Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

Continuing the theme of taking a stand so the audience feels something for you.  The Josie Dye Show with Matt and Carlin, Indie 88, Toronto is liberal in a liberal city.  The show is at a stage in its development where they wanted to take a stand against people who did not believe in masks.  So we ventured out on that limb with lots of conversation about how to do that and how to handle ourselves to define the program.  What was critical was finding someone who could hold the position opposite of the show.  Here’s a break of them talking with someone who was a public face in the market against the wearing of masks.  The show brought her on, then challenged her beliefs with their own.  There are many caveats to doing something like this, which could be perceived as political should you consider wanting to be this honest and emotional with a topic that is polarizing:  first, where is the show in its development stage with the audience?  The better developed shows can potentially do this.  The younger, less defined shows cannot.  How will you treat those you challenge?  Will you give them their time, then do it in a tone accepting of another point-of-view?  Finally, are there enough fans of the show who would agree with your position to connect with?  It’s important for any talent to honestly share their feelings about the topics of the day.  But the rules (if it should be done and how) are different for all.  Something you must be exceptionally sensitive to and discuss strategically with others in and out of the show to decide if it’s appropriate.  This audio passes all our thresholds and caused talk for the show, but only because we did everything above.

At our core, we’re storytellers.  Each break in which we do content, we convey who we are and what we’re all about by the sharing of stories.  We prove our relatability and entertain the audience by telling them.  Then the great shows turn the forum of storytelling over to the audience.  There are three components of all memorable stories:  the set up (this is the short synopsis of what the story is about at the very beginning, not unlike the opening paragraph of any written story).  The second part has all the wonderful details, drama, and tension that move the narrative of the story forward.  And the end is the payoff or destination.  With this week’s audio, I want to focus on the middle part, because it’s the drama and details that make a story come to life and entertain the audience.  Lexi and Banks, KUBL, Salt Lake City had just come back from their holiday break.  Lexi had a very bad motel experience as she drove with her boyfriend and dogs to see family.  A five-minute story is long, unless it contains lots of drama to keep the audience hooked to move through the narrative.  As she tells the motel story, count nine different pieces of drama that kept the listener’s interest.  If you have only one or two pieces of tension in an experience, reconsider telling it because there might not be enough there to entertain the audience.  This has all that and then some, which makes it memorable, relatable, and fun to hear.