Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

Destinations and payoffs.  That’s a requirement for listeners in this A.D.D. world of “want it now, want it fast”.  Watch reality shows on TV and see how quickly they move along the storyline, always in search of conflict and tension in each scene, and some take-away that will engage the viewers.  Many shows choose their topics, then spend their allotted mic time talking around it, in search of some exit ramp to move on to the next thing in their clock.  Mark and NeaderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix found interesting content when they learned that Hitler’s phone had been sold at auction.  Instead of just spending their time gabbing about it, they imagined what outgoing messages from Hitler might sound like.  The goal is to establish the content quickly to hook the audience then get to the funny fast, which is what they did in this break, satiating the audience, respecting their time, and setting up another occasion because they affirmed images of being humorous.

Every show does trivia in some form or another.  Any great game show on TV (past or present) uses trivia as a foundation to entertain.  It’s how you do the trivia that engages the audience.  The manner in which it’s framed and presented is what resonates (which is why Jeopardy is different from NBC’s The Wall).  The Big Dave Show, B105, Cincinnati, has a daily feature called Chelsie’s “Not As Naughty As It Sounds” trivia question.  It’s the pro forma “this percentage of people do this” question yet the frame makes you think it’s dirty (it’s not).  Then the cast takes a guess to remove two very obvious answers before they take calls.  Go do trivia – it’s quite engaging and forces the audience to get vicarious to the show.  But spend more time on how you do it so it cuts through.