BFM 89.9 Podcast with Kingsley Jones

I have been podcasting with BFM Radio Malaysia on their Market Watch segment every second Monday since 2012, with 221 episodes to date. Here I share link to those.

Press this button to be redirected to the BFM 89.9 Podcast Player.

Apologies that I cannot do a direct embed, but the button works fine.

Through many ups and downs of the financial market I have been broadcasting with BFM 89.9 Radio Malaysia, the Business Station, at drivetime 7AM in the Klang Valley.

Last Monday, we recorded episode 221 of the resulting podcast.

These are available here: Prior Podcasts with BFM 89.9 Radio Malaysia

These days I do the broadcast from my desk in Canberra.

This desk was made for radio along with my face.

This is a splendid start to my week, not least of all because drivetime in the Klang Valley, up in Malaysia, is 7AM which happens to be 9AM or 10AM in Canberra.

The Yabby is big in the Klang Valley (Source: Photo by Izuddin Helmi Adnan)

This means I get to sleep in.

Through twelve full years of broadcasting, I have never failed to be impressed by the depth and breadth of knowledge from my radio interlocutors and hosts.

Lately these have been Wong Shou Ning and Philip See.

Here is an interview with Philip See, who was formerly CEO of Malaysian Airline Firefly.

That is a great interview about creativity and broadcasting.

At around the 3:50 mark in that video Philip is asked for his top tips for success:

I think that you have to contribute your passion, your skill and your ability to contribute all together nicely.

If I ask myself why I do this newsletter, it is a perfect fit for all three.

• I love words, and I just spew them all over the place.

• I have a skill for analysis and I cannot avoid doing that.

• I can contribute by imparting insights I have learned on financial management.

I would encourage anybody to try their hand at broadcasting because it really trains you well to think on your feet for any public communication task.

I have been broadcasting, in one way or another, since 1993 when I used to do fifteen minutes of science radio broadcasting for ABC Radio 4QR.

I got roped into the role because the radio station had come to the University of Queensland Physics Department looking for somebody to talk about science.

The Head of Department came to me and said: “I think you should do it.”

I complained that I knew nothing about radio: “Why pick me?”

He answered sagely: “You talk a lot.”

I talked a lot in reply, but eventually I agreed.

The University promised to help me out with some training, to which I happily agreed. The media person had their own on campus studio, complete with fancy looking walls with puffy foam, neat looking microphones, and an “On Air” light.

I was told to go away, prepare a three-minute story, and then come for a test.

Dutifully, I went to the local library, pulled the latest issues of New Scientist, and Nature, so I could talk about real science, but maybe some biology too :-)

After I had located my story, I took copious notes to speak for three minutes.

Admitted to the sacred cave of anechoic radio silence, I sat opposite my host and marveled at how quiet the room was when I was not speaking.

The test began and my interlocutor cued me with a snappy introduction.

Feeling great at being introduced so well, I launched into my spiel.

The first sentence started well, and it meandered on for a bit, and then the brain and the tail of this monkey got mixed up, I lost my place and crashed in a flaming heap.

It only took about twenty seconds, if that, to fold.

Puzzled, I looked at my coach and instructor.

He said: “Let me do your story.”

I said: “How can you, since you did not prepare for it?”

He said: “Just listen.”

Off he went and gave a magnificent three-minute story on my topic.

There was enough about it that I knew it was my story.

Flabbergasted, I asked: “How did you do that?”

This was the crux of my entire training, and the lesson never left me.

Every story has a beginning, middle, and end.

Having heard me start, he knew the beginning, and some of the middle, but really only needed to string that together towards a plausible end.

For the listener, the detail is redundant to the hearing of a convincing story.

Once I knew that, I launched in and repeated my story.

This time I got through my own story seamlessly.

This was my most valuable lesson in life.

Radio is pure communication with no backup.

Master that, and you can hold any room, from 6,500 km away.

I will link back these podcasts as they are published by my good friends at BFM 89.9.

Happy investing!