Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

Phone topics are regular content choices on every morning show.  They work because their intent, generally, is to tell stories around a relatable subject.  But how do you launch the topic in a way where it doesn’t feel rote or come off as though it came from a prep service?  Stacey and Jonah, WIL, St. Louis pay extra attention to how they position even what could be perceived as the most generic of topics.  This one is about best concert experiences.  Could be ho-hum, but listen to how they debut this to the audience.  Here are the attributes of this week’s audio:  coming out of a song, they start with content.  There is no filler or nonsense – they immediately tell a story – and that story is audio of a kid who got a guitar from Dierks Bentley at a concert.  The exchange is short and fun.  I am immediately hooked and have context.  Next is the solicit, followed by banter between the two to reference their best experience – inside getting their chemistry and playfulness (again more fun), followed by the phone number.  All done in under 75 seconds.  They connect with us, made us laugh, gave us a frame point, and then made the solicit.  What could have been positioned as a standard phone topic was wonderfully executed.

Proving that listeners glum on to the frivolous, Jen from Koz and Jen, WTMX, Chicago presented a cake in her weekend journal she baked for her youngest daughter’s birthday.  The cake was too perfect looking for us – so we started to rib her that she actually purchased it instead of baking it.  The room became so much fun over this, we saw a narrative arc to do through the show.  They posted a picture of the cake on their Facebook page at the start of the program and asked listeners to go see it and comment if they think she really baked it (digital engagement).  This, of course, became on-air content and calls (laughter for those just tuning in).  And culminated at the end of the show with Koz calling Raina, Jen’s daughter, to “authenticate” that the cake was for real (character development).  Silly is better than weighty – this proves listeners will follow along and play in the sandbox if we give them something substantive that is also easy to consume (pun intended!).  Here’s a compilation of some of the breaks they did through the show so you can hear how it evolved.