Communication Leader and Expert Patrick Donadio learned crucial public speaking skills at Ohio University and WOUB

Patrick Donadio is an author, keynote speaker, executive coach and communication strategist. It’s not the career in broadcasting that Donadio originally intended, but it’s a career that he says would not have been possible without the foundation he got in Athens, Ohio.

“In high school in Niles, Ohio, I did the morning announcements and had a cable TV show called Niles Schools on View. My counselor recommended Ohio University to me for college, and I found out that in Athens you had the opportunity to get on the radio right away,” said Donadio. “I learned about WOUB and was pleasantly surprised that there were also radio stations on the greens. I worked at WOUB, the East Green radio station, WLDH, and the all-campus station, ACRN. I got involved in everything I could and jumped in with all of it right away.”

While working at WOUB, Donadio focused mostly on radio. He anchored newscasts and hosted WOUB AM’s morning program, AM Athens. Donadio hosted a country music shift on WOUB FM.

Donadio was also a resident assistant, which he also enjoyed. After he graduated in 1980 with his degree in radio and TV.  He decided to stay in Athens to get his master’s in business administration (MBA). He accepted a full-time job in Residence Life at Ohio University and stayed in Athens until 1984.

“When I left Athens, I went to Columbus to work for the Ohio Crime Prevention Association as a program director. I eventually moved in the executive director role,” said Donadio. “I developed and implemented statewide conferences, regional training seminars and technical assistance programs and developed media campaigns. I used my WOUB experience a lot because I did radio promotions for those campaigns.”

Donadio is now a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP™), Master Certified Coach (MCC), and author of Communicating with IMPACT.  He never worked in broadcasting but says he still uses the skills he learned at Ohio University and WOUB daily.

“I’m a big believer in great communication skills. To be on the radio and learn to be able to improvise was so important. I think WOUB/ACRN/WLHD were good training grounds to be an effective communicator, and now I’m using those skills to coach and teach other folks.”

When the COVID 19 pandemic pushed business teams to Zoom to communicate, Donadio says he had to teach others the important skills he learned at WOUB.

“I coached folks on how to handle talking to an empty room. They would get on Zoom, and attendees would mute their microphones and many turned off their cameras, and several leaders struggled to communicate effectively in that isolated setting. I could help because it was just like speaking into a microphone at WOUB Radio not knowing who was out there listening to you or how they were responding,” said Donadio. “There is no way that I would be the kind of entrepreneur and business owner I am today without the skills I learned at Ohio University and WOUB. You can’t get the experience that you get at Ohio University and WOUB anywhere else, that’s what makes the place so amazing.”

About WOUB Public Media

As a member station of both NPR and PBS, WOUB Public Media is a trusted source of news, local content and educational resources that have proven to be worthy of the time, effort and support of our users. WOUB, an experiential-learning unit of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University, is a non-profit, community-supported multimedia organization which provides online and broadcast services, along with non-broadcast educational services and student professional development. WOUB serves 55 counties throughout southeastern Ohio, western West Virginia and eastern Kentucky with its broadcast signals. WOUB Radio’s FM Network has transmitters in Athens, Chillicothe, Ironton, Zanesville and Cambridge, while WOUB AM serves the immediate Athens area. WOUB TV is made up of seven television channels (WOUB HD, WOUB Classic, WOUB World, WOUB Create, WOUB Ohio, WOUB Kids and WOUB Voicecorps Reading Service) which are broadcast from two transmitters.

Through its support of public service, teaching, research and administrative missions, along with its high-quality local content and programming, WOUB enriches, enhances and expands the lives and horizons of the people in the communities it serves, as well as Ohio University faculty, staff and students.