How Morning Shows Can ‘Talk’ About The Prez Debates

Consultant Randy Lane offers ideas for music station morning shows to ‘tie-in’ to the Presidential Debates.  First one is Wednesday 10/3:

• The American Presidential debates are next week. Challenge your team to find a way to talk about it in the style of your show. Here’s a checklist of ideas to help you get started (focusing on quantity, not quality, for thought starters – no judging!):

• Bill Jordan from WRAL noticed that this election is all about percentages. 47%...98%...1%  Come up with your own funny percentages.

• Find listeners who have one Democrat and one Republican in the relationship. Ask them how they watch the debates, or challenge them to a game.

• Bring in a stand-up comedian to say what you can’t.

• Replay clips from late-night monologues, Jon Stewart, etc.

• Get audio of kids or really old people talking about the hot topic.

• Play “Guess the Debater” and replay clips of blunders and gaffes from previous debates (Rick Perry, for example).

• Create a parody of some kind – a photo, video or song.

• Put a twist on a benchmark you already do. “Battle of the Sexes” becomes Donkeys vs. Elephants or Democrats vs. Republicans for a day.

• Create a Facebook or phone topic along the lines of “My ex [or ex’s family/or in-laws/or even parents!] was so [liberal/conservative] that __________.”

• Play a trivia game about all the actors that have played presidents in movies (Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, that guy from 24, etc.). Play audio clips or have listeners match the movie or show to the actor.

• Presidential Spelling Bee: Have listeners spell politician’s names. D-U-K-A-K-I-S. Always funny.

• Do a “Jay Walking” type segment asking people on the street what they know about the election or even 6th grade civics – branches of government, electoral colleges, etc. 

• Create your own platform. Or for veteran, character-driven shows, ask listeners which one of the show players they’d be most likely to vote for.

• The Bert Show, Q100/Atlanta, Syndicated, had two eighth graders, one with Republican and one with Democratic parents, review the debate performance the next morning.

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