The Monday Morning Free Idea
Need fresh inspiration for show content?
Check back every Monday for The Free Idea—a fun, entertaining bit of inspiration to help your show connect with your audience even more. You can also view past ideas, many of which my clients and I successfully used to engage listeners.
Need help with that? Give me a shout!
I Hate Grandma’s Green Bean Casserole
Thanksgiving is soon so let’s talk about food. A standard T-Day item is the green bean casserole. Prepared multiple ways and sometimes not so good. So…have every personality on the show (or the station) prepare their version of it for judging by listeners and/or your co-workers. I would see this as a narrative arc where you introduce the idea, partner everyone with a local chef, and wrap with audio of everyone sampling it to crown the winner. This would be great video for the socials, too.
Thanksgiving in Other Places
Your curiosity should fuel your breaks. You wondering about something, then satiating that curiosity, leads to interesting places. Ever wonder how they celebrate Thanksgiving in prisons? Or at the Governor’s Mansion? Why not find out. In the first instance, you can open the phones to people who’ve been in jail on a Thanksgiving and find out from them. What else would you add to the list? Do it the week before Thanksgiving for relevant, compelling storytelling.
Dad’s Halloween Oath
Father’s Day is this week and one tradition will stay alive. Every father will rifle through his kid’s bag of Halloween candy after they go to sleep and take a bunch from it for himself. That’s where you step in with Dad’s Halloween Oath. Put fathers on and have them do a repeat-after-me oath promising not to do that this year!
Is It Really My Pleasure?
Ever catch that when you say “thanks” to someone at Chick-fil-a, they always reply with “my pleasure”? That’s part of their training. Send the team into area Chick-fil-a restaurants, quietly recording interactions with the employees. Find reasons to say thank you to try and catch someone not replying with “my pleasure”. Make sure you do this (recording them) legally.
The Halloween Candy Kid
Halloween is just weeks away. A fun game to play is the Halloween Candy Kid. Have a cute sounding kid read the ingredients from the nutrition label of iconic Halloween candies. The caller must identify the candy from the ingredients. Recording tip: don’t let your kid pre-read the ingredients. Them stumbling over the words will enhance its comedic value.
Grandmas in the Haunted House
In about a week, haunted houses will spring up somewhere in your market. Some organization will build one as a fundraiser and people will flock to them to get scared! Let’s find a bunch of grandmothers (or use the grandmothers of co-workers) and bring them through one night, recording all of it on video, which you can upload to your socials. It’s timely and will be fun to watch.
What’s My Dog Eating?
Every show needs evergreen, silly ideas to freshen things up. Here comes one called What’s My Dog Eating. Feed something crunchy to your dog – a celery stalk, potato chip, or an apple slice – record the audio and play it for the audience. The first person to identify what your dog is eating wins!
The Pumpkin Spice Squad
Pumpkin spice dog food? Yup. I’ve seen it. It’s mid-September and everything is pumpkin spice because it sells more. How about putting together a bunch of people (listeners or co-workers) who you deputize to call the show after they’ve grocery shopped to tell you about the items they saw that have pumpkin spice. Call them the Pumpkin Spice Squad.
Hey Let’s Test the HOA!
It’s common knowledge that many HOAs remind us of Nazi Germany. Go buy a huge Halloween inflatable from Home Depot or Lowes. Find a listener (or co-worker) who is in a neighborhood with an HOA. On October 1, inflate that bad boy on their front law then check in with them once per day to see if they’ve heard yet from the HOA, saying they’re in violation.
Pie Day Friday
Fridays tend to be pizza days for lots of people. How about a new Friday feature called Pie Day Friday where you let listeners tell you about the homegrown local pizza shop that’s their favorite?