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Promo Script Writing Tip #1

By David Kidd, BPR

“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter” is a quote often attributed to Winston Churchill.

And it says it all. Concise writing is difficult. But it’s important—not just as a matter of good writing but for effective communication.

We’ve all heard radio promos that just seem to go on and on…. the copy is too long, not entertaining and, as a result, the message gets lost.

There’s no cut-through.

There’s one station I know of that was running promos nearly 60 seconds in duration for ANY contest or event. The promos weren’t entertaining/funny (even though the program director thought they were), the copy was repetitive and the listeners were often left confused as to what message the promo was trying to convey.

How do I know this? We tested a number of the promos with the listeners.

I’ve written before about how listeners treat station promos as no different to commercials….. “they’re an ad for your station”…… and how promos can contribute to clutter.

So step 1, write your promo, let it sit for a few minutes and then see what words are extraneous….. what one word could replace three words.

Then, repeat the process.

Treat words like weeds in your garden.

Get rid of them.

“Word economy” has been defined as “the practice of using fewer words to say more”.

Yes…. the old “less is more” principle.

Are you practicing it?