How a live show on Radio Buena Vida killed my performance anxiety
Last Friday I hosted a live radio show with local people from the community. This is the story of how we managed to produce and present an hour long radio show together with the help of Greater Govanhill and Radio Buena Vida, and how it changed the way I feel about my performance anxiety.
L:R Michael, Miel, Devon (centre), Ros, Rich
Words by Devon McCole | Photos by Rhiannon J Davies
If you have seen me out and about with my pen and pad, having conversations with local people, or taking pictures and videos around Govanhill, then you might know me as one of the newest members of the Greater Govanhill team.
Joining the team as a newbie after graduating from a journalism degree this summer is very exciting, but some days I can’t tell my excitement from my anxiety. Even though I get to learn more about my craft and my community, the job still has its challenges. There are often times where I feel out of my comfort zone, or worry that I might be out of my depth.
But, there are times when I’m surprised to go home feeling more confident in myself than I did at the start of the day. One of those days was last Friday when I found myself acting as host of a live radio programme produced by myself and other members of the community – after attending radio workshops in the community newsroom.
With the help of radio producer and digital artist, Ros Fraser, who ran the workshops, we each created our own radio packages. Suz and the team at Radio Buena Vida gave us training on how to use the equipment and presenting. And we got an hour slot booked for our show on Radio Buena Vida.
The finished radio packages ended up being a real mix of topics and genres showcasing the diversity of the participants and this neighbourhood.
Listen back here
View from outside the Radio Buena Vida Cafe.
There were ambient soundscapes; like the ones submitted by Miel and Hemanchi, and interviews exploring different topics. I interviewed a fellow participant about motherhood. While Rich delved into the topic of rain, combining interviews, music and sounds. Ismat also conducted an interview, exploring the philosophy of a writer.
Both Michael and Tanvir, told stories based on their surroundings; Michael exploring the link between Glasgow street names and Scottish whisky distilleries or brands. While Tanvir opted to use sound to help illustrate his themes of home as he recorded the many sounds and languages heard around Govanhill, including his mother tongue Bengali.
Everything sounded great. We were all happy with the final result of our pre-recorded radio packages, there was just one thing left to do. We had 20 minutes of time left to fill once we went live on air.
So, we decided to pass the mic around and wing it. But as the time to go live came closer I was buzzing with anxiety, nervous about filling airtime with live, unscripted chat and music chosen by the group.
As we each nervously eyed the camera pointed towards us, ready to livestream our every move, and a mic ready to broadcast our every word, we looked out the big window in front of us as onlookers passed by. The chatter of people in the Radio Buena Vida Cafe sitting behind us seemed to fill the room. Finally the clock struck two and our show began. In an instant I was speaking into the mic and introducing the show.
Once again, after what had started out as an anxious morning preparing for a live radio show, ended up as an evening filled with pride, confidence and pure joy after hearing all of our hard work come together, especially when I discovered not only how comfortable I was behind the mic in a place like Radio Buena Vida, but just how fun the whole experience was.
Most of us were learning something new and it became clear that a big part of that is putting yourself out there and being okay with imperfection. Fear and anxiety, I realised, were the only barriers I faced in that moment. But putting myself in a position where I felt vulnerable killed those feelings; the more time I spent behind the mic, the more I imagined myself doing it again.
“I was surprised that it was nowhere near as chaotic as I thought it was going to be… but a little bit of chaos is no bad thing,” said Rich.
Ros, who gave us the advice, guidance and support we needed to accomplish what we did in the end, noted that: “It’s not very often, when you’ve made a radio piece that you get to play it out to an audience and see how people react and you get to do that at Radio Buena Vida.
“That was a really special experience I think, it’s been a way to see different people’s pieces come to life and everybody had really different ideas and I think it worked really well.”
In the end the most difficult part of doing the show was finding a spot to sign our names on Radio Buena Vida’s pillar of contributors, as we struggled to find space amongst all the signatures.
Not only do Radio Buena Vida broadcast every show live but they also record and upload them to soundcloud so you can listen back later. If you want to listen to our show then click here and check it out.