Photo: The Teens Network Daytime Show Studios, Pexels.
Having your own radio talk show segment is awesome, and it is certainly one of the things that people still love about the radio and is why they keep on listening. Whether your radio show is on one of the big stations in your area, or you have started up your own little online radio show, having engaged listeners is vital.
You always want to feel like you are making a positive impact on your listener’s day. Also, if you are working for one of the bigger stations then it can get a little bit more cutthroat, i.e. if you don’t perform and get a solid amount of listeners to your show then you might be let go!
It is one thing to have listeners, but another to have engaged listeners. Engaged listeners are especially important because they are more likely to call up (if that is something you allow) or connect with you on social media etc. But how can you get listeners engaged with you and your radio show? It is certainly a lot easier said than done!
There are all different types of topics that people love to talk about and connect us all as human beings. It is just about finding the right types of things that people love but may have differing opinions on to get people motivated to call up and speak about their opinion on the air.
When encouraging people to call up to discuss a certain topic, you should lead the way and state your own opinion on the matter. The topic should be something that we can all related to, like “Do you think it is considered wrong to keep in contact with an ex while dating someone new?”
Obviously, it doesn’t have to be that exactly, but something that people will have a strong opinion on. The great news is that there are a lot of different topics out there to choose from.
But if you are stuck just getting the ball rolling for ideas, have a look below at some of the best (and most commonly used) radio talk show ideas that will motivate people to ring up:
The radio was built around music, so why not discuss it in your talk show segment. There are a lot of different angles you could take with this topic, for example:
Everybody has to eat eventually right?! So why not give the topic of food a chance on your radio show. Food can be an interesting topic because it is different in each culture and there are lots of different ways you can tackle this topic, for example:
You have heard the saying before “sex sells” well it does and people love talking about relationships and sex! If you want to steer down and more PG-13 path, you can focus on not romantic relationships but other relationships like with friends, or family etc. Things you could ask in relationships that would get people talking include:
You could even just open up the lines for people to call in with their own relationship problems and discuss with them how to deal with it. Most of the time people just want a sounding board and feel like they are not alone with their issues. At some point in everyone’s life they will have a relationship issue of some sort, so opening up to callers could be a great option.
Money is something that is constantly on everyone’s mind, it is quite literally the thing that makes the world go around. People are always looking for ways to save or get more money. You could go down the serious approach with this topic or keep it light and humorous (or both!), for example:
Everybody has to live somewhere, so why not get people talking about their home life. Everyone has different living situations and there can be very funny and engaging topics to discuss that will surely get your listeners laughing, for example:
Now, not all people love animals, but most people do, so it is a pretty save topic to discus on your radio talk show! There can be lots of different ways of tackling this topic, from pets to wild animals, for example: