My first time

You can’t have a career in broadcasting impersonating others (that’s a story for another time!). Your style should reflect you, who you are working for and what the role is.

Whilst still a student, I managed to get some work at AA Roadwatch. They provided traffic reports for all the independent and local BBC radio stations and I started out by getting some night shifts.

At just after 10pm, one of the BBC local stations were getting a travel bulletin and the teenage Richard Kaufman was sat in front of a live microphone for the very first time. Many years on, the thought of this first broadcast can still make me tense up.

My number one source of embarrassment – my delivery. I spoke in a way I thought other people wanted to hear. It wasn’t quite “1930s BBC” but I wasn’t far away. It was my idea, for some reason, of what a traffic broadcast should be like. And I read, almost word for word what was on the page which was just information. The terminology was staid, the delivery rigid. So much was wrong with it but there was also so much to learn from the broadcast, that lives with me today.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a traffic report (my first) or a major championship (my next broadcast). When you go on air, it shouldn’t be your idea of what a presenter, a pundit or commentator should be. It’s about being yourself and conveying your information (scripted or not) in a genuine, connected and engaging way.