How One Can Become A Good Radio Jockey

Being an RJ

The radio boom - that was seen in the from of transformation from AM (amplitude modulation) channels to FM (frequency modulation) channels - witnessed a new industry rising. This gave opportunity to various private players such as Radio Mirchi, Radio Mid-Day, Red FM, Radio City, etc. As a result, there has been resurgence in the popularity of Radio City, etc. As a result, there has been resurgence in the popularity of Radio. This FM boom has thrown open a number of avenues and opportunities to young, energetic and enthusiastic who have an ear for music and a passion to entertain. The profession of Radio Jockeying has just taken off in India and the demand for Radio Jockeys is likely to shoot up in the coming years as 10 more new FM channels are proposed.

For being an RJ its not essential that one must only have a very good and clear voice but what is more essential is that whoever is listening to him must get a feeling that this person speaking on radio is giving voice to my own heart. That means a good radio jockey should reach straight to the heart of his audience and voice their feelings. Moreover he should be a true music lover and could connect heartily with the music and lyrics of the songs being played. What is meant to be said is that song which is to be played must be prompted in such a way that even one who dislikes the song starts liking it.

Talk one to one

A Radio jockey should converse in such a way that one who is listening to him should feel as if The RJ is talking only to him. That means RJ should not address the masses but to a single person.

Get to the meat of the link

RJs who speak more become very boring so a good RJ should have an ability to convey his thoughts or whatever he want to say in minimum words that too impressively .He should be able to paint a picture before the audience with his words.

Some more essentials for being a good RJ

Music

RJ is all about music. Thus, Intensive knowledge of music is precondition to be RJ

Personality

RJ should carry vivacious personalityand should be young from heart and who loves talking to people and believe in its own performance. RJ is original and has own style.The language he speaks is very normal but he treys to spice it up so that what he presents comes out differentlyand sounds interesting to the listeners. The foremost condition of RJ nature is hanging your shyness, embarrassment, inhibition and reserve nature in your wardrobe. Simply come out of it and make yourself open.

Voice

Modulating voice should be your style of speaking. Monotones speech in single flow without any ups and downs will make you to lose your audience. So sound different every time. A friendly and interesting voice is a necessary attribute, but not an all-sufficient one. Research your own script and break it into interesting modules.

Humor

Lifeline of radio chatting is humour. Jokes or mimicry helps you further. Saying something witty and very direct way to say will leave a mark on your audience. Do something that's normal and at the same time that has not been done in radio before.

Resource

Radio jockeying is not only garrulous and whimsical remarks.So be resourceful about the information that people generally miss It is about delivering important news and keeps people well informed for the happenings. So always be resourceful.

Be Friendly

The listeners should be able to relate to you. Why would they want to listen to a stranger? Try to be one among them and always be a friend so that they can relate to you. You need to listen to somebody who is a friend of us. Be like how kids talk in schools and guys talk in colleges, how friends talk when they are going out to eat or drink.

The competition is tough and it takes more than a good voice to woo the audience. There are some who believe that RJ is born and not made. General advice is to listen to a lot of radio, try to put yourself in the shoes of listeners, try and come up with innovative ideas, use oodles of wit and pack your voice with energy.

So to say

A RJ should be able to create bond with the listener, should be friendly, spontaneous, warm, and have a good voice and good command over the language. Youngsters are preferred as they have new ideas and concepts and are bubbling with enthusiasm. A radio jockey must have good voice with perfect modulation, diction and clarity while speaking 'on-air'. Apart from these the following would be added advantage:

 S/he would be well read and knowledgeable,

 should be well acquainted with current trends and fashion,

 should know current who's who,

 should have command over spoken words and able to use easy-to grasp language/dialect,

 could chat with the guest in the studio or audience over telephone,

 able to operate modern electronic gadgets like editing consoles and computer.

Possessing some basic qualities are not sufficient. As the competition in the market are fierce therefore a systematic training is required in order to achieve perfection . There are many Institutions that are providing theoretical and practical know-how for being a good radio jockey. Some of them are listed below. The list is indicative as there are many more that provide trainings.

1. Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi (Radio and TV Journalism) 

2. Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, website: www.jmi. nic.in 

3. Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, www. ignou.ac.in (Radio Journalism/ programme production (Hindi/English) .

4. MCRC, Osmania University, Hyderabad.

5. The Delhi Institute of Communication, website: www. thedelhischoolofcommuni-cation.com

6. MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, website: www.jmi.nic.in.

7. Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, website: www.iijnm.org

8. Xavier Institute of Communi-cation, Mumbai website: www.xaviercomm.org

Career Opportunities

The career opportunity for a radio-jockey or programme presenter is increasing day-by-day with the advent of private FM channels, community radio stations and government owned local FM radio stations (LRSs) of All India Radio. The government in its phase-II expansion plan of FM radio has given license to as many as 337 FM radio stations in 91 cities. That means every major city is going to have more than one FM channel in the very near future. Metro cities are already having two or more FM channels.
The Indira Gandhi National Open University is also going to recruit its own announcers/compere for their exclusive radio channel Gyanvani. A radio jockey may earn from Rs. 8000=00 to 15000=00 depending upon the ability and skills and fulfilling the requirement of the employer.
Apart from the regular employment, there are opportuni-ties as casual or part time announcers or compere.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR VOICE 

Voice is God Gifted, yes it true and fact, but it can be trained, this also a fact. Nobody is a born singer or narrator or voice artiste, yes he/she may have a sweet, melodious voice by birth but still his/her voice needs to be trained enough to modulate, variate and able to perform professionally for required time. I am here to tell you about tips on how to improve your voice ( for voicing, dubbing, mimicry) so that you are able to have more base, uncharred, rhythmatic voice and have some control over your throat to produce variation and modulation in your voice as and when necessary. What ever you want to become in voicing arena, be it voice over artiste, dunning artist, mimicry artiste, performing actor, you need to modulate your voice according to the mood of the script. This is the first requirement of being a professional voice artiste. Anyway, lets begin with the training.

1. Like what a singer does every morning called "Riyaaz" you should also do the same every morning. You can take "Sa" only of Sa Re Ga Ma and then take a deep breath and start reciting "Sa" with your full base voice till your breath ends. Keep in mind you have to inhale fully and should go on saying "Sa" till the end of your breath in a continuous pitch without any breaks, variation or modulation of your voice. This will not only help you in having good base voice but also increase your voicing stamina.

2. If Main/Lead Voice Over is your target, you should everyday practice atleast two scripts with proper diction, pronunciation, modulation (as & when). If you do not have the stamina you may lose your voice in a lengthy script, that is your voice may be bold, enthusiastic, fresh in the first quarter of the script and may get tired or becomes low in the end. This is called the stamina of Voice, to remain one till the end specially in the case of background lead voice overs or narrators for documentaries or audio visuals. Similarly for other voicing fields, mimicry, stand up comedy, cartoon dubbings, simple dubbings etc. Record your voice everyday and listen. Everyday you will notice some improvement.

3. Yoga plays a very important role in keeping your throat & voice healthy. Everyday chanting of "OM" for 10 minutes will give similar positive results as mentioned in point number one. You can also perform other Asanas for throat as "Singasana" and "Bharamri Pranayam" which will clear your throat and keep you away from all problems.

4. One more Yog asana which is the most effective is 'Ujjhayani Pranayam' where full throat is contracted inside, and a sound is produced in reverse, that is you are producing sound by inhaling in through nose but throat is fully contracted and lips closed. When you breathe in fully, after that you release your throat muscles and release the breath through the left nostril, by holding the right nostril with your right thumb. A very effective way to exercise your tonsils.

5. To have a good feel of your voice and make it more fluent, one of a prestigious voice artiste once told me his secret which I am sharing with you, to speak 'om' or simple 'Aaaah' in an earthen pot or a 'mutka'. You can also practice your scripts like this before appearing for an audition or final recordings.

6. Stay away from very cold things, beverages, aerated waters, chocolates, pickles, chillies and anything very sour. Chocolates, Toffees and other paste like things form a layer on your tonsils, exposing it to infections. If you eat occasionally do try to clear your throat and I hope you all brush your teeth before sleeping. Try to gargle your throat by simple Ayurvedic Gargle Concentrate, diluted in warm water before going to bed everyday. This would minimize any chances for infection while you are in your sleep.

RADIO JOCKEY JOBS

Guys if you are looking for a job of RJ or any other jobs requirements at Radio channels / stations in Delhi, Mumbai or elsewhere here are the details . Please do contact the below mentioned email ids or URLs for more information.

Big 92.7 FM / careers@big927fm.com

Radio Mirchi

Radio One / jobs@radioone.in

104 Fever FM / jobs@hindustantimes.com