![Yvonne Malak: Das Moderationshandbuch. Alles, was Radio-Profis wissen müssen [The presenting manual. Everything radio professionals need to know.]](https://journalistik.online/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cropped-journalistik-hintergrund-groß.png)
Reviewed by Thomas Liesen
Yvonne Malak is known in the radio scene as an accomplished expert. Having worked as a presenter for many years, she has now been coaching broadcasters in the German-speaking world for 15 years. This is her third reference book on making radio and aims to provide tips and tools of the trade in order »to deliver the best possible show every time.« And that on a radio that represents »emotional relief, relaxation, and good humor.« This self-description alone provides a hint of who the book’s target audience is: presenters on mainstream broadcasters or, even more specifically, on commercial mainstream radio in the relevant categories AC (adult contemporary) and CHR (contemporary hit radio). The language of the book is based on the presentation style in this radio genre – direct, no-nonsense, addressing the reader informally.
This focus on one radio segment which, although very successful, is only part of the radio landscape, is a clear limitation that is not immediately clear from the title of the book. Yet it is important to note right away that the book provides insights that may be of interest and use to presenters of all radio formats and genres.
How is the book structured? A large section looks at the relationship between presenters and listeners. Yvonne Malak rightly notes that the existence of presenters is the main difference between radio and the streaming services with which it competes – especially significant among younger listeners. Across multiple chapters, Malak looks time and again at how to successfully ensure that the presenter and the listener encounter one another on equal terms, how presenters can appeal to the audience, and how they can establish an emotional connection. The idea that emotions shown in programs or aroused among listeners are the most important key to a successful career as a presenter – after all, emotions are the only way to ensure unforgettable programs – is nothing new. What is unusual, however, is the precise and practical way in which Malak provides tips in order to achieve this goal. She repeatedly quotes research literature, such as psychological studies, without ever losing sight of the international radio landscape with its star presenters and their recipes for success.
Another focus of Malak’s book is on research into listeners. What are their needs? What interests them, and what does not? Which target audience is actually being aimed at? Malak provides very specific tips on how presenters can integrate the everyday lives of the listeners and their needs and expectations regarding the medium of radio into their presenting texts, program elements, and form of address, both at the preparation stage and during the show itself. As inspiration, she provides lists of typical everyday topics and quotes research results on population milieus, including the resulting implications for how these milieus can be reached. A chapter on content adds information on the topics that studies show are relevant to radio listeners.
Two further chapters, (»The break« and »The script«), place the focus on a central topic of radio and audio journalism: language. With refreshing clarity and using numerous examples of wording, Malak explains how presenters can get to the essence of content in a way that is appropriate for a listening medium – in simple, clear, and precise language. She rightly denounces cliches and quotes studies on the – increasingly short – attention span of young listeners in particular, convincingly backing up her calls for presenting without beating about the bush. Here, too, she provides specific suggestions for how presenters can bring emotions and personal forms of address into play. Further chapters of the book look at the use of music, storytelling, teasers, and many other topics. A separate chapter is dedicated to tips from star presenters.
Yvonne Malak’s third reference work is extremely useful for a clearly defined segment: presenting on largely commercial entertainment and music stations. On almost 200 pages, the book provides an enormous number of detailed, substantiated, practical tips for this target audience on how to generate reach through radio – a real treasure trove for radio makers, especially those with practical experience. For journalism students or presenters who are new to the profession, however, this almost excessive level of detail – compared to other reference works on presenting – could also be confusing and overwhelming. They might do better to look at other reference works that focus more on teaching the fundamental basics of presenting.
A slight point of criticism would be the fact that, as mentioned, the book focuses entirely on mainstream radio. Its title does not initially indicate this. Although the figures clearly show that other radio formats such as culture and information radio achieve a much smaller reach, their importance for the radio landscape and as an employer for presenters is certainly not so insignificant that it justifies being completely ignored in a »presenting book« for »radio professionals.« After all, the listening figures for these more serious, journalistic formats have actually been growing in recent years. However, their success is based on different concepts – including regarding presenting – from those examined in the book. Another flaw in Yvonne Malak’s book is that it does not look at the topic of interviews, despite expert interviewing being an essential and highly demanding skill for presenters in all radio formats.
Finally, Malak also fails to address the fact that radio as a medium is losing reach across the board – to an almost dramatic extent among the younger target audience – and will (have to) change more and more. It therefore remains to be seen whether, given this development, the more conventional recipes for success shown in the book will guarantee broadcasters’ success with audiences in the medium to long term, or whether live radio needs to be completely reinvented and redeveloped.
Despite these points, this remains a highly recommended book for presenters on the predominantly commercial mainstream radio stations. No more, but no less either.
About the reviewer
Prof. Dr. Thomas Liesen teaches audio journalism at Ansbach University of Applied Sciences.
Translation : Sophie Costella
This review first appeared in rezensionen:kommunikation:medien, 27 July 2023, accessible at: https://www.rkm-journal.de/archives/23886
About the book
Yvonne Malak: Das Moderationshandbuch. Alles, was Radio-Profis wissen müssen [The presenting manual. Everything radio professionals need to know.] Baden-Baden: Nomos, 201 pages, EUR 39