Teasing Is Great: Guess What’s Better?

During a recent coaching session, the show host had an enlightening moment, realizing that teasing is the radio’s version of clickbait. Like its digital counterpart, teasing is a hook that draws listeners in.

Clickbait headlines (teases) use emotional and sensational language to get readers’ attention. We’ve all been victims of clicking that headline only to be disappointed or irritated by the misleading or uninteresting content.

Why does clickbait work? It arouses curiosity and sets up a mystery. Carnegie Mellon University professor George Lowenstein developed the Information Gap of Curiosity. His research found the human brain is wired to fill a gap of information when challenged with a mystery.

Examples:

• “What Mega-Celebrity Just Gave Their Famous Partner An Ultimatum? How Did It Play out?”
• “Three Financial Secrets Bankers Don’t Want You To Know.”
• “The Top 5 Foods You Should Never Eat – Number 3 Will Shock You

Most radio shows tease at least some upcoming content. Unfortunately, most of those teases do not arouse curiosity or entice the audience to listen to the next segment. They only name upcoming content like “Trending is coming up next.”

Radio and podcast shows can grab the audience’s attention and extend listening time by delivering clickbait-style teases. To maintain credibility and authenticity, plan captivating teases to set up a mystery you’ll resolve in an upcoming segment without misleading, disappointing, or annoying listeners.

7 Tips for Magnetic Teasing

1. Plan and write out teases in advance for every segment of your show. Teasing on the fly usually results in a generic, non-compelling tease.
    
2. Highlight the most alluring aspect of the content, which sets up a mystery.
    
3. Create FOMO by appealing to the listener’s desire to participate in the conversation and not miss out on something important or entertaining.
    
4. Pose questions. Asking intriguing questions gets the audience’s attention and prompts them to listen for the answers.
    
5. Team teases: One host sets up the tease, and the other fills in the details, more effectively holding the audience’s attention.
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6. Use a snippet in the tease when you have audio in an upcoming segment.
    
7. Use horizontal teases to get listeners to tune in for the next day’s show. Horizontal teases must be used sparingly for primary content, such as a big interview, major contest, or tantalizing character reveal.

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash