He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ Psalm 46:10 NIV
We’ve heard the mandate for our radio stations and programs, “No Dead Air!” And it’s good advice . . . if the silence is not purposeful. But what if the silence is purposeful? Focused on blessing and loving?
Your listener is busy, distracted, hurting. In our research with Christian radio listeners across the country, we continue to hear that she comes to us for spiritual encouragement. An uplifting in the middle of her day. And for calm.
Sometimes this can happen with silence. Pauses in the right places. Time to reflect on the profoundness of what was just said or played. For this, think seconds, not minutes.
An example: This Super Bowl commercial from 2013 was the second highest rated by viewers to that year’s game. Notice the silence at the beginning . . . and especially at the end.
Eight seconds at the beginning. Twelve seconds at the end. Right in the middle of a noisy, chaotic game. Many fans had never heard of the speaker because he had died years earlier. And yet, they loved this commercial.
Super Bowl ads that year ran $3,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s $100,000 per second. That means Dodge Ram paid about $2,000,000 for the silence!
Certainly, it caused many viewers to stop, and lean in . . . and soak in the silence. Time to think. Dry a tear. Maybe even time to pray.
Our Action Point from this example is this: Coach your people to pause . . . in the right places…for better impact. On purpose. Fully prepared. Confident.
In a world that is relentlessly running, your Christian radio listener will more likely lean in if you do.
This is an area where we can help. Talent Coaching from experienced, affirming coaches is one of our specialties. Contact me at chuck@finneymedia.com if you’d like to know more.
