Hello everyone!

Here’s another guest blog for you today!

I’ve invited Liam O’Dell aka ‘Life of a Thinker’ to share his experiences of being a deaf radio presenter.

When I first started blogging, Liam was one of the first fellow deaf bloggers I’ve come across and is one of the bloggers who I find very interesting! Even as a deaf person myself, I can’t hear the radio and when I found out that Liam hosted his own show; Siren FM, I was shocked!

Enjoy reading about his experiences!

Love E x

Being deaf doesn’t stop me from loving music. Whilst someone with a mild/moderate hearing loss – like me – may struggle to hear the lyrics to some songs, we can still fall in love with the melody and instrumental parts to a track. People who are profoundly deaf may not be able to hear music (at least without supportive technology), but they can still feel the vibrations from the bass notes. Anyway, regardless of the deafness, music can still be a part of a deaf person’s life. The idea that all deaf people cannot listen to music is a common misconception.

In my case, music has always been a huge passion of mine. I’ve been playing the drums for 10 years or so, and more recently, I have been running my own radio show on Siren FM in Lincolnshire since November last year. Since starting the show – named ‘Brunchtime’ – seven months ago, my deafness has never got in the way of things.

First of all, there’s the fact that all computers and studio desks use headphones, which mean I don’t have to take my hearing aids out in order to make them sit comfortably on my ears, or to hear the music properly. As well as this, even if I cannot hear the song’s lyrics (or it’s a track I don’t recognise) a countdown timer displays on screen if a song is about to finish. Basically, the technology in the Siren FM studios always keep me in the know, and my deafness isn’t a problem.

So, putting deafness to one side for the moment, what happens in a typical day when I’m hosting a radio show? Well, my show goes out live from 10am to 12pm on a Saturday, which means I usually have to get up at 7 o’clock in the morning in order to get into the studio for around 8:30am or 9:00am. This then gives me time to print off all the necessary scripts, sort out the order of the music the audience listens to, and research any information I may need for the show.

Just before 10 o’clock, the previous presenter leaves the studio whilst the news is played out on the hour. I then get social media set up and run the show for two hours. In between songs, I get the next show segment sorted before I cue the news at 12pm.

Once the show’s finished, I upload a recording of the programme to an on-demand website called Mixcloud. I’m then done for another week until I do the show all over again the next Saturday.

If you’re interested, you can listen to my show on Saturdays, 10am to 12pm, on 107.3 FM and sirenonline.co.uk. You can also catch up on all my previous shows via my Mixcloud account.

Does music play a big part in your life? Comment below!

Liam