Phil Cooke spoke at the Academic Innovation Exchange at the National Religious Broadcasters in Nashville, TN, Feb. 6, 2009
These are notes from his presentation
Websites: Phil Cooke-philcooke.com & twcfilms.com
Sharing from the trenches:
How ideas are being put in to practice
Massive media revolution going on.
Book by Phil Cooke: The Last TV Evangelist
Open because we are always on. Past turn on and off as you want.
New paradigm - information comes to us. This generation does not understand search for information.
In the past - we watched what they sent to us.
Music, television, newspapers radio going down
Internet, gaming, going up
We have to work on multiple media levels.
Open media is a major paradigm shift -- millennial kids - Gen Y (16-28 years old) a significantly different set of kids. Kids today are "trophy kids" i.e. they get a trophy for everything... Also the first generation birthed in technology. There is a sense of entitlement with the capabilities of new technology, and they (Gen Y) want a voice.
Snapple ad - the commercial is part of an overall campaign - Traditional Media is losing its influence. More people are seeing spots online than are seeing it on television - Snickers commercial
Last year. The median age of the average TV viewer is over 50. Television is not the first screen for people under 50.
Media will be a mash-up; combining various elements to make something uniquely yours. Kids today don't care where the content comes from. The distinctions are not in the minds of users - content is what matters, not the delivery.
The Future is about "Niche" Media platforms-
Put aside "reaching the nations" we can reach a specific audience in our area with the message. We need to go to the audience we can best reach. By targeting a smaller audience, we can actually increase our audience by reaching the niche.
We need to stop trying to reach everybody, and instead reach those we are equipped to reach.
Engagement, not political power, is the way to shift the culture. It is not about the power of the majority, but rather the impact of a committed minority.
The world we live in: Facebook, twitter, myspace, blog
This generation does not differentiate between personal friend and virtual friends - this generation values virtual space over personal space. Teenagers in Korea are producing 94 cell phone calls a day. Gen y mediates relationship
Back to basics - it comes back to telling your story. Regardless of the technology or platform.
Google is not about search, it is about reputation management. Millennials are having difficulty getting jobs because of posted pictures and other stuff has come back to haunt them.
Effective media is based in good storytelling.
Conversations:
30-60 second commercials are dying.
Honda - The power of dreams
What about radio theatre? The Cult of Sincerity - independent film. Went through music downloading company and they got a sponsor. Web Serials.com make short films and installments over time through youtube. The playing field is even for the big and the small.
Radio is interesting and an interesting place to play this out.
There are Christians in Hollywood who are working to tell the good stories.
Alex Hendricks understands his audience - his purpose is not evangelism, it is to help Christians. Where he fails technically, he succeeds in knowing his audience.
Email address philcooke.com to get newsletter
Friday, February 6, 2009
These are notes from Valerie Geller's presentation at the Academic Innovation Exchange at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, TN, Feb. 6, 2009.
Valerie Geller - Creating Powerful Radio
Radio,
Pictures are now a part of radio with the internet. Understand that radio has better pictures because of the use of the imagination. You don't do radio, you do life; radio simply gets it out there.
Our job is to inform, entertain, persuade and connect people to life.
Three rules for radio
1. Tell the truth
2. Make it matter
3. Never be boring
How to accomplish following the three rules:
Speak Visually:
Speak visually as you speak. Brain science has shown us that men are visual. Women like the visual, but men need the visual. Women open up with emotion. Use both to touch the audience. Speak visually and connect with emotion.
There are no boring stories, only boring story-tellers. Telling the story, with the visual and the emotive, you can make someone care.
The ugly curse, everyone can talk therefore people think anyone can do it. We know it is not easy. We need to speak, communicate, with passion. Everyone can get better, let's lift up a level.
Brain science again, it takes 1000 times of repeated behavior to make it a habit--to rewire the brain. You have to work consistently to change a behavior.
If you speak visually, you will build listeners.
Start with your best material, Start strong
Think about your first date, what did you do? Listeners are very fickle,
Questions: Is it relevant, will it matter, does my audience care? Do I care?
Listeners hate the feeling of "Now another topic to fill my schedule."
Do you really care about it? If it matters to you…then you can work with it.
Story Tell Powerfully:
Less is more. We are oriented to story, we are tribal, story junkies. The key is that the storyteller knows me. Know your audience.
Example of short storytelling-- "For sale, baby shoes, never used"
Research: what people would always watch?
Health-safety
Heart-emotion, feeling
Pocketbook - money or power
Transformative topics
Fourth Category relevant to Christian Media - transformative topics, how your life can be better from something you have heard today.
Never let anything go too long.
Listen to your station
Ask: Why would someone want to hear this?
Hey Mom, guess what…
Before anything goes on-air, ask "so what?"
Address each listener individually, use "you."
Involve the listener. "Involve me and I'll understand."
The personal is universal, the private is boring. Talk it about it with using the word "you". Private is I, I, I, Me, Me, Me, Personal is universal and inclusive.
Be real; be willing to talk about what is going on. Human beings connect to truth and humanness.
Do engaging transitions and handoffs
You don't do breaks. Tell them what's up next, give them meat. Give them a reason to stay with you.
Brag about you stuff
Stay curious, relaxed, and let humor happen.
Through laughter we can deal with substantive subjects. Sometimes humor is in the most unexpected places. Humor has physical brain responses.
When you are on the air, it is a relationship.
Be who you are on the radio and television
Give people a chance to know you.
Take risks, dare to be great.
It is easy to be average, great means you try things
Questions:
Examples of taking risks:
Going personal and telling your own stories. E.g. A man who opened up about struggling with alcoholism. Another person talked through his mom's dying and death. Observing life through your own experiences. Observe life, take one thing you've overhead, then a piece of news that you would actually talk about to someone. Be original.
Do you think radio drama is dead?
It is actually coming back, and it wasn't really dead, just moved to NPR. What's exciting now is that it is coming back through the internet etc. We are story junkies. Think of the public as a story consuming dragon. Powerful radio is there to make sure the dragon is well fed.
THIS MATERIAL IS USED WITH PERMISSION FROM VALERIE GELLER AND IS EXCERPTED FROM CREATING POWERFUL RADIO - GETTING, KEEPIN & GROWING AUDIENCES - (Focal Press 2007) www.creatingpowerfulradio.com
or www.creatingpowerfulradio.com/textbook
for more www.gellermedia.com
Valerie Geller - Creating Powerful Radio
Radio,
Pictures are now a part of radio with the internet. Understand that radio has better pictures because of the use of the imagination. You don't do radio, you do life; radio simply gets it out there.
Our job is to inform, entertain, persuade and connect people to life.
Three rules for radio
1. Tell the truth
2. Make it matter
3. Never be boring
How to accomplish following the three rules:
Speak Visually:
Speak visually as you speak. Brain science has shown us that men are visual. Women like the visual, but men need the visual. Women open up with emotion. Use both to touch the audience. Speak visually and connect with emotion.
There are no boring stories, only boring story-tellers. Telling the story, with the visual and the emotive, you can make someone care.
The ugly curse, everyone can talk therefore people think anyone can do it. We know it is not easy. We need to speak, communicate, with passion. Everyone can get better, let's lift up a level.
Brain science again, it takes 1000 times of repeated behavior to make it a habit--to rewire the brain. You have to work consistently to change a behavior.
If you speak visually, you will build listeners.
Start with your best material, Start strong
Think about your first date, what did you do? Listeners are very fickle,
Questions: Is it relevant, will it matter, does my audience care? Do I care?
Listeners hate the feeling of "Now another topic to fill my schedule."
Do you really care about it? If it matters to you…then you can work with it.
Story Tell Powerfully:
Less is more. We are oriented to story, we are tribal, story junkies. The key is that the storyteller knows me. Know your audience.
Example of short storytelling-- "For sale, baby shoes, never used"
Research: what people would always watch?
Health-safety
Heart-emotion, feeling
Pocketbook - money or power
Transformative topics
Fourth Category relevant to Christian Media - transformative topics, how your life can be better from something you have heard today.
Never let anything go too long.
Listen to your station
Ask: Why would someone want to hear this?
Hey Mom, guess what…
Before anything goes on-air, ask "so what?"
Address each listener individually, use "you."
Involve the listener. "Involve me and I'll understand."
The personal is universal, the private is boring. Talk it about it with using the word "you". Private is I, I, I, Me, Me, Me, Personal is universal and inclusive.
Be real; be willing to talk about what is going on. Human beings connect to truth and humanness.
Do engaging transitions and handoffs
You don't do breaks. Tell them what's up next, give them meat. Give them a reason to stay with you.
Brag about you stuff
Stay curious, relaxed, and let humor happen.
Through laughter we can deal with substantive subjects. Sometimes humor is in the most unexpected places. Humor has physical brain responses.
When you are on the air, it is a relationship.
Be who you are on the radio and television
Give people a chance to know you.
Take risks, dare to be great.
It is easy to be average, great means you try things
Questions:
Examples of taking risks:
Going personal and telling your own stories. E.g. A man who opened up about struggling with alcoholism. Another person talked through his mom's dying and death. Observing life through your own experiences. Observe life, take one thing you've overhead, then a piece of news that you would actually talk about to someone. Be original.
Do you think radio drama is dead?
It is actually coming back, and it wasn't really dead, just moved to NPR. What's exciting now is that it is coming back through the internet etc. We are story junkies. Think of the public as a story consuming dragon. Powerful radio is there to make sure the dragon is well fed.
THIS MATERIAL IS USED WITH PERMISSION FROM VALERIE GELLER AND IS EXCERPTED FROM CREATING POWERFUL RADIO - GETTING, KEEPIN & GROWING AUDIENCES - (Focal Press 2007) www.creatingpowerfulradio.com
or www.creatingpowerfulradio.com/textbook
for more www.gellermedia.com
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