We maintain a complete library of all mic breaks from each telethon; however, if we listed them all here for you, there would be over 900 files to sample!
Therefore, below find a sample of different mic breaks from the 2016 WRUW Telethon. Some are short. Some are long. All are useful for ideas on what to say (or not to say) during your show this year!
How to Critique These Samples
To evaluate the effectiveness of each consider the following:
- Does the programmer mention anything about the significance of this time of year?
- Does the programmer clearly describe what we are doing, and why we’re doing it?
- Does the programmer explain what the fundraising money goes to (or has gone to in the past)?
- Is there any focus on the listener? Usually said as “Maybe you’re one of our listeners who …” (ie:
“… likes radio without commercials”,
“… goes to a lot of local shows to support local musicians”,
“… loves discovering new musicians like we do”,
“… has been asking for us to do something about the air signal”,
“… listens on third shift at work”,
“… works in a basement and is glad we offer a high-quality stream”,
… and other similar phrases and ideas.) - Does the programmer give out the phone number and website?
- Is there a specific call to action (“Call us now at 216-368-2208″) or just a general appeal (“You can donate by phone or online. Our phone number is 216-368-2208, and you can call us anytime.”)
- Is there a mention of premiums? Are specific dollar levels mentioned (“when you pledge $40 we can thank you with <specific CD name>”) or is the appeal general and without price levels (“we have new t-shirts we can send you as a thank you”)?
- Does the programmer END with the phone number or a specific call to action?
- Does the appeal sound scripted or natural?
- What makes the appeal “work well”, or does it “need improvement”?
Some of the clips below will do better than others at hitting the points listed above. The goal here is to use these as a learning tool to shape your own outlines and appeals.