Radio Announcing?

Question

What courses would be best to take in High School to become a radio announcer? College courses? What colleges would be great if pursing a radio announcing career?

Answer 1

English (and other languages) speech, drama, dance any of the other arts electives offered by your school. Is there a magnet school in your town that specializes in the arts? Extra-curricular: get involved in audio/visual, stage and set design, camera work, debate - the radio club (duh). Not all of these are directly involved nor necessary for radio, but you never know when a certain knowledge will come in handy when trying to get a job.

Here's one for you - it's a bit old, but could still work since our leaders insist on involving us in wars. When I was in HS, I was one of the AV guys - very geeky at the time - led to a career in radio. I also took drama and speech in college. When I had to go in the army during the Vietnam war, I ended up a correspondent, then eventually a DJ. Why? Because of that experience, limited as it was. Word, and a lot better than being out in the bush for a week at a time (and no offense to my brothers who were).

There are a number of good schools that specialize in radio. Contact the John Bayliss Broadcast Foundation for more info.

www.baylissfoundation.org

There's an essay I've written on how to get in radio - search for it in the "search for questions" box at the top of the page if you want some practical ideas on how to breakn into the biz. Good luck!

- a guy named duh

Answer 2

The old joke is to fill your mouth with marbles then practice reading aloud.  Each day remove one marble.  When you've lost your all your Marbles, your ready to becme a DJ!  But seriously folks..... a good liberal arts education with emphasis on speech drama, as well as business and government will do you well.  After that it's practice, practice, practice, with or without the marbles!

Answer 3

For college I'd consider communications to learn the business. The best advice is to get an internship to meet people and learn from the inside.

Your voice is a trickier aspect. Either you have the pipes or you don't. Speech classes and good English are a must and will help you for sure. Again, exposure is the best way to get into the business. Make some friends.