Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

There are two lessons to learn in this week’s audio segment.  It comes from Klein and Ally, KROQ, Los Angeles.  The big one first:  a cast member has some news to share with the team and the audience.  In the name of prep, should the room know ahead of time?  I’m asked this question on occasion and the answer is always – it depends on the room.  How much trust is there and how well does the room do with unknown moments?  Ally is pregnant and no one knew.  Not even those she does the show with.  During their weekly I’ve Got a Secret segment, where listeners call to share secrets about their lives, Ally revealed the news.  She opted to not tell anyone because she wanted to preserve their natural reaction for the audience.  She knows and trusts her teammates that much that she was confident all would be good (and it was).  The second lesson is being able to adapt to studio challenges.  While this segment is listener-driven, the show was having phone issues that morning.  The quick pivot to make it around a cast member preserves the feature.  The room was never rattled by that curve ball.  Enjoy Ally’s announcement and how she hooks both the room and audience to lean in as she reveals all.

Let’s gather around the campfire and talk a little bit about character development.  Often, talent think anything they talk about defines them.  There are certain criteria all of this must pass to be effective:  you have to affirm a core character trait a typical listener can identify with, you must be honest, and it must come in story-form because we are a story-telling medium.  Then there’s this:  tell me about something that is happening in your life right now.  That real life content is the most authentic.  And it will be delivered much differently.  A story from years ago is minus the emotion you felt then (it’s a story being told from your head).  A story happening now lives in technicolor because I will feel it as you tell it.  Here’s a simple story as told on Logan and Sadie, WINK-FM, Ft. Myers.  Sadie getting a new umbrella is really an open for the meat of the break, Logan talking about his kid going off to college (the topics are tied together as you will hear).  This is simple, but you will leave feeling Logan and, if you’re a parent, connecting with his exasperation because you’ve lived it, too.  Because it’s happening now.