If you have a bunch of prizes to give out this week, do “He Got Waxed Because You Got Taxed”. This one is simple and ties into Tax Day (Wednesday). The listener calls to tell you how much of a check they had to write to the government. You then wax the body part the listener chooses of the most appropriate person on the show. Whatever prize is listed on the underside of the wax strip they get for having been taxed.
Need a fun, quick game to play to give something out? Try “The One Second Song”. Grab a hit record in your format and play only one second of the song. First listener to identify artist and title wins.
Adding in as characters the fun people you work with or know in life is a fun idea to add dimension to your program. Find the smartest person in the building (someone preferably at a Mensa level) and pit them against the listeners on occasion in a trivia contest your co-worker rarely, if ever, loses. Call the feature “No One Likes a Know-It-All” which acts as your hook phrase at the end of every installment.
Ellen occasionally plays a game with her guests that is very viable for your show, too. It’s called “Never Have I Ever” where she asks personal questions which could prompt an “I haven’t” or “I have” response. Questions like: being part of the mile high club, stealing from work, thinking romantically of a co-worker. You can play this on your team for character development. The fun comes from those who can’t profess they haven’t to a question. Quizzing them is where the fun happens.
There are big initiatives at most broadcast companies for web hits. This one does it for you yet still sells the silly nature of your show. Talking to a program last week, one of the cast members said she was wearing Mickey Mouse socks that day at work. I had them send me a picture and it lived up to expectations (the socks were a total reflection of this cast member’s personality). We then developed an idea called “Can We See Your Socks?” Listeners will send us a picture of their quirky socks, which we’ll describe on-air then post to the web for all to see.
There are sounds all around us every single day. We hear some so often that, in many respects, they don’t even register any longer. From beeps of a garbage truck backing up, to your chosen notification for a text message, there’s a new game to play when you have something to give out called “What Did That Sounds Mean?” Play the sound, and the first listener to identify what it meant wins. Bonus points if the sound you play has something to do with your life, so it builds your on-air character.
Despite the fact that Ash Wednesday was this past week, it’s not too late for you guys to choose a member of the show and each suggest something they give up for Lent. Then ask listeners to vote on those items (on-the-air and online) with the reveal the next day. Then that person on the show must give up the item with the most votes and you track them until Easter.
Walk through the office asking female co-workers who they think the office Christian Grey is. Once they vote, invite that person into the studio and play the audio for them to get their natural reaction. Then ask your office Christian Grey to read some of the naughtier passages in the book. Thanks to Ryno and Tracy, KYGO, Denver, for this terrific, very topical idea.
With the Oscars coming up, the appropriate member of your show should give the audience a happy ending. They describe to the caller the ending of a happy movie. The listener just has to guess the movie to win. Go to IMDB’s page for highest growing movies of all times (here) and cull the list for appropriate ones.
With winter in full force here’s a promotion you can do once March/April hits and your listeners cars are dirty from the weather. This especially works if you’re targeted at female listeners as “eye candy” is involved, partially naked men! It’s called “Hot Guys Cleaning Dirty Cars”. Find some male models from an agency in town and take over a car wash for a few hours on a Saturday. The guys, dressed only in speedos, clean listener’s dirty cars for a few dollars, then given to a charity. You’ll have an idea totally in sync with what’s happening at that moment (the turn in the weather and dirty cars) and a visual for the TV cameras.