Forty Years Of My Hobbies

Radio Presenting – Finding My Voice In The Community

When we moved to Kangaroo Island in 2016, I wanted something that connected me with the local community. Towards the end of 2017, an opportunity came along to become a radio presenter. I grabbed it with both hands. I was keen to learn how everything worked, from operating the equipment to finding ways the station could improve some of the things that had fallen by the wayside since it opened in the 1970s. With help from a few people and a fair bit of my own ingenuity, I developed a system for putting together and presenting a radio programme.

I was fortunate to know people who presented at stations around South Australia, including one of my brothers, who worked at 5MU in Murray Bridge. Their experience helped, and radio gradually became an important part of my life on Kangaroo Island for six years.

What I enjoy most is improving my verbal communication, learning about music from all sorts of genres and introducing listeners to different styles. I also like talking to listeners when they ring the station, although those calls are few and far between.

One amusing discovery is that people sometimes don’t recognise my voice when they hear me talking in the street. Apparently, sounding familiar on the radio doesn’t necessarily mean someone will recognise you standing right in front of them.

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt from radio presenting, particularly as a volunteer, is how difficult it can be to know whether you’re reaching anyone. You’d sit behind the microphone, play music and present your programme without knowing how many people were listening, what age groups they belonged to or whether you were making any difference.

And perhaps that was the best part. Even if only one person was listening, at least one person was listening. You didn’t need a set of statistics to enjoy being part of something bigger than yourself. We did it because we enjoyed it.

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