Talk  Radio  Success

US  vs  Europe

“If  you  speak  into  any  microphone  anywhere  

and  you  want  to  draw  a  crowd

this  is  for  you...”

The  CrowdBasics

Secret  Sauce

The  CrowdBasics

Secret  Sauce

Polly

Poland’s  Parliment

1,000,000  Immigrants

“Wait  a  minute...”

They  got  curious.    And  their  willingness  to  follow  that  curiosity  changed  the  world,  in  ways  big  and  small.

Drawing  a  Crowd

The  CrowdBasics

Secret  Sauce

Example:  Bill  Handel/Los  Angeles

InformativeMake  something  make  sense.    Explain  things.    Put  the  story  in  perspective.

You  say:‘Here’s  the  thing...’

Your  listener  says:‘WOW  I  had  no  idea...’

Entertaining

Your  listener  says:

‘I  can’t  believe  she’s  just  saying  that  on  the  radio!’

You  say  out  loud  what  other  people  are  thinking  and  not  saying.

Example:  Gilles  Tessier/ParisRebecca  is  with  us.    Rebecca,  please  tell  us  what  you  tried  to  do.

I  tried  to  poison  my  stepfather.  Because  my  mother  leB  my  dad  to  go  to  live  with  him.  And  I  can't  stand  it.  I  can't  stand  that  my  mother  wants  to  make  her  life  with  him.

OK.  When  did  it  start,  this  story.

5  years  ago.  I  was  16  when  it  happened.  And  4  months  ago,  I  tried  to  poison  him.

How  did  you  do  it?

One  morning  I  put  something  in  his  coffee.

What  substance?

Mercury

Oula!    So  you  researched  this  first?    Looked  it  up  on  the  internet?In  fact  I  was  at  my  real  father’s  house  and  took  some  random  thing  because  I  knew  it  was  dangerous.      That’s  it.

So,  be  careful  of  what  you  can  keep  in  your  wardrobe  when  you  have  teens  at  home  and  when  your  woman  leB  you  for  someone  else  because,  as  you  can  see  it  can  be  used  in  some  ways  that  you  could  not  imagine.

The  CrowdBasics

Secret  Sauce

If  you  hook  them  in  less  than  30  seconds,  they  stay  for  the  whole  segment.    

Don’t  grab  them,  and  they  come  and  go  with  or  without  changing  the  station.  

30  Seconds

Example:  Alejandro  Villalvazo/MexicoBars!    We’re  going  to  just  say  it  like  that!    Could  you  ever  have  imagined??

No  one  would  have  ever  imagined,  ever  thought  that  they’d  see  huge  fall  of  a  monster  like  Elba  Esther  Gordillo.

We  never  thought  we’d  be  saying  the  words,  giving  the  news:    “In  jail,  Elba  Esther  Gordillo”.

A  very  powerful  woman.    A  woman  who  for  more  than  20  years  enjoyed  the  riches  of  power,  thanks  to  her  labor  union.    A  labor  union  that  had  close  rela`ons  with  past  presidents.    

A  woman  who  liked  to  show  off,  no?.    A  woman  who  hid  none  of  it,  wasn’t  afraid  to  be  seen  with  the  best  clothing,  the  best  shoes,  the  best  bags.        And  her  surgeries,  and  her  homes!  She  never  hid  any  of  it.    Ever!

And  today,  she  is  in  jail.

Speak  FranklyBe  respectful,  but  be  clear  in  saying  what  you  believe,  and  in  showing  your  disbelief.

Example:  James  Whale/LondonFrom  what  I  can  remember  from  my  school  days  Christ  wanted  everybody  to  sort  of  give  away  all  their  finery  and  everything  else.        

Well  James  the  Kingdom  of  God  has  to  be  financed  just  like  every  other  kingdom.  You  can’t  survive  without  money.    

Aaaaah,  right.    OK...

So  we’re  not  sort  of  flaun`ng  our  wealth.    

No,  no  I  must  have  misunderstood  that  obviously...

And  as  for  the  sort  of  “finery”  as  you  call  it,  if  we  go  back  to  the  old  testament,  when  God  entrusted  the  building  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  to  Solomon,  the  highest  specifica`ons  were  used.

Nothing  was  too  good  or  too  beau`ful  to  use  in  the  service  of  God

And  the  vestments  whatever  we  use,  the  gold  and  silver  plate  that  we  use  at  the  mass...

Why  has  the  Catholic  Church  held  on  to  all  this  finery,  all  this  money,  all  this  gold,  all  this  treasure?

I  mean  why  do  they  surround  themselves  with  this?

these  are  signs  of  affec`on,  love,  and  adora`on  for  God.    

CallsTheir  only  value  is  to  make  you  look  good.

They  cause  you  to  react  and  be  funnier  or  be  more  informative.

Keep  them  short,  have  a  call  screener  direct  them.

Be  prepared  to  laugh  at  yourself

Look  for  the  absurd

Have  just  enough  fearlessness  

Sense  of  Humor

Example:  Jon  Stewart/New  York

Interviews  are  like  calls.    You  are  turning  your  show  over  to  amateurs.    

Interviews

Get  to  the  good  stuff  in  the  first  few  seconds

Interview  victims,  witnesses,  owners.        

Example:  Peter  Tilden/Los  AngelesYou’re  one  of  thirty-­‐three  Golden  Gate  Bridge  jump  survivors.    Is  that  number  s=ll  correct?That  number  is  correct

And  less  than  2%  of  the  people  who  survived  the  jump  have  even  regained  full  mobility.    Are  you  100%?  

I’m  100%  I  just  get  a  lot  of  back  pain.    

So  you  drove  to  the  bridge.    By  yourself?Actually  I  took  a  bus  there.

Wow  so  the  bus  stops  and  you  get  off  at  the  Golden  Gate  Bridge....And  I  walk  toward  the  span  of  the  bridge.    I  walked  on  the  bridge  anywhere  between  30  and  40  minutes  crying,  sobbing,  tears,  waterfalls  out  of  my  eyes.

And  this  woman  approached  me.    And  I  thought  she  was  going  to  ask  me  if  I  was  OK.    I  thought    she  was  going  to  be  my  savior.  And  instead  she  said  in  some  kind  of  European  accent,  “will  you  take  my  picture”.    

So  is  that  when  you  went,  right  aSer  the  photo?Right  aSer  the  photo  she  walked  away,  I  thought  nobody  cares,  and  I  threw  myself  over  the  rail.    

So  then  what  happens?The  millisecond  of  freefall.    I  said  “what  have  I  just  done??”

Did  it  feel  like  an  eternity  un=l  you  hit  the  water?Oh  my  God  it  was  so  fast.  What  happens  is  you  are  shocked  into  reality.  You  realize  you  did  not  want  to  die  but  now  you’re  going  to  and  now  there  is  nothing  you  can  do  to  turn  it  back.  

Explain.Have  humor.Be  curious.Be  fearless.