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Better Interaction
June 21, 2022
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There’s been a lot of talk recently about interaction on the radio, and formats that put caller interaction at the center of the execution. The reality is great listener interaction has often been an integral part of many successful personality-driven shows. For many shows having the audience participate and co-create the content is a tactic that can drive the desired images needed to grow and win. The opposite is also true, a badly executed caller topic can erode images of fun and entertainment. Here’s a few tips that may help you build better interaction on your show:
- Great interaction is not judged by the quantity of callers you get, but the quality of those calls. Quality is judged by how compelling, interesting, and entertaining the content of the call is.
- Callers should enhance the relatability of the show, the audience can see themselves in similar situations or empathize with the caller’s story.
- You are looking for stories not opinions; asking for opinions leads to a narrow topic. Stories opens the entertainment value and stickiness of a topic.
- Focus less on challenging the audience to be creative and instead ask them to recall their experiences. Our lives are treasure troves of stories waiting to be mined and told.
- The quality of the calls you get comes directly from the quality of the question you ask. Spend time crafting the question. Great questions lead to great calls. Be specific, yet as broad as possible.
- A great question can serve as a hook. It can create mystery, intrigue, and pique curiosity. Listeners can be compelled to keep listening to see what stories the audience may have.
- Calls are ALWAYS more engaging than text messages. Reading text messages often doesn’t paint a picture in the listeners mind or take us on a journey. Sure, include one or two text messages but focus on getting callers on the air. Calls add dimension and texture.
- Decide what type of calls you’d like from your topic before you go on the air. Ask yourself, if I could choose the calls I get, what type of things would I want to hear on the show? This will help you identify whether the topic will be broad enough and have enough angles to it. You need lots of variety in the calls you get. There is nothing compelling about the same type of call repeatedly.
- When talking to the caller your role is to ask questions and support them in telling their story - keep creating space for them to be the star. Your role is to be the supporting actor.
- Look for angles to develop the topic beyond the initial question. You can start with one question “what did your ex do to ruin your wedding?” And then during the topic you may change gears and pose the question “has anyone ever said anything and stopped a wedding by answering the priest when they say “if there is a reason why these two should not be married…”real conversation doesn’t stay in the same place it evolves in the direction of natural curiosity.
- More than one caller per break. One caller per break doesn’t convey the energy you are looking for. Always aim for at least two per break.
- It can often help create momentum by having a caller ready to air in the set-up break.
- When airing multiple calls in a break start with the best caller. Our instinct says to hold back the best caller to the end but that isn’t smart. Use it first to keep the listener engaged.
- Use the caller’s name. Not “hi who is this…” but like you already know…“Doug, tell us about the time…”
- Get into the story and remove pleasantries from the start of a call. No need for “Hi how are you this morning…” instead “Jane, you had a terrifying experience at a theme park…what happened?”
- Variety in how you execute the interaction can keep your show sounding fresh. You don’t always have to do it in the same way. In fact, you shouldn’t. It doesn’t need to be a set up break followed by calls in the next break. You can ask a question, but you could also challenge the audience (“I bet there is no one listening…” or “prove me wrong….” Or “change my mind by telling me your story….”). You can use a caller to set up a dilemma and then react and respond to the dilemma. You can use callers to help you decide (“We’ll take 5 calls and go with the majority”). We encourage shows to think about both the question they are asking and how best to execute that on the air.
- Move on from the topic when calls start to become repetitive, or the steam is running out of the topic. Most shows keep going with a topic with nothing new or interesting being introduced.
We hope those few tips help you get started. If you have other ideas or want some input, then drop me an email pk@paulkaye.co
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