“It is 4 am, you can barely open your eyes, let alone drive into the station.”
“Your last thought as you close the door to the outside world is anything but comfort – you have a job to do… and you are going to probably doing it on a budget, lumpy, smelly, and slightly tilting to one side stool or chair with a wonky wheel in the studio!!! ARGHHHH!”
I’m telling this story to one of our Jocks about an incident a few years ago when a new Jock started at the station…
“So imagine my shock when I watched the new jock start on their first day, and wheel in the most comfortable and padded chair I had ever seen… that plugged into the wall!”
WHAT!???
I then went on to explain how everyone was looking at this amazing piece of technology.
Our chairs hadn’t been replaced since sometime in the early 90’s and yet ‘the new guy’ had a brand new chair!
Explaining why they had bought their own chair into the studio, they said that they asked us to “…think about the most important tool in the studio… Was it their microphone, closely followed by their cans? NOPE! It was their chair.”
After a sponsor had given the jock a chair to try during a segment – they had fallen in love with it and brought it on the spot, they had even had this one recovered after it started to wear – replacing the wheels when they started to wear… they loved it that much!
Not only does this chair… support your back – but it had a massager built into it – Ohhh my! And it is sooooo quiet they can use it while on-air!
Because you are going to sit in your studio for 3 hours minimum, you should be comfortable, and not walk out of their all hunched over like an extra from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
At some workplaces you might have a stand-up desk in the studio – that’s okay, and it does keep you more alert, plus has the added advantage of opening up your diaphragm as you talk.
But you need to take care of your back and your feet!
As I said this Jock loved their chair so much that – I kid you not – the wheels on this chair had been replaced with wheels from an in-line skate set – incredible!
Apart from comfort, always check the weight rating of the chair too because some chairs just can’t handle those of us who are a teeny bit on the hefty side!
Back to the chair in question… Padded base, back and headrest made this chair look like a gaming chair, but the added lumbar support and massage feature… stole my vote as the single most comfortable chair I had ever had the pleasure of sitting in.
I’m not going to say you should rush out and buy your own deluxe executive chair – but check with your management to see if they will allow you to bring in your own chair – or update the clunky monster in the studio at the very least for you!
Julian Chokkattu at WIRED magazine even did a great article on office chairs (see it HERE) that is worth reading.
Anyway, your studio chair is important – it’s a vital piece of equipment and as such it should be cared for as much as your desk, your microphone and headphones. Trust me – your back will thankyou years from now.
