Creating Emotion On The Air

...Article by Tracy for Radio & Records Magazine In our ever-changing radio world consumed with consolidation, format micro-targeting and corporate strategies designed to garner overall market share through defensive programming approaches, the screams of programmers and air talent are echoing through our industry that the fun is gone. For sure, radio has changed forever. In even the smallest of markets, major companies wield more advanced tools, greater expertise and higher standards to raise the competitive bar. . Technological advances make it possible for even the smallest markets to employ major market talent. Meanwhile, increased competition from peripheral media sources (satellite, internet, etc.) loom on the horizon, threatening to expand listener choices beyond our wildest imagination. In fact, personalized radio formats custom designed for individuals are not far away. What have we gained? While the listener is challenged to sort through the options, radio programming has become a collection of duplicated formats, packaged and copied from market to market. And recent research indicates listeners are responding by finding other ways to be entertained. Radios future hinges on our ability to make our stations more important to a public that is losing interest. Will we continue to lose market share to other entertainment forms the way Network TV fell victim to Cable Television? How can we survive? In a recent industry publication, WPLJs Scott Shannon said, The answer is to be local, be local be local. You have to get more involved with your community and your listeners than ever before. As we move into the new media landscape, the local morning shows are going to be even more important than they are now. Taking Scotts comment one step further, the answer is to reach your local audience on an emotional level. Its not about being funnier or more outrageous. Someone else will always be funnier, or more outrageous. Its not about being focused. Someone will always be more narrowly targeted. Your format wont set you apart when listener attention spans are shorter than ever. To protect your station from becoming obsolete, you must cut through the brain clutter and find a way to reach your listeners on an emotional level. Emotions create passion. Passion creates loyalty to your station. Loyalty produces ratings! There is a whole new level of communicating with your listeners, and the rules of programming simply dont apply. Its a communication concept that has been embraced by the producers of Survivor. What It Takes To Create Emotion 1. Forget everything you learned in DJ school. Or PD School or GM School. Creating emotional moments on the air requires the unique ability to evaluate your station through the eyes & ears of your audience. Formatics, liners, hot clocks and promos are surely important elements to your programming, but perfect music rotations dont communicate to your audiences emotions. Your 10 in a row clocks wont stimulate listeners to action. You must be willing to break the rules and take chances. Itll be uncomfortable, but its essential if you are going to explore areas youve never been to before 2. Adjust your objectives. Creating emotional moments will never have a cause-and-effect impact on your next quarters ratings. Over time, it will pay off by cementing the bond between station and listener, and that produces returns quarter after quarter. 3. Know your listener and what is happening in their lives. Creating an emotional bond with your listener isnt that complicated, but it is difficult. It starts with having an intimate knowledge of the listener, their point of view and a strong sense of how passionately they can be expected to respond (with prodding). Steve Dahl will always be remembered for a classic 1978 stunt that incited thousands of Chicago listeners to join him in blowing up disco records at a White Sox game. He correctly tapped into his listeners disapproving attitude toward disco (the zenith of the disco backlash), and, through intense focus and taking some chances, Dahl incited listeners on the air to rally with him. The result was a legendary radio event that is talked about 22 years later! 4. Create Drama. When you capture the listeners imagination and appeal to their emotions, you create cant miss moments on the air. The highest compliment that can be paid to a radio station or personality is to hear from a listener that they were late for an appointment because they had to sit in their car for 10 minutes to find out what was going to happen next. When your audience feels that they have a personal stake in your story, they wont tune out. These moments happen when you create expectation and anticipation. One of the many reasons Survivor is so successful is how the producers have developed characters from their castaways. The audience feels like they know these contestants, and each episode builds toward the Tribal Council meeting where someone is booted from the island. They hook you with the character development in the first part of the show, and youll re-arrange your life rather than miss that final 15 minutes and the moment when its revealed who gets the boot. Create dramatic moments of anticipation in your programming, then point all your promotional messages toward building those moments. A few years ago, we were faced with a challenge of finding a creative (new) way to give away a Ford Explorer for a car dealer. Instead of resorting to the winning key idea, we put two of our personalities (Jeff Elliott and Greg Simms) in the car, filled it with gas and sent them off on Jeff and Gregs Excellent Adventure. They drove the Californias picturesque Pacific Coast Highway until the car ran out of gas, broadcasting live via cell phone all day long. The listener who guessed the city and exact mileage on the car when it ran out won the Explorer. A simple contest, but it was loaded with drama as Greg and Jeff told the story of their road trip and listeners participated vicariously through their experiences (Greg even threw up from too much junk food, but thats another story) and listened and waited as the Explorer chugged to a stop just north of San Luis Obispo. 5. Make It Tangible, Personal and Real. Causing a listener to invest their emotions is impossible unless you can make it accessible to them, and believable. Flip around the dial and youll hear countless promotions for walk-a-thons, fund raisers for various causes and blood drives for public service agencies. All are well meaning, important and deserving. But you rarely find one that is effective. The fall short of getting to the personal, emotional level. Most stations waste their time as sponsors of a charity event. If you want to make an impact, you have to get personal. What has more impact....a canned food drive to donate to the hungry, or your morning show living life on the street as a homeless person for a week, taking your audience through the daily challenges and hardships of what its like to be homeless and hungry? Which would create a greater response in donations AND in making you unforgettable? Many stations help Make A Wish raise money to grant the wishes of critically ill children. At Star, we interview the children, the families, the friends and the volunteers about every aspect of the program. Hearing an 8 year old kid on the air wondering why their friend is always too sick to play with them, and whether theyll ever be able to play again tugs the heart and creates a powerful, emotional reaction. Its one thing to set a goal of raising $50,000 for the cause, but its more tangible, personal and actionable when you ask listeners to help a specific child. Put a face on the cause and you increase the responses. 6. Be Relentless. Creating emotion will require that you put everything you have into it. Ignore your competition. Dont worry if theyre giving away more money than you are. Maintain a single focus on impacting your audiences senses. Basic Emotions To Target You can be successful appealing to any emotion, but some are easier to target than others. In many cases, its possible to stimulate a response from more than one emotion with the same concept, or story. Greed: One of the easiest emotions to appeal to, greed is a basic human emotion that stretches much further than the desire to acquire money or stuff. Did you know that the basic driving force of those who watch game shows on TV is to feel superior to the contestants or those with whom they are viewing? The vicarious participation through the contestants satisfies their ego and makes them feel fulfilled. The recent success of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire shows how a simple concept can capture the publics imagination by appealing to their greed. Fear: After the Columbine shootings, did your station make an impact in your community by letting high school students or parents talk about their thoughts, their feelings, their fears, their emotions? Most PDs and air personalities have been taught that we should not deal with anything negative on the air. Dealing with the real world concerns of your listeners is uncomfortable. Break the rules! Anger: Im Mad As Hell and Im Not Gonna Take It Anymore is an empowering line from a popular movie, and the theme of many talk shows today. It can be a powerful approach for some personalities. When the public is sick and tired of a situation, give them an outlet to express their feelings. Let them sound off and lead the charge to fight back. Sadness/Grief: Many stations miss opportunities to reach out to their listeners because they dont know how to express emotion when tragedy occurs. Ive even heard shows that have said they didnt deal with John Kennedy Jr.s plane crash because it was a downer, and were a bright, happy morning show. Thats the tragedy. The very thing that everyone was talking about was not being reflected on the air, and listeners had to go elsewhere to share an emotion. Jeff & Jer have a motto that When things are bad, we have to be really good. Listeners want an outlet. Give them the opportunity to react, and make it easy for them, and they will love you for it. There are dozens of examples of relief efforts for victims of natural tragedies like earthquakes, bombings or floods. Many stations have helped families that have lost their homes to fires or tornadoes. But most stations dont make it personal. In January, 1999, Jeff & Jer received a phone call from a sobbing woman named Becky. She told her story about being a victim of domestic abuse, which led to more stories from others in the same situation and a very uncomfortable-and out of character-morning show. Listeners responded, and in the process, convinced her to leave her abusive boyfriend. A few days later, sadness, tears and grief turned to celebration when Becky had started a new life, and Star 100.7 launched a campaign to build a transitional shelter for victims of domestic abuse. This fall, Beckys House will be completed, and its all because we were bold enough to create a personal, emotional moment with an uncomfortable topic. Sympathy/Empathy: Many stations have conducted successful Christmas Wish campaigns, where they grant the wish of someone in a difficult situation. If you can evoke feelings of sympathy in your listeners, it can be a powerful feel good for your station. If youre alert, you can find these moments throughout the year. A few years ago, a puppy was caught in traffic on a busy San Diego bridge. The puppy was severely injured when she fell from the bridge on the roof of a building. One of our personalities adopted the dog, arranged for her surgery and nursed her back to health. Since the dog required constant supervision for several months, she came to the station every day, came to promotions and appearances and became a station mascot. Five years later, listeners still ask how the dog is doing. Its one of the things were known for to this day. When soliciting the sympathy emotion, be specific. Instead of the WXXX Toy Drive make it the Bicycle Drive. This leads to more specific, distinct and emotional stories. Talking about collecting toys for charity isnt nearly as emotional as talking about what its like to get a new bike for Christmas, and some kids just wont be able to get one. Tell the story the right way, use your imagination, brainstorm and make it specifically meaningful to your community. Celebration/Pride: Your radio station is in the best position to capture the excitement when something extraordinary happens in your community. When your local sports team wins a championship, be the teams biggest cheerleader! Capture the moment and the celebration by standing out from the rest. In 1994, Jeff & Jer used 20,000 listeners to form a human bolt to celebrate the Chargers first ever AFC Championship! Dont settle for a Show us your team spirit or Whats the most outrageous thing you would do for tickets contests. Do something memorable, special and truly over-the-top. It doesnt have to be a major event to celebrate with your listeners. Some of the best moments are personal, and build long-lasting equity. Last year, Star 100.7 personality Laura Cain discovered her unexpected pregnancy by taking a test on the air. She then told her husband live, with hundreds of thousands of listeners eavesdropping on the conversation. Our listeners were able to share the experience and participate with Lauras emotions as she experienced them herself. What Will YOU Do Now? The best way to start creating emotional radio, is to start DOING it. Start slowly by working with your personalities to be real people on the air. Take some chances. Give them room to express their emotions and help them tell a story to create dramatic, emotional moments. Think outside the box. Brainstorm. Work with all members of your team to take advantage of every opportunity to appeal to your audiences primal emotions. The time is now. Survivor, Big Brother, and the next example of Voyeuristic TV shows are attracting listeners imagination. In addition of talking about what happened on Survivor last week, create your own emotional story that your audience cant turn off. But whatever you do.start NOW. If you dont do something to keep them glued to your station, you will lose them! Here are some guidelines that will help you in your quest to create memorable moments on the air: 1. Keep the concept simple. Whether its a community service project, a station promotion, a morning show bit or a promo campaign , your story must be easy to tell and remember. Remember the KISS principle (Keep it simple, stupid). 2. Say the same thing in many ways. Appealing to emotions requires that you repeatedly stir the same emotion through various messages. Focus your attention and take advantage of the principles of Concentration of Force. 3. Approach the story from many angles. While the essentials of your story must be easy to tell and re-tell, you need depth in telling that story from many different angles. For Star100.7, our story for Beckys House is simple. Were building a transitional shelter to provide relief for victims of domestic abuse. But there are dozens of angles we utilize to tell that story. The various angles keep the story fresh and sustainable, while still driving toward the same emotional connection. 4. Repetition produces perceived importance. There is a momentum curve that begins with tremendous effort and time to hook your audience. Its like pushing a large boulder up a steep hill. With persistence, you reach the top. Then, when it starts down the other side, your job is to direct its path and keep from letting it get out of control. Make it everything you do! 5. Production value is essential. Use music, themes, personalities and listeners to give the element emphasis and make it exciting. 6. Your station must be willing to take some risks, be vulnerable and fly without a net. You must be alert to change plans and direction during the event. Your personalities must be willing to demonstrate their emotions. One of the most powerful moments on the air happens when your personalities experience emotions WITH your audience. 7. Emotional radio is an investment. Once you make a commitment, there is no turning back! 8. Be sincere (or at least very good at faking it). Listeners will see through you if youre fake 9. Be relentless---dont give up. It takes multiple impressions to impact a listener. Your efforts of communication are wasted until you finally penetrate the listeners level of awareness. They have to fully understand it, then embrace it. Only then can you impact them emotionally and capitalize on their passion. 10. Support it with marketing. Use every opportunity to tell your story and connect with listeners. 11. Make it easy for the audience to participate. First, create a story. Then, create a forum to involve your listener. Most listeners want to participate, but you have to make it easy for them to invest their emotions. 12. If you are dealing with controversial topics, get involved with the controversy, but dont BE the controversy. Its okay to take a stance, a position, a point of view. But stop short of becoming the focus of the topic. 13. Exaggerate. Oversell your point, but be sure its believable. Take a personal stake in the story. It will transfer to the audience. But be careful: there is a delicate balance between being self-indulgent and personal and relevant. 14. Creating a response in listeners may make people feel uncomfortable. Play upon their sense of empathy, concern, anger, etc. It doesnt matter if you make them laugh, make them cry or make them angry....as long as you stir it up! 15. The attraction is the entertainment, not the prize. Do you even care that the ultimate winner of Survivor gets $1million? Thats the incentive, but its not why you watch! 16. Believe in what you are doing, and sell it to your staff. You must use salesmanship to get a full commitment.