SIX SUGGESTIONS FOR BETTER SHOW PREP Chris Byrnes According to our clients, one of the differences between our service and that of other broadcast consultants is that we actually meet one-on-one with the air talent when we visit a radio station. We do this so we can offer positive coaching suggestions to improve their day-to-day performance. We have a slight advantage because each of our consultants has spent many years on-air in various day-parts in both small and major markets. We know what it’s like to fade the music, open the mic and hope magic happens. Of course, we also know it doesn’t happen on its own. A great show needs a roadmap with well prepared content or the breaks will lack focus, and announcers will miss opportunities to impact the target audience.
Fortunately, we meet many announcers who understand the importance of daily show prep. But we also encounter far too many show hosts who have never been shown how to properly research and prepare a show. So this month I’ll share some suggestions on how to prepare a show and some important points to cover in show planning.
If you’ve ever thrown a stone into some still water, you’ve seen how the splash starts rings of large ripples that gradually get smaller as they spread. Think of your audience as the faithful fans being the larger rings close to the centre. The listeners associated with the outer rings are the ones who tune in briefly to hear the traffic report or the weather and then tune out. The closer you get with your break to the center of the circle, the more you’re relating to the key listener. The goal of every break should be to sound local and to talk about the subjects that are of the greatest interest to your target audience. I was driving into a market early one winter morning and looked up at the clear blue sky. It was marked only by the white vapors from commercial jets as they made their way to various destinations. I was thinking how beautiful all this looked when the announcer on the radio said “Hey, you need to jump out of bed and look up to see the jet planes painting perfect white lines against the deep blue sky.” The announcer was talking about the same thing I was thinking about, and at that moment we connected. It’s really easy to say something that relates to those in the outer circle… such as a sports score or time and temperature, but the closer you get to the middle, the more precisely you touch your listener with information that appeals only to them and is so perishable that it will likely be outdated by the end of your show. It’s more difficult to do and it takes more thought and planning but the rewards are listener loyalty and bigger numbers. Now that you know this secret, think about what you could say on the air that will reach right into the middle of the circle.
The first thing you need is a roadmap for your show. Create a simple sheet that lists where the talk breaks fall and list any benchmarks or breaks that are fixed and not “open.” Let’s assume you talk at the 10”, 20”, 40” & 50” breaks, which means you have 20 breaks to prepare for a 5-hour shift. But, by the time you plot the station liners, hourly tee-ups and weather, you probably only need to find content for three breaks per hour. The key to staying organized is to isolate the content you plan to use and then spend the time crafting the break. Many announcers understand the first step, but fail to invest the time in the second step, which can be the difference between an average break and one that really hits home. Here then are six broad, show prep idea generators to help you zero in on the type of content that will work for your audience.
The Ability To Read the Day
Having a good feel for what people will be talking about in your community and then weaving this information into the show is a skill that takes time to learn. In order to do this, you need to be really plugged into the community and have lots of other connected people feeding you information. With a little leg work and a few concert or movie tickets given to the right people you can find out when famous celebrities or people of importance are coming to town. Encouraging the staff to send you an email or leave you a voice mail also helps to gather additional information. When I visit a market, I often arrive at the coffee shop at 6 AM so I can monitor the morning show via an earpiece and listen to the early morning conversations around me. All too often, the content I hear on the radio is generic top 10 lists or Hollywood gossip, which has little or no relevance to the conversations of the locals. Be totally aware of what’s going on TODAY in your market… and then reflect it in your show.
Things To Do With Your Free Time
We live in a time-starved world, and we seldom take a moment to stop and relax. So when a listener has some free time, chances are he or she will want to spend it with family and/or friends. Having suggestions for things to do in or near your community is a great way to relate, but it goes beyond the PSA’s and the information already in the control room. Scan the community newspapers, check the local websites and keep your eyes open for signs as you drive around your market. Also, get your name on the email list of all the local charities and service clubs. Remember getting the information is one thing, but presenting it in such as way as it is relevant and interesting takes effort and thought. Don’t say “Hey, the CNE is on till the end of the month so check it out because it’s a great time for everybody.” By the way, I actually heard that break on a Toronto radio station. Here’s how you can make that much more relevant… “I can’t wait to get to the CNE this year because they have three new rides, including the flume, the fireball and something called Pharaoh’s Fury. There’s also an interactive display that’s larger than a football field put on by the Army, Navy and Air Force. It includes boats, tanks and aircraft… AND you can add your name to a huge support banner that will be sent to our troops in Afghanistan.”
Name Dropping
Mentioning someone’s name on the air is a powerful tool because everyone who hears the person’s name is likely to tell them they heard it. But announcers sometimes fall into the trap of thinking it’s a small town tactic and no-one will care. Nothing could be further from the truth. Listen to the top stations in the major markets and the morning show is loaded with city people’s names. I encourage you to mention the winner of the local men’s golf tournament, the junior hockey player who scored the winning goal last night and the women’s curling team that won the charity bonspiel. A station we work with in the U.S. does something novel and very effective. Each year, their production manager has all the cheerleaders from the various high school football teams come by the station and he records their school chant. Each one is edited into appropriate imaging and played on the air in low rotation. All the cheerleaders’ families and friends listen to hear the audio on the air.
Fresh Information About the Artists You Play
We know from perceptual research that the average listener is interested in news about the artists you play. However, it needs to be relevant and current information. Telling your listeners that Rod Stewart used to be a grave digger is not new and likely not that interesting. Talking about his new son with model Penny Lancaster and their upcoming marriage, provided it’s framed the right way, is more relevant. Make the effort to check out your core artist’s website and bookmark the sites you can trust. For example, there is an excellent site called www.artistfacts.com, which is loaded with trivia about songs and artists. The sister site is www.songfacts.com and it has plenty of relevant information about almost any song you play.
Observational Show Prep
I define this as noticing something quirky or interesting as you drive to work and then finding a way to incorporate it into your show. It makes you sound very local and if it’s done right, your listeners will take notice and remember that you were the one who tipped them off. When a new building goes up on Main Street or a business puts up a humorous sign, it’s worth mentioning on the air because it reinforces that you are local, you’re observant and you know what’s going on in your community. Jerry Seinfeld created a successful weekly television show out of this simple notion. He would take one interesting observation, such as an unusual, moody immigrant who sold soup and he would create 22 minutes of interesting television. All you have to do is keep your eyes open for quirky or interesting things in your broadcast area and create a way to turn one of them into 30 seconds of interesting radio.
Interesting New Trends
Talking about the hot new toy for Christmas or the smart shopping cart, or the technology that will succeed mp3’s are examples of new trends that will interest your listeners. Don’t be lazy and read it directly off the net or out of a magazine. Remember that it must be delivered to an ear, not an eye. Check out www.fastcompany.com and www.google.com/trends. This is a new product developed at Google Labs that measures and graphs word searches on the internet. They can tell you that Blackberry is bigger than Treo, people are more interested in the beach than the mountains and Wikipedia is bigger than Britannica, Encarta and Webster's. In case you’re wondering, the hot toy under the tree this year will be TMX Elmo for the tots, and a modern day Monopoly game for bigger kids. The “shopping buddy” is a smart cart, which allows you to scan your frequent shopper card to see your most frequent purchases and eliminate carrying a paper list by allowing you to email it to the cart. As you shop, scan in each item and the cart will keep a running tab. It also eliminates the checkout line. Lastly, the guy who invented the mp3 is Karl Heinz Brandenburg and his latest audio invention is called Iosono, which makes mp3 sound like your grandmother’s crackly, old 78 RPM record player.
Next month, we’ll tell you what should not be on your show prep sheet and why. |