Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

One thing that makes powerful talent powerful is they’ve moved the audience to care about them.  The intimacy of our medium (it’s just you and that one listener, as we learned years ago) flows from a very deep relationship.  Built on vulnerability and the sharing of your life with listeners, the more you let them in and prove you are like them, the more that connection happens.  You have the power to make people care not only based on what you share, but how you share it.  At John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego, John has been abruptly forced out of his apartment because the landlord sold the house.  On its face, you could think:  how do I make them care about my problem? Emotion, and more specifically humor, moves them into the “care column”.  John has accumulated lots of stuff as we all do (very relatable) and must decide what to take to his new place.  The X-factor in this break is the show asking the listener who joined to decide if the item John references should make the move.  The feature they did was called Take It or Toss It and the ruling made by the caller was final.  That John has to move is his problem.  That they figured out how to use a listener in a fun way made it sticky, thus moving the audience to get to know him and care about him.

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.