You should have a personal touch with your audience, for me I always add my personal connect.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
I am RJ Shivshankari popularly known as Mirchi Shivshankari, I did my schooling in St.Johns Besant Nagar in Chennai after that I did my B.S.c computer science in MOP Vaishnav and after that I did my PGDFM in Liba then I did my MBA in Symbiosis through distance learning. So these are my academic qualifications.
As you could see, I did all of these because my father believed I studied well and I am capable of studying more and achieving more, But the other part of me always wanted to do something which I am very passionate about and from my childhood I loved dancing, I always wanted to be a dancer and in fact in all the slam books I used to write I want to become a dancer and I want to do world tours and all that.
So while I was doing my MBA through distance learning I joined a professional dance team called Raack academy of dance and I actually travelled to quite a few places, not world tour exactly but I travelled quite a lot and I think that was one of the dream come true moment.
I was happy dancing and everything but on the other side media attracted me. There was this audition going on in a channel for VJ , I was like, why not just give it a try, since I was doing distance learning I had a lot of time. I went in and gave my audition and I was selected but for some reason it just went only for 3 months. Just did my VJing for 3 months.
After that radio fascinated me while I was doing the VJing thing I saw a radio station and it was quite exciting to see the studio, the console, the mic, there was something really nice and something very attractive about that place.
Almost after a year through my friend I heard that there was audition going for Mirchi and again I wasn’t very serious, I was like why not just go and give it a try, it was just like that, I didn’t prepare or I didn’t know how RJing was or how radio exactly works. I went and gave my audition and after two days they called me and said ‘why don’t you come again?’ I went, they asked me weather I read newspapers? I said I don’t read the first column but I read all the Page 3 news and they were like “oh! Is it, you don’t read the main news? Ok go“.
I took an auto and I was going back, when I was half way through they again called up and said “come back, come back” and I was worried about my auto’s fare. They were like no you comeback”. I went back they gave me the offer letter and the journey started of me being an RJ and after that, I never looked back. I am enjoying every moment of what I am doing right now.
2. Why did you chose RJing as a career and what were the first steps you took?
RJing as a career because it gave me an excitement, something about the studio fascinated me though I never ever thought there was something like a profession called RJ and one day I would be landing there. I was more of into dancing or maybe into media or anchoring a TV show because you watch TV show because you think I’ll do a TV show, but radio.
I didn’t actually hear much so I never thought about it but once I got into RJing it really fascinated me so much. You are inside a studio but talking to the whole world, What kind of feel is that? I think that really excited me and connecting with audience and talking from your heart, people don’t really see your face they listen to you more, they actually listen to you.
I think that really attracted me so I decided I am just going to enjoy I was not into career and this and that I just wanted to enjoy what I am doing. I loved RJing when I started and after that there was no looking back. Initial steps for me was to be a natural RJ because I didn’t want to do something what already someone was doing or this is how it is supposed to be done or this is how you are supposed to do.
One good thing was I didn’t listen to radio much before so it was good that I was not influenced by any RJ who were before. The first step which I took was me being me in my show whether I am boring, whether I am struggling or whatever. I just wanted to be myself so I was working more on that.
3. What challenges can one face during live calls?
The one thing we follow at mirchi Is that we keep our callers strictly to the topic, we decide the topic we go on air and say “why don’t you call me and talk about this? Lets talk”. Live calls is like before you put them on air you need to do warm up, you need to do that warm up with them.
We usually do that when the music or the songs are getting played. Behind that we keep working on this, we take calls and we talk like “what are you gonna talk on air, lets talk fun and lets keep it crisp, so these warm up happen and then only we put them on air.
There is lot of behind the work which goes on. So that the challenge because you have a very short time, there will be just two songs gap in between and within that you need to get good caller and if they have spoken for a long time you have to edit, its not that we directly put the live call, we do some editing work before it goes on air.
These are the challenges. Getting the right caller in a particular time and doing the warm up, and then the editing and all that in a very short span of time, I think that the big challenge.
4. What are the skills required to be a radio jockey?
There are so many RJing courses, were you can learn how you need to pick a content or how you need to work on a content, how you can learn the technical stuff and all that but its more got to do with how you want to connect with your listeners.
There are few things which we always need to keep in mind that whats the intention? Am I going to give a information to them or am I just going to connect with them to have some fun or entertain them or emotionally connect with them.
I think these are few steps which each RJ has to be very clear about what they are bringing to the plate. Its not that all RJ has to sound very humorous or they have to be entertained everyone has their own specialty and I think being natural is very important. Being an RJ, everyday people listen to you when you fake it after a point audience they easily get to know about it.
One thing we should always follow is never underestimate your listeners, the mentality of I know more than you never works. So skills as such is keep updating yourself. Now you have the social media and its not that you really need to join a radio station to reach to people, you have lot of other options so keep working on that and I am sure you will make it there.
5. Does one also need to be technologically savvy in your favourite?
Being technologically savvy I think it naturally happens, when you see technologically savvy separately then its like oh god I need to learn all this but when you are doing something you love and when you see technology supporting it I think it naturally comes like how we all use phone for our own convenient though we know it has so many apps and so many other things but we easily learned it, similarly in radio you have that big console and you have to be multitasking because it is not like somebody is doing the script for you or somebody is doing the editing part for you or somebody is doing the technical part for you, it Is all a one man’s show or a one women’s show.
In that case you need to be doing multitasking but that is fun because you really feel good and I think it comes naturally, even if you don’t know, once after getting into RJing you will learn it. It is tough but it's not that tough.
6. What makes a person connect with their audience as an RJ?
I think the connection happens when you just don’t pass on information and you add your touch to it because information is everywhere you can see it on newspaper, you can see it on internet or your friends talk about it or watch it on tv but still if somebody is listening to you its because they want to hear it from you, its because they want to hear it from RJ. The Rj’s particular touch should be there in that way you shouldn’t be like “I read this and this is the news and you walk on it“.
You have to have a personal touch with your audience, for me I always add my personal connect to whatever I share, when I take a topic I talk about what I feel whether I know about it or whether I don’t know about it, I just be very open about it even if some information I don’t like to share about it but I am supposed to share, I do it and then I say that “I don’t believe but still this is what people are telling, what do you think” this personal connect should be there always I think that what make a good RJ, when you really get that connect with the listener.
So for me connection and interaction is very important as a RJ, I always think that I am talking to a friend , when I switch on the mic I just think there is a friend sitting next to me and I am talking to them and that’s how I speak on the radio. So I think that personal connect, you should really feel it inside and connect, I think that really works.
- Interviewed By Lakshme Priyaa
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