What would you do differently next time ON-AIR during the telethon?

The following are comments from our annual post-Telethon survey of WRUW staff members. The question was "What would you do differently next time?"

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

Do more to pull the heartstrings of my long-time listeners, using more old favorites ("hits"?) musically.

Prepare more comprehensive notes.

Use all of the scripts I'd written out ahead of time.

I would focus a little more on benefits to the listener and reasons to give. I would also make a point to thank each donor to my show at least once, if not again at the end of the show.

push premiums more .

I would use more pressuring techniques to get people to donate. Emphasis on supporting the music one hears on my show in particular, in addition to everything on the station.

I think would make an attempt to sound more confident. I felt like I spent so much time convincing people that they should donate that it came across sounding desperate.

Shorter pitches. All the pitches went over 5 minutes and I rambled.

Maybe try sticking to my own structure a little more.

Space my pitches more evenly throughout the two-hour show time, perhaps planning out the entire show sequence ahead of time. I generally improvise a lot.

My notes would have been a bit better.

I would push how much people save on tickets by winning them on my show and encourage them to donate 'a night out'. I would play more premiums.

Have a more solid plan.

Be a little more concise with my pitches; they tended to go long.

More often - break down the cost out of pocket to a donor per week (e.g. $60 is a little more than $1 per week).

Talk less, or divert my monologue more.

Come up with some more hilarious stuff to add during my pitches.

Use new outlines. I went from scripts and outlines from last year (which were already a rewrite of the 2003). I need new material.

beg more.

prep more and work on a better sales pitch. i knew all the premiums well. i think i realy couldnt have done MUCH better seein my time slot/genre.

I would try to use a bit more of a highlight/ mix approach to really feature some of the premium selections and also I would like to feature one "big ticket" item to hopefully ellicit a very generous pledge.

Nothing really, the show raised the most it has ever raised and people liked our show-specific premiums.

Inject more humor into my pitches. Be less nervous.

Try to draw more of a connection between the listeners and their role in wruw and the radio shows. for example, i'd try to make it sound more like they are part of the wruw/v/c/gradio team by donating.

Try to relax a bit more, giving less scripted sounding pitches. Also, give lots of small pitches instead of a few long ones.

Try to come up with more banter with my co-host than sound as if Im reading off a list.

Rotate though what the station gives listeners a bit more. I also would have remembered to hammer on the 15000 watts when a pledge from Medina came in (duh).

I would have more thoughtful pitches. I would write things out more, etc. even if I know that I am not anticipating on doing any pitches.

I'd like to have a two hour program like most everyone else!

Have more scripts/outlines.

Talk slower and emphasize how their donations benefit the station. Also, I didn't talk long enough.

It definitely works to sound very energetic and announce the phone # to give your pledge more often than the times you actually "beg"... (ie in between songs.. not every single song though).

Be BETTER prepared.

Prepare more ahead of time, get more comfortable with the CD premiums, create more well developed scripts, and SAVE THEM FOR NEXT YEAR.

I would draw the line more clearly between when my co-host and I were going to talk. There were a few times where I wasn't done saying something and he would interject and take the thought in a different direction.

I would push specific premiums more, remind people how far I am from my goal--these two techniques are what got me my extra boost of money in the last few minutes.

I was very pleased with my delivery this year. When I listened to the download I wanted to call and pledge to myself. However, I always have to remind myself that all telethons have the first day as their slowest and lowest.

Plan out the exact times I was going to talk so I could know when to stop for that certain pitch, maybe say the telephone number less.

I had an original pitch that I chose not to use. I think that I should have so I would have sounded a bit different from all the other programmers.

I currently use an opening script and detailed notes. Using this combination allows me some flexibility to flow witht he audience. Next year I might add additional scripted material.

Talk longer!!I thought my listeners would get bugged at a long pitch because my theme was "We put the Music first"but I messed up:they were waiting for the music to STOP and me to start talking so they could pledge and not interrupt their listening experience.Thus by keeping it short and sweet I was actually preventing them from having a chance to pledge....

Mention the phone number more frequently throughout each pitch.

Speak with more energy, especially at the beginning. It took me a little bit to warm up.

Well, being warmed up and awake well before my show would help a lot, but with my show at 5 AM it's pretty tough.

Emphasise that pledging to a show can increase CD funding for specific genres.

Have my own premiums.

I find having an outside guest or two (a local DJ or band member) helps immensely because there is suddenly a third-party "testimonial" for the station and the "begging" becomes a conversation about the need to support the station.

Having a cohost, it was a challenge to do telethon pitches because at any moment, the other person could lead off into another aspect that I may not have planned on speaking about during that break, and vice versa. I think that factor made our pitches seem less dry and less like they were read from a piece of paper, though I noticed that we were a bit redundant at times. I think that for next year, it would help if we somewhat practice together before the show.

Not much....I had an extremely successful telethon, and I felt I sounded great and was very well prepared.

I will do my next Telethon completely nude to create a sense of awe and wonder.

I might shorten my pitches a little. It seems like more and shorter might work better.

Request an addition person on phones for 6:30-7:00 am. DoerOne was SWAMPED. Luckily the person who was scheduled for 7-9 am came in early and jumped right into the fray.