Why You Should Not Tease
Most successful radio, podcast and television shows keep audiences tuned in longer by teasing what is coming next.
However, we sometimes encounter arguments – usually from management — against teasing.
Here are some of the most common objections to teasing and our take on each.
It frustrates the audience. Yes — just like Christmas morning frustrates a child who wants to open presents early. The suspense is part of the fun.
People expect immediate gratification. Just do it now. People also like being informed when something great is coming up so they don’t miss it.
People Google your tease before you can pay off.
- They cannot Google a personal story from you, your partners, guests or caller’s real lives.
- They cannot Google a fun-to-listen-to interactive game.
- No one can Google while driving.
- People can search for news stories at home or work, but expert hosts prevent that by leaving certain details out of the tease.
Teasing will not keep busy listeners from tuning out. They may tune out to begin work or pick up kids, but teasing is an effective reinforcement that brands your show as always having something entertaining coming up.
It is true that there are a few long-running shows that eventually became successful with minimal teasing. But our experience is that shows build audience faster and keep it more steadily by teasing killer content consistently and with detail.
Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash
