• The material is too dry or dull.

• The spot lacks a local angle

• The tone of the spot does not "blend" with the station's format.

• The tapes submitted are not up to the standards of technical qual­ity required by the station.

The All-Important Opening

You must be cautioned against load­ing the opening sentence of a radio spot with specific names, facts, or figures. That's because radio listeners get the "index" for an item from the opening sentence. That is, they find out what the topic is, and they get the sense of why the story is important, and to whom. Then, with their attention raised, they are ready to absorb specific data. The print release might open with an information-packed lead.

Make sure to read your releases out loud, with feeling. If they are ver­bose and flat, rewrite until you feel comfortable reading the words with enthusiasm.

Live Announcer or Taped Spot?

If you have a very small budget, you may only be able to prepare a news release that you hope will be used on the radio. If you have a budget big enough to buy radio time, but not to do creative work, you may choose to write a script for the radio announcer or "talent" (deejay or program host) to read during the commercial segment of programming. If you're on the borderline—that is, if you decide that you might be able to tape your own spots—here are some of the considerations for making the decision.

In Favor of Using the Live Announcer for "Talent" The station person­nel have credibility with their listeners. When the regular program announcer or talent reads a spot, it blends into the rest of the programming and thus is harder for the regular listener to "tune out." The reader may also become enthusi­astic about the spot and add his or her own endorsement. One more plus: if the situation dictates that changes have to be made in a spot, it's easy to call the station and change a sentence in the announcer script.

Drawbacks of Using the Live Announcer An uninterested or dis­tracted announcer or talent can give your script a lackluster reading. The pace may be off. The personality of the reader simply may not match the content or style of the spot. Goofs in pronunciation or emphasis may destroy the meaning or the rhythm of the script. (Of course, if any of these problems is pronounced and you have paid for the commercial time, you can demand a "make-good" to assure that the spot is aired properly at a later time.)

Selecting Production Values

If you do have a full budget and you decide to produce your own spots for distribution on tape, you will want to hire a production firm to cre­ate the product for you. Some production firms merely facilitate the technical production of the tapes, with your department or agency providing the script, talent, and direction. Full-service firms will work with you to develop a concept, produce a script, and take care of all facets of direction and production.

Whether you are a full-service client or your own producer, it helps to know about the script and production values that will make your ra­dio spot interesting, memorable, and persuasive to the listener.

Stylistic Devices include:

• Humorous dialog. The device here is that one person is the foil for the other. Usually one character is uninformed in a silly or embarrassing way, and the other person—often exasperated or even condescending—sets the dummy straight by providing the needed information.