WQYK Hello in the Stalls
You have two options when you have a personal experience that’s interesting enough for the listeners to hear. You can either just tell the story or you can record audio while it’s happening and bring some of that to the break to help listeners feel it. Dave and Veronica, WQYK, Tampa totally get the latter concept. Dave recently had an experience while in a men’s bathroom stall. Something happened a few stalls down so crazy to him that he decided to grab audio of it to help the break. The way he handled this is way more entertaining for the audience then him just recounting the facts.
Sometimes the very best content comes from the lives of the people on the show. This often is the kind of content that cannot be done by any other show because they don’t have the experience. Producer Mary’s sister, Katy, has the worst luck at dating, often making some very bad stories. This is fodder for The J Show, B96, Chicago, in a new feature they put on called “Train Wreck Katy”.
Here’s an idea you can save for next Halloween. With the holiday approaching, and knowing that everyone can sing along with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, Rob and Joss, Froggy 92.9, Santa Rosa, CA got a local celebrity to do their version of the famous poem at the end of the song. Very clever and lots of fun, which helps them stand out in the market.
If you want to grab the attention of the listeners, tell them a great story. Listeners love stories. Sean and Michelle, Lite Rock B103, Rockford, IL know this. Sean had an almost-odd encounter with a gas pump. He told listeners the story, with its twists and turns, then opened the phones. The very best listener stories come when you tell yours, then ask them to tell you theirs.
If you’re telling a story on the show that has other people involved, instead of just giving the details of the story yourself, get them to participate so there is more to play with. Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston, ventured into Karson’s relationship with his wife, Lana. She’d purchased a massage for him that he never used and this caused friction in their relationship. Their great producer, Mike Morgan, told Lana to listen to the break they were about to do on-the-air. He then had her leave a voicemail with her reaction (a novel approach). This break is Lana going off, uninterrupted, on Karson. It’s a terrific character building break because Lana is very real, very passionate, very opinionated, and very funny.
I am not a fan of lists – they’re easy content but not very personal. Unless you do something with them that is uniquely yours. Ryno and Tracy, KYGO, Denver, found the list of least sexiest American accents. They could have just read it to the audience and commented, but they personalized it when Tracy, noting how hated a Midwestern accent is, called her husband and tried to seduce him with a Minnesota accent. Lots of silly fun.
Radio is one of the best mediums to tell a story because we can paint pictures with words, tone, and emotion. Want to truly understand the value of telling a story? Tell one well to listeners and stop halfway. They’ll ask that you finish it. They won’t if you cough out facts, figures, metrics, and lists. That’s the power of stories. In this segment on MOJO in the Morning, Channel 95.5, Detroit, Rachel tells a story about waiting on line at a retail establishment. Her story has wonderful twists and turns, totally defines her, and is exceptionally captivating. Mojo also finds way to involve listeners in the process, making this short break have multiple dimensions to keep those just tuning in completely engaged.