Psa: 30 seconds

SFX: Health club: clanging weights, huffing and puffing, aerobics music, and instructor in background.

1st Man: So tell me, Fred, why aren't you signed up to donate blood next week with the rest of us at the health club?

2nd Man: (Nervous) I ... I don't know. I just don't know if ...

1st Man: It's easy and almost painless. And it takes less time than a good workout.

2nd Man: But I'm not sure if it's completely safe. You know . . .

1st Man: Believe me, it's safe. They take all the precautions. I should know, I've been giving regularly for all these years.

2nd Man: Well, okay, but I . . .

1st Man: If not you, who. Big Guy?

ANNCR: Everybody has an excuse for not giving blood. But how can you use those excuses when your neighbors, friends . . . and your own family are counting on you? Think of donating blood as part of your physical fitness and well-being. This message brought to you by the Ameri­can Red Cross in cooperation with this station.

• Monolog. Can be humorous or not, depending on the appropriateness to the subject matter. This device lends itself well to health information campaigns and other touchy subjects. A variation, of course, is the celebrity spot, in which a well-known spokesperson talks to the audience.

PSA: 30 seconds

SFX: Health club: clanging weights, huffing and puffing, aerobics music, and instructor in background.

Talent: I really like my workouts here at the club. I can see the improvement in my health and my outlook on life. I feel like I can face any of life's challenges when I'm in shape. That's why I felt funny when I kept finding ex­cuses for not donating blood here at the club: too busy . . . whatever. But that's changed now. Once I became a blood donor, I realized that it was the most impor­tant part of my routine: helping others to a healthier life . . . and maybe even helping myself.

ANNCR: Everybody has an excuse for not giving blood. But how can you use those excuses when your neighbors, friends . . . and your own family are counting on you? Think of donating blood as part of your physical fitness and well-being. This message brought to you by the Ameri­can Red Cross in cooperation with this station.

• Announcer copy. As discussed above, this may be as effective as more expensive and fully produced styles of presentation.

ANNCR: Today the Red Cross Bloodmobile will visit the Ford Motor Company plant in Edison. Employees and family members will find it in the south parking lot from 8 a.m. until 2:30 in the afternoon. If you have Type 0 blood, your donation is especially urgent. Help alleviate the critical shortage in our Tri-County area. Donate today!

Visualization Devices help the audience for the audio medium to Imagine and visualize what is going on. Some argue that radio can be more effective than television because each listener projects the kind of characters and speakers that appeal to him or her on the voices and sounds heard over the radio. Some visualization devices are:

• Character voices. Ethnics, young, old, stereotypes, authoritative announcers, gender roles, etc.

• Music. May set the scene (New York Street, wedding) or the mood (romantic, hectic, outdoors) and may recall happy or un­happy situations.

• Sound effects. Subways, busy restaurants, construction sites, of­fice settings, kitchens, and the great outdoors all can be sug­gested by brief sounds or a continuing blend of background noises.

• Cue words in the copy. (Shakespeare, whose actors did not wear costumes as they performed on bare stages, was good at this.)

"Why are you wearing that loud plaid tie, Hubert?"

"I never –thought I’d see you in a red sports car."

"Don't you know you can't put those newspapers in the trash?" All of these sentences carry words or phrases that help us visualize the setting and the action, even though we are only hearing words produced by voices.

Memory Devices help us retain information while listening to radio, a medium from which clippings cannot be made at one's leisure. Examples:

• Repetition. "What was that number again, Floyd? One more time!"

• Exaggeration. "Monday used to mean laundry, but now it means recycling. Monday used to mean back to work, but now it's re­cycling. Monday is the most important day in my life: recycling day!" (Repetition is also used.)

• Jingles. "Put your worries away . . . ride the Metro today!"

• Forewarning. "In just a moment, I'm going to give you the num­ber that could save your life, the Heart LifeUne. While you're getting a pencil and paper, let me remind you that one out of five Americans will experience . . ."

• Humor involving a "dense" foil. "No, Hubie, I'm telling you for the last time, you've got to register to vote. And you have to do it by March 17. Can't you remember any number bigger than the number of fingers on your hand? It's March 17 if you want to be counted in the primary election."

You may have noted that many of these devices look silly on pa­per. But they work in radio because people retain simple, entertaining information.

Once the public relations department or agency has placed a story on a radio program or has paid for a series of spots on local radio, the ques­tion begins to nag: Will anybody be listening? The answer is yes, be­cause thousands of people are listening to radio at any hour of the day. The real question is: Will the radio program have the desired impact? There are things you can do to assure that it will.

If you have placed a spokesperson for your organization on a talk show or a public affairs program, use internal and external media to publicize the fact. Tell employees, stockholders, customers, and any other publics you reach through print media to listen. If you have paid for a series of spots promoting your organization's point of view, call at­tention to it with brief boxed items in your employee newsletters, on bulletin boards, in notices to stockholders, and even in small print ads on the page of radio and television listings in the local newspapers.

Remember, too, that the appearance of a spokesperson on a radio talk show or public affairs program is news. An advance story to local print news media can cover the information your spokesperson plans to present on the radio show. Have a print release ready to mail to trade and business publications as soon as the broadcast is over, outlining the points your spokesperson made.

CHECKLIST

• Broadcast Script

• Is the format suitable for the client's campaign material? Use humor, if appropriate, and it helps make the point. Use instructive dialog if it gets points across efficiently. Use monolog for serious subject and with celebrity spokespersons. Announcer copy may be most cost-effective and persuasive.

• Is the timing correct for the designated 30-second or 60-second spot? Provide several variations in different time formats.

• Does the opening get the listener's attention? Interesting sound effects, setting, or music. Situation that intrigues the listener. Relevance to the interests or problems of the listener.

• If the script uses an announcer, is the "tag" at the end effective? Summarizes the point of the script. Repeats important information. Tells listener where to get more information. Identifies the sponsoring organization.