listening to that station.

    Flickr: micsworld / Creative Commons

    Sorry.

    12. Everyone is always chasing the perfect link.

    All3Media

    A link is the talking bit between the songs. There's a surprising amount of planning that goes into having to calculate the time allowed so that the news happens at the right time, or you don't "crash the vocals" (talk over the point where the lyrics start).

    13. Breakfast presenters and producers don’t ever get used to the early alarm.

    Twitter: @pipskin

    Afternoon naps are the key to survival.

    14. Callers can make or break a show.

    15. Twitter trolls are the bane of presenters' lives.

    Oxygen / Via oxygen.com

    Radio presenters just want to be loved, so abuse on Twitter can be taken really personally.

    16. Everyone knows everyone, so it's important to be nice.

    Paramount Pictures

    It's an incredibly small industry. The person interning with you now might end up being your producer in two years. This is especially important to remember when just starting out, as word travels fast and you don't want a bad reputation.

    17. Most presenting jobs are never advertised and making a demo is the worst.

    18. There’s a lot of “imposter syndrome” and angst about being good enough.

    Kristin Chirico / BuzzFeed

    Even the biggest, most popular presenters still feel like they're doing it all wrong sometimes.

    19. But most of the time, it's the best job ever.

    Note: This post is based on several people’s experience of working in the industry. Thanks to all who contributed!