Dive into AFTRS Show Radio

Article by Natalie Pozdeev, Program Convenor – Graduate Diploma Radio & Podcasting, AFTRS

Do you remember learning to swim?

The feel of the water the first time you put your head under. Reaching down with your toes and feeling nothing below.

Letting go of the edge.

It was letting go that took the leap of faith: you’d done enough practice in shallow water, you knew how to paddle, how to turn your head and breathe, kick your legs to reach the other side.

But to let go, you had to trust yourself to swim.

This week, students from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) Graduate Diploma of Radio and Podcasting have dived right in with a 12-day long live broadcast from the Sydney Royal Easter Show. They’ve been studying for just 6 weeks

As their ‘head coach’, it’s amazing to see their skills develop and their confidence grow.

Students rotate through typical radio industry roles: long-standing jobs such as presenter, producer, field reporter, panellist; and digital roles such as posting multimedia content on socials, filing online stories, and creating audio-on-demand podcasts.

It’s been a rite of passage for Radio students at AFTRS since 1994. As a learning experience, Show Radio has evolved over the last 29 years with new generations of audio makers, but it still has that mix of emotions – scary, exciting, and learning to trust your abilities.

You have to hold your breath and just jump in.

“The best learning experience is to actually do something,” said AFTRS Radio and Podcasting Lecturer, Sian Gard.

“With Show Radio, students go through the agonies of fluffing their scripts or scrambling to fill a gap, and the triumph of nailing a live cross or timing out to the second. The Royal Agricultural Society has been an incredible partner in bringing Show Radio to life. There’s nothing like a real deadline and a real audience to sharpen you up.”

Show Radio has been Graduate Diploma student Gareth Thompson’s first foray into live radio and broadcasting. “Show Radio has taken everything we’ve learned so far, from theory to practice, and put it into a pressure cooker,” he said. “It’s really sped up my learning. It throws you into the deep end, in a great way.”

Why not ‘dive in’ to Show Radio yourself by listening via the iHeart app  until Monday 17 April.

Or you can cheer on AFTRS students via Facebook or Instagram.

Photo: AFTRS students Gareth Thomson and Sarah Young at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, interviewing 2022 APRA Saddle Bronc Riding Champion Greg Hamilton.