The Fourth Key to an Effective Pledge Break

"Have a Plan"

In my How to Beg sessions every year I say "have a plan" for your show. Outline what you'll say at each pledge break, and have a plan as to what you will say when.

Neal Filsinger says "have a plan" at his How to Beg Sessions.

All our Telethon Directors have always said "have a plan" for your show. Plan out what you're going to say and when.

And every year, there are staff people who say after their telethon show ... "I should have prepared more outlines," or "I should have written more things out," or "I would have planned my show better to include more premiums," and dozens of other similar comments.

I suppose it's a case of the proverb, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

We can tell you to "plan your show", we can give you opportunities to attend How to Beg sessions, we can direct you to a How to Beg website with hundreds of sample pitches and other planning tools ... but we can't make you plan your show.

Our recommendation as a station is for you to plan your show.

My personal recommendation is for you to plan your show.

And we mean your whole show.

Plan all the music you're going to play.

Plan all the times you're going to talk about the fundraiser during your show.

And have outlines for what you will say during each talk break.

Plan Your Music

Be prepared to play as much music as possible from Premiums. Your listeners donate for specific recordings when you PLAY MUSIC from those recordings.

Plan When You Will Talk about the Fund Raiser

During the course of your Telethon show, you will need to talk more often than you normally do. For example, suppose you normally start your show but don't say anything on-mic until you're 15 minutes in. For your Telethon show, shorten the start time from 15 minutes in to 10 minutes in. Instead of playing 20 minute sets, play 15 minute sets, and so on.

Plan Your Actual Talk-Breaks

For each time you talk about the telethon, have an outline (or script if you prefer), that specifies:

1) What particular selling point of the station you will emphasize, with some notes of what you will say.

For example, at your first talk-break, you might choose to talk about our need to buy music and how that need affects your show in particular. At the next talk break, you might choose to talk about technical upgrades and what you've seen transpire at WRUW equipment-wise in the last few years. Next time, talk about live music, and so on.

2) What specific premium you will talk about at that time, or what group of related premiums you will talk about.

For example, at the first talk break you might plan to announce two specific CD's we have available for a $40 pledge. At the next talk break, you might talk about the new t-shirts, and so on.

3) How you'll package and present "why WRUW needs listener support."

You need to state that case each time, to remind the listener of the importance of giving each year.

Planning Your Show Gives You Confidence

When you take the time to plan your show and what you're going to say and when, you will approach the Telethon with confidence and enthusiasm. No matter what turmoil is going on at the station, you'll be calmer and more relaxed on-air if you prepare everything you need ahead of time!

Here's what some of your fellow staff members have said in the past about "How Scripts Helped" them prepare:

- Take heed of the advice of your fellow staff members, and get prepared!

- Reminded me of topics and clever phrases I didn't want to forget about.

- They help to keep focused on talking points.

- They helped gather my thoughts in a logical way.

- Gave me a list of tihngs to talk about - Kept me from repeating myself _too_ much - knowing that I had some of my pitches on paper in front of me helped boost my confidence

- i divided my pitches in to topics. each topic had a separate outline.

- give you structure

- I drew out a clock with all of my pitches marked out, and planned which topic i was going to stick to for each one. that helped me to plan out my music selections to come before and after each pitch.

- Just knew what I was talking about

- They kept me from drifting according to my mood and stay focused on the communal event at hand(i.e., the Telethon).

- Because I knew what things I was going to talk about, during each break and what items I was going to push.

- There's no way I could wing this, so I needed them. Plus, you can refer to more specific facts CORRECTLY.

For more inspiration on planning your show, check out any of the "7 Common Telethon Mistakes"

Read more comments from your fellow staff members about "How Scripts Help".

Thanks for reading!

Read the Fifth Key to an Effective Pledge Break