Writing for radio, Barry White, and the importance of being an organ donor

It still surprises me that soul-singer Barry White died of kidney failure. It seems like, with a voice so smooth--responsible for hits like, "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe", and "You're The First, The Last, My Everything"--that someone (a lady?) would have just given him a kidney if he'd asked*(if you are offended by this joke, see the asterisk below and calm down. If still offended, see the double "**" asterisk).

Evidently, a great voice isn't the only factor when it comes to persuasive messaging.

Writing for radio
Take radio storytelling as an example, and in an example totally opposite ladies man Barry White, listen to this radio spot a friend of mine wrote: Instant Birth Control (it has three variations, and it's worth listening to all three).

My friend, a successful copywriter with a Minneapolis ad-agency, had this to say about the process:

"Radio writing is one of the hardest in advertising. It requires a knack for writing believable dialogue and good voiceover talent to deliver it...It's theater of the mind--your script has to get the listeners there, has to build a scene in their heads."

Filling in details
The U's Ryan Maus, who with voice talent and U writer Rick Moore does the weekly U of M Moment, echoes the sentiment. For the Moment, Maus sometimes repurposes audio from a U video, but in some cases they'll lose the supplementary visual context and have to rewrite the script so Rick's smooth voice can fill in the details. Listen to "Researcher brings mind control into 3D" as an example. I mean, how does radio compete with 3D! (Err...imagination?).

Writing for time
I've been thinking a bit about writing for radio lately, getting some tips from an MPR higher-up. His critique of my first submission included "think about out loud delivery/read out loud--your sentences are too long," and "the whole piece should be 2-3 minutes, and each sentence should be able to be read in 5 to 6 seconds."

Radio is simple, direct, and brief, and that's not always the case with writing for the eye. Sentences on a page have the luxury of time...they can run their fingers through your hair all day if you like, just like Barry White. You can go back and read, and read, and read some more until you're satisfied and understand. With radio (radio proper, not online fidget-with-the-controls-radio), you hear it once, probably in your car. It needs to be clear and crisp and you can't (or likely won't) go back again.

In any case, it's another adventure in writing, and one that I'm just beginning. I think it's going to help my writing to really stop and think about whether I need this word or that; whether "excessive use of verbal ornamentation" can't be trimmed down to mean "too many words."

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to read this post out loud.

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*I fully realize kidney failure is not a laughing matter. More than 4,000 people died along with Barry White in 2003 (U.S.) because of the lack of available donors, and that number approaches 5,000 per year now, with more than 80,000 waiting for a donation. It is important to talk about these things in the ways we best communicate. Be an organ donor. Further, a U study has shown there are no adverse long-term consequences of kidney donation.

**My mother has one functioning kidney and another that is functioning at something like 20 percent. I love my mom, and should it come down to it, I'm prepared to go to bat for her, and convince my brother to donate one of his kidneys.

More information:

Writing For Radio: Journalism 2.0

How Writing a Radio Ad will Improve your Copywriting