Karen, Johnny, and Intern Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York Karen Forgets to RSVP

We’re story tellers.  And one of radio’s greatest super powers is our intimacy – our ability to connect with the audience and remind them that we are just like them.  When you have a story that has several participants, it’s always best told when the tension and drama that drives how compelling a story is, to put those in the story on your show to tell it, too.  One of the greatest strengths on Karen Carson in the Morning with Johnny and Intern Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York is they have lives just like their audience.  Karen forgot to RSVP to Intern Anthony’s fiance’s bridal shower.  Average shows would just talk about it and maybe launch a phone topic.  Not these guys.  They made Karen call Anthony’s future mother-in-law to apologize.  It’s this pivot in the story telling that keeps the audience hooked in the break to hear how it turns out, putting that tension on full display.

The Summer Job: Three Ideas

Part time summer jobs.  We’ve all had them.  Inside of that are several ideas and I want to share three.  Idea #1:  the simple phone topic asking listeners what some of their summer jobs were when they were young.  With great phone screening, you will get great stories.  Idea #2: find a great part time summer job for a teacher.  Building the idea around one person will make it stickier.  Idea #3:  are any clients looking for part time summer help?  Get them on the show to tell listeners.  That will make you important to the sales folks.

Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh Love Him or List Him

If you target women, it’s always encouraged that you have a regular feature on the show that is relationships-based.  There are the standards that work:  Second Date Update or War of the Roses.  But here’s one you might not have heard called Love Him or List Him as done by Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh.  You’re right about the name.  It’s very similar to the show on HGTV.  That’s on purpose because the name has equity.  Its simple thesis:  a woman comes on who’s been with a guy for a short time.  She sees some odd behavior and wonders if she should love him (stay with him) or list him (stop dating him).  Air listener’s advice then go back to her with the results.  A few things to listen for in this segment:  the quirky jingle up front to grab listeners, how quickly the show gets to her telling her story, they localize where the drama happened, all those listener calls (who had stories), and then the resolution.

Who Graduated Them Best?

Arrange for each member of the show to give a graduation speech at a different middle or grammar school in town.  The cast member must write a moving, inspirational speech to give to the students.  Record each (including reaction from the students).  Then post each speech on social media with the audience voting on Who Graduated Them Best?

Dave, Mahoney, and Audrey, KSLX, Phoenix with Dave’s Mother-in-Law Is In Distress.

New shows have a different strategy and work on different images than tenured programs.  Enter Dave, Mahoney, and Audrey, KSLX, Phoenix.  Replacing Mark and NeanderPaul (Mark retired and Paul moved to middays) only several weeks ago, we needed to form a launch strategy for the new cast.  The core attribute of a Stage One show is unfamiliar people doing unfamiliar things.  When we wake up, we crave what we know and familiarity plays an important role in the choices we make at that time of the day.  So our primary goal is to be very familiar with our topics (because our cast isn’t familiar) and tell lots of stories that define our characters and introduced the team as real people, just like the listeners.  Here’s a simple story, loaded with lots of drama, that Dave told about his wife and mother-in-law.  Both strategic and powerful to serve the goals of launching the new show.

V Week

If you guys have a daily trivia game, why not theme one week of it around valedictorians at area high schools.  Find five, then do one a day during V Week.  Gives you a chance to be local and test the book smart kid against the trivia champ on the show.

The Pothole of Pennies

With winter over, do you have a ton of potholes in your town?  Find a pothole and tell the audience you are going to fill it with pennies.  Whoever guesses how many pennies it’ll take to level it off gets the pennies.  You might have a media event for this so don’t forget to tell your local TV stations you’re doing it.  It’ll also be a great visual for social media.

The Failure Re-Frame

There can be only one number one. Everyone else is on the journey there.

You won’t be surprised if I share that most every talent tie their self-worth to their ratings. That’s their validation they’re funny, smart, talented, and accepted by the audience.

I can relate. That’s what I did when on-air. If the ratings went up, I was worthy. And if they didn’t, well…

We all know there isn’t a direct line from the radio you do to the growth in the ratings. There are tons of variables, some out of your control.  Some shows I’ve worked with took years to break through.  Keeping them centered on that journey is job #1.

I look at it differently as a talent coach. Part of our job in coaching creative people is managing them when things don’t go well, as they invariably do. A bad break, a few less-than-stellar shows, or a handful of trends that don’t meet expectations might be seen by talent as a failure. Pretty bold use of the F-word, don’t you think?

Which is why the video below captured me.

Giannis Antetokounmpo plays for the #1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks, who were believed by many to win the NBA Championship this year. Well, it didn’t work out because they were defeated by the #8 seeded Miami Heat.

When asked last week at a press conference if this season was a “failure”, here’s Giannis’s reply. Everything, he said, is a step to success.

So, when things don’t go your way, how about this “failure re-frame” to keep everyone focused and positive? Everything we’re doing is a step to the win if you have a strong culture, a talented team, and a smart strategy. Keeping them focused on taking those steps to success and not on the ratings will help get you there faster. And keep you at success longer.

I’ve never heard a more eloquent and appropriate reframe of “failure” into the true purpose of the mission to become important in listeners’ lives.

This video might be the best two minutes of your day to help manage your team of high performers to becoming epic players for your brand.