Tracy Johnson “Dead Ends Kill Your Stories”

Dead ends are never a good thing. The only solution is to turn around and return because moving forward is impossible. It’s a nightmare for travelers, but it also happens on the radio. The problem is when listeners are annoyed, you never find out. They tune out, and you’re still driving aimlessly. Fortunately, dead ends can be avoided if you are alert to it and work on adjusting your performance.

Dead Ends

Dead ends are comments that make it difficult to continue moving in a direction. They occur most often when a cast member answers a rhetorical question rather than advancing the storyline.

Here’s an example:

Host: This is a wonderful day. 

Co-host: Yep. I agree. It’s really good.

The host is setting up a discussion with a rhetorical question, but the cohost doesn’t pick up on it. Instead of adding to the conversation, she puts up a dead-end barrier. She agrees but doesn’t say anything useful. There’s nowhere to go with that comment.

Here’s how to avoid the dead end and advance the storyline:

There are so many things to be grateful for if you just pay attention. Tell me, what is the #1 thing that make’s this a great day for you? 

Poor Questions

Dead ends also happen when questions are poorly formed. It would be best always to present open rather than closed questions. Closed questions are a dead end. Here are examples.

Do you agree with the President’s decision?

The only possible answer is yes or no. It’s closed to interesting conversations and stories.

How would you like to win tickets to Saturday night’s concert?

Yes, of course, I would. What a ridiculous closed question. Or, “No I’m not interested. It’s not for me. Thanks for saving me time. I can stop paying attention.”

Do you think the Cowboys will win the game tonight?

Again, yes or no. This doesn’t engage a cohost or an audience.

Even a response doesn’t move entertainment forward. Here are open-ended questions that lead to a more exciting response and can encourage stories:

What would you do if you were the President?

A stranger just handed you two tickets to Saturday’s concert. Who are you taking with you?

What are the keys to the Cowboys winning tonight?

It’s easy to see how these inspire more interesting responses, isn’t it? Rephrasing your comment avoids dead ends. Rephrasing the comment opens the door for more engaging conversations.

How to Avoid Dead Ends

First, learn to identify when and why they happen:

Too Many Punchlines: When personalities go for an extra punchline, momentum is destroyed. Sometimes, a second (or third) punchline is fine. But when a break reaches a high point, and the show doesn’t stop, it’s like slamming into a brick wall at 100 mph.

Phone Calls: Air talent loves to put phone calls on the air, and it’s a great idea if the caller adds to the conversation or has a story. However, the listener can be a dead end when a caller doesn’t move the storyline forward. Some personalities shrug their shoulders, but everything on the show impacts your listener. Take responsibility to ensure callers sound great.

Storytelling Fails: Team shows face unique challenges to stay on track. The biggest fail is teams that want a spontaneous response from cohosts. When personalities have no idea where a break is going, they often slam the segment into a wall with an irrelevant comment or off-course story.

Too Many Details: Talk segments come to a screeching halt when details don’t advance the story’s premise. Descriptive, colorful details are essential but the wrong details cause a story to bog down.

Conclusion

Dead ends are the end of the road. There’s nowhere to go. Listeners tune out and try to avoid that road again! That, of course, is very bad. It happens often on team shows, but is also an issue for solo performers. Work on avoiding dead ends in phone conversations and when engaging the audience in conversational banter.

Like most things, greater preparation and attention to crafting open-ended responses will lead to solutions for avoiding dead ends. Review and analyze your performances (airchecks) and work on crafting open-ended responses.

Recognized as one of the world’s best talent coaches and consultants, Tracy has been a creative inspiration to thousands of talented radio personalities and programmers to attract, retain, and lead a passionate fan base. He’s also been instrumental in developing Radio Content Pro Spirit, which leverages the power of AI to inspire creativity on-air, online, and on social media for Christian Radio. Reach Tracy at tracy@tjohnsonmediagroup.com