Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

Two of the regular items that bear themselves out when you talk with listeners is that they want fast moving breaks, with multiple parts to keep their attention.  And that the sweet spot for length is about three minutes with rare exceptions.  Enter The Big Dave Show, B105, Cincinnati who prep their breaks accordingly.  Here’s a nice, compact break with two major elements around the Luke Bryan tickets the show has for giveaway:  Part One in Luke or Dare is the team offering a trivia question to a caller – if they answer it correctly they get the tickets.  Or they have to accept the dare, which is Part Two.  Listen to this break and note how quickly it moves – they never give the audience a chance to get lulled into restlessness because of its pacing – it was prepped for this.  There is launch/set-up, execution, and payoff all within three minutes, leaving the audience wanting more verses fatiguing them by staying too long.  Which leads to a third important point:  if you have something to give out, spend more time figuring out how to give away the prize because how you do it is the win for those just tuning in, wanting to have a good time.

Our post last week was about being in the moment for pop culture – attaching yourself in a unique way to a Hot Topic.  The most inviting content might be what’s going on in the world right now, because those topics are clickable (and postable on your social media platforms).  But the treatment of that topic, as my friends at Coleman Insights have long advocated, is what is critical to making the break stand out.  There was a huge controversy around the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, where the expected horse to win was disqualified and Country House declared the winner.  Good conversation for the show just after the race, because people are aware of it (awareness is the main threshold for determining a topic for your show).  Kyle from Two Men and a Mom, WRAL-FM, Raleigh found out something very cool.  His father-in-law placed a bet on Country House, because he lives in a country house (it was one of those “on a whim” bets).  His father-in-law’s $20 bet, at 65-1 odds, paid off $1300.  So, they got him on and you got to hear his story, energy, and sense of humor around the topic.  Giving their program one more break that could only be done by them to engage and entertain the audience.  That he placed the bet and won big is a coincidence.  That they took advantage of it as content for the show isn’t.