5 Things You Can Do Today To Be A Content Superhero - Chapter Two

Consumers' media consumption has changed and we want to give you tools on how you can adapt and thrive in this new world.

Welcome to Chapter Two of a five-part series called Content Superhero. We introduced the Content Superhero series a couple of years ago in conjunction with Tracy Johnson Media Group. The team here at Strategic feels now is the time to look at five key ways you can raise your game, engage listeners more and boost your ratings. As the seasons have changed, we want to encourage personalities to change the way they prepare for their shows and each talk break.

These findings we are sharing are the result of decades of moment-by-moment research of radio programs. Last month, we used Part One to look at the importance of a strong "hook" at the beginning of a talk. Just as TV does now, start with the hook before anything like the name of the feature or station. Focus on engaging the listener, because you only have seven seconds in which to do it.

Let's assume you've written a fantastic 'hook' and the listener has bought into the start of your content. Now what?

We find in our content research that once you hook a listener, he or she will give you 40 seconds and then re-evaluate their listening decision. You can call it the "itch cycle" if you want. The bottom line is at least every 40 seconds you need to include a new Chapter to the story.

The "40 Second Rule" helps keep your content moving forward.

This feature show below from one of our dial tests shows what can happen when there are new chapters continually through the content. Listeners' interest remains high and in fact higher than the average score of the music in the station's library. (shown by the horizontal red line)

These "chapters" do not happen by good luck or Disney magic. You need to plan them out in advance. If you want to script the whole feature out, there is nothing wrong with that. One discussion we hear from personalities is they feel like they are "selling out" if they do too much scripting of content. We could not disagree more.

In fact, why not record certain features or talk breaks? If that helps you provide the best content for listeners, then record the breaks. Viewers do not care that talk shows are not 'live.' They want engaging, entertaining content.

A television talk show host would never dream of walking out and hoping those 45 minutes turn out ok. Even the guests have had pre-interviews with producers, and most shows are recorded and edited.

Scripting and story boarding merely helps ensure that your content is the best it possibly can be. The days of opening up the mic and hoping it all turns out ok are OVER. Listeners want more, expect more, and get more with the myriad of audio choices out there. This is a great time to step up your game.

If you feel like you and your team cannot sound real when scripting, then storyboarding is ok, too. I encourage you to storyboard it in writing the day before, if possible. Rather than thinking about the bit in terms of beginning, middle and end, think it of as Hook, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc.

See that feature again with the chapters marked out:

Chapters of a story could be highlighting a news headline or an issue and each personalities commenting with their point of view. A listener call is another chapter. A new piece of information is a chapter, as well.

A valid chapter is not when you repeat the same point again or when you completely change the topic. Those are "off ramps" that cause listeners to tune out. We'll cover that in more depth in the coming weeks.

Try to visualize the entire break just like our EKG graph above and use your show prep time to map out how the break would go. This is a good idea to do even if you script it.

The type of preparation process may be different and/or more laborious than what you are currently doing. It may be uncomfortable at first, but it will make your content stronger. Give it a shot for a month and let me know how it goes.

Next month, Chapter Three will look more at storyboarding and what happens when you present "off-ramps" in your show.

Read Part 1 here.