By Beth Bacall, Sr. Talent Coach
Before starting our 9 a.m. practice, yoga instructor Amanda (30-something, married, 2 kids, dog and cat mom) says, “I was in my car parked at the ball field until 10:15 p.m. last night, reading, listening to the radio, and waiting for my sons to finish baseball practice.” I processed what time she was able to get her sons home and estimated what followed: the kids would need to eat, get ready for bed, finish any homework, maybe play a video game, and eventually fall asleep. So after a late practice and drive home, she would be feeding, directing, winding her own day down and realizing how many hours she would not have for sleep. And here we are together, so early in the morning. A different kind of practice and perspective for sure.
My kids are already graduated and past school, so this story is helpful for me to connect with our demo when I’m on-air or working with a coaching client. For example, I had no idea baseball practice had already started! I wondered what radio station she was listening to, then assumed it was my station so I could keep her picture in my prep.
This is one of my favorite content strategies: stay curious about others and their schedule. This allows insight and offers lifestyle pictures to paint on air. Every waiting room, sporting event, shopping experience and playground offers scenes to observe from real life that you can use as inspiration for relatable content.
Keying into what ‘she’ could be doing specifically during that day and time is another vital tactic, because how else will you be ready to speak to her? At 7 a.m. the Friday after Christmas is a lot different than the following Monday at 7 a.m. It’s not a 9 to 5 o’clock world any longer. At 1:00 p.m. she could be hopping on a Zoom call, filling her gas tank, picking up kids from school, taking her son to the orthodontist or a counselor, even planning a family member’s funeral. She might be waiting in a drive thru lane to pick up a prescription, or dry cleaning, or library books.
When prepping specifically for that day and on-air time, we might ask, “what are the top three things on my listeners mind, and mine?” Start your prep there and really consider that day and time. Your stories will come from these answers.
Listeners have the best stories. Sharing their encouraging stories, preferably local, matters all day long. Ask for them on the air and social media. Stories also come from the people on your team, whether they are on-air talent or not. When I do monthly planning calibrations with stations I’m coaching, I always ask that everyone at the station comes to the Zoom call, because it’s eye opening to hear their different views on life and content. On a recent call, my clients collected insight ranging from what the area farmers are dealing with, to the local ice cream shop that will open soon. Some staff members went to that ice cream store as little kids, others had never been. But they all have a sweet picture in their heads about what she might be looking forward to, too.
It’s all about life lived, then talked about in story form.
Read PART 1 in our series, The Importance of Listening to Your Listener.
