Story Transmitter

The (Life) Story Transmitter

Author Note:
I wrote this article for the monthly newsletter six years ago. At the time I was in my teaching school phase. Before that I was in radio broadcasting for about 30 years.

I've since retired from both, but I like what this article was about, making the connection between radio transmitters and story transmitters.

Among the different things I’ve done over the years the one that may have surprised, rewarded and sometimes frustrated me the most was my thirty year career in radio broadcasting.

I pretty much stumbled upon the opportunity halfway to my bachelor’s degree in Norman, Oklahoma. I had a part time job working at a pancake house and when I discovered that one of the cooks also moonlighted as a radio DJ for the college radio station, I invited myself to one of his shows and pestered him for a couple of hours by pulling out records and forcing song suggestions on him. Eventually he’d had enough and told me how I could go volunteer to do a show of my own.

So I did.

The rest, as the cliché goes, was (personal) history.

I’ve been out of the radio biz for over a decade now and my current career, in addition to this personal history life story encouragement avocation, is as an elementary school teacher.

There are a lot of similarities between school teaching and doing a radio show. Both have me spending a fair amount of preparation time before sharing my message, be it about a song and a songwriter or how to write an essay. And there is a clock and time restraints. When you are “on the air” or “teaching a class” you have to be acutely aware of your message and keep things moving.

I’ve been reflecting on my radio days and broadcasting and thinking about the similarities between a radio transmitter that carries sounds over the airwaves and the messages we each can share about our lives. Whether you realize it or not, you and I and everyone else is a transmitter of our stories.

We have a lot to learn from sharing (transmitting) our story

The Story Transmitter has an opportunity, maybe even an obligation, to share their life experiences and lessons with others. That audience may just be a few family members or friends. Even an audience of one – yourself – can make the telling worthwhile.

We have a lot to learn from sharing (transmitting) our story.

If you are to transmit your life story please do some preparation before “broadcasting”. Make a memory list of the significant events in your life. Like a good DJ you want to create a playlist of the greatest hits and segue them together in a somewhat artistic way to create a powerful experience for your audience (reader or listener).

The more power a radio transmitter has the greater the distance the signal will travel. The number in your audience can be expanded by using the tools of technology such as the way to record and share your story across platforms as diverse as a hand-held book to a podcast posted to the Internet. Those are all considerations, but it starts with a story. First you need to have something to say.

Here’s to that story that’s been germinating in your subconscious. Marinating. Waiting for the opportunity for transmission. You’ve got a story to tell.

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