The Great Communicator

By Burke Allen

While traveling in early June, I learned of former President Reagan's passing. As I checked into my hotel, the front desk clerk was watching the Fox News Channel as the anchors supplied non-stop coverage of this breaking news event. In my room, I watched with interest the many images of Reagan's life being highlighted: His movie and television career, presidency of the Screen Actors Guild, college football star, Governor of California, loving husband, dynamic public speaker and of course President of The United States.

What they didn't mention was that the young Ronald "Dutch" Reagan actually honed the communications skills that he would use so successfully all his life as a radio personality in the Midwest. As a staff announcer and sports play-by-play man, he developed into The Great Communicator whose warm, genial style captivated a generation. Reagan's radio works, and words, need to be remembered.

Reagan's career in radio is amazingly relatable to air talent today -- his frustration trying to break into a major market (Chicago), unceremoniously losing a job through no fault of his own, and his constant sharpening of his craft to better connect with his listeners.

Is This Thing On?

Reagan even had one of those "oops, I left the mic on" moments we all dread. While taping his weekly Presidential radio address in 1984, he was goofing around before he thought the tape was rolling and said in his now-famous voice "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." The technicians cracked up. The Soviets got wind of it and obviously were not amused.

Below are a few short excerpts of Reagan's autobiography, where he described in his own words his radio career and how he learned those famed communications skills that would serve him so well throughout his life. Notice how he was asked to 'paint a picture' for his listeners and succeeded best after receiving coaching and instruction from others.

Whether you agreed with his politics or not, there's little dispute that Ronald Reagan deserved his title of The Great Communicator. And it was his training in radio that led the way.

I Want To Be In The Big Markets!

"At summer's end, I decided to hitchhike to Chicago to hunt for a job as a radio announcer. I met rejection everywhere I went. When I suggested I wanted to become a radio announcer (I never mentioned my real goal of becoming a sports announcer), I was practically laughed out the door, usually without even an interview. 'In Chicago,' the program director of NBC radio told me, 'we can't afford to take people without experience. You've got every reason to try for a job in radio, but first go out to what we call the sticks.'

"My first stop was station WOC in Davenport. I took the elevator to the top floor and asked to see the Program Director. I gave my usual pitch about my willingness to take any job to get a start in radio. 'Where were you yesterday?' he demanded. He said he did have an opening for an announcer and held auditions for it the day before. "'The job's filled. Where ye been?' he said as if I were a little backward.

Right Place, Right Time

"In a daze, I left his office and headed for the elevator, shattered by the bad luck. 'How the hell,' I said as I walked away, quietly, but loud enough for him to hear, 'can you get to be a sports announcer if you can't even get a job at a radio station?' I reached the end of the hall and pushed the elevator button. As the door opened, I heard…a raspy voice, as rough as sandpaper. 'Hold on, you big bastard … Do ye know anything about football?'

"'I played football for eight years in high school and college.'

"'Could ye tell me about a football game and make me see it as if I was home listening to the radio?'

"'Yes, I'm sure I could,' I replied with the bravado of youth. Pete led me into a studio and stopped me in front of a microphone. 'When the red light goes on,' he said, 'I'll be in another room listening. Describe an imaginary football game to me and make me see it.' Suddenly the red light flashed on. I looked at the microphone and improvised.

What You Know Can Help You Land

"'Ye did great, ye big SOB,' he said. 'Be here Saturday, you're broadcasting the Iowa-Minnesota Homecoming game. You'll get $5 and bus fare.' Once I was on the air, I tried to make the most of my opportunity and chose phrases and adjectives I hoped would give listeners visual images that would make them think they were in the stadium, and I laced my descriptions with background about the players and teams that I hoped would demonstrate that I knew what I was talking about.

"But after the final game, Pete told me the station didn't have an opening. He said if something came up, he'd call me, but with the Depression growing worse daily, he sounded as if there wasn't much hope.

"In February, however, I got a telephone call that changed everything: Pete MacArthur said one of WOC's two staff announcers had quit and he offered me his job, starting at $100 a month. 'I'll be there tomorrow,' I said.

An On Air Personality is Born

"The day I arrived for work in Davenport, they put me on the air. I was a disc jockey before they invented the term: As staff announcer, I played phonograph records, read commercials, and served as a vocal bridge between our local programming and network broadcasts.

"I was not an immediate success as a radio announcer, to put it mildly. Nobody had bothered to give me any instructions on how to be an announcer and I quickly proved it on the air. I stumbled over my words and had a delivery as wooden as a prairie oak. I'd have hated to have to pay for some of those first commercials I read over the air.

"They had to assign someone to help me improve my on-the-air delivery … and gave me a crash course on radio announcing, and I began reading over the commercials before airtime and practicing my delivery to get the right rhythm and cadence and give my words more emotion. Whatever I did during those few days worked: After another week or two, the talk at WOC about replacing me stopped. Then, enter another break for Dutch Reagan. WHO, our sister station in Des Moines, needed someone … I got the assignment!

Passion For Radio

"I spent four years at WHO and they were among the most pleasant of my life. At twenty-two I'd achieved my dream: I was a sports announcer. If I had stopped there, I believe I would have been happy the rest of my life. I'd accomplished my goal and enjoyed every minute of it."

The Great Communicator, indeed.