Sales & NTR 
Let’s face it — finding local content that’s actually good is like trying to find a clean bathroom at a county fair (sorry, fair organizers, but come on!). Even if you can find a great source, turning that content into something that fits your show, your voice, and your audience? That’s a full-time job. Local content is hard, but it’s never been more important. There’s a solution that will inspire your creativity and save hours every day.
Download this Local Pulse file that shows a local story in Texas about schools adopting a four-day week. I’ll use it as an example.
Local Pulse scans trusted local sources and hand-selects the most interesting, weird, emotional, funny, and downright outrageous stories in your market. But here’s where it flips the script: Instead of dumping it on you and saying “good luck,” Local Pulse does the work. You can immediately see how Local Pulse has turned the story into more than a dozen pieces of content ready for the air, online, and social media. It’s a curation machine with a personality — actually, your personality.
The four-day week story is a killer local hook, full of emotion, controversy, and, most of all, relatability. Take a look at pages 4-5 in the download.
Start with the Commentary. It’s a conversational thought starter to help you craft a talk segment around the story. It includes enough information so the audience understands it, but it’s loaded with perspective—curated! You probably won’t read it as written, but it’s a great start. Some personalities have tighter talk windows. So what do you do? Start with the 10-second script (perfect for talking over a song intro) or the 20-second script.
Next, inject it with one of the three suggested responses that fit your character brand. Again, use it as a starting point to inspire your creativity.
Turn it into an interactive phone topic. Most stories include four to choose from. How about this one:
If schools are doing this so teachers have more time off, what about the parents? What if it were a six-day school week? What would you do with your time off?
Teases are one of the hardest parts of personality radio. They’re also one of the most important. Each story includes three to choose from:
Parents are feeling anxious about their kids’ new school schedule, and the reasons hit closer to your home than you think.
Your Secret Weapon
Then comes the secret sauce: Ava Hart. Ava lives in the lower right-hand corner of every page. She’s your AI sidekick who knows how radio works and how personalities connect with listeners.
Ava reads every story through the lens of your personality and is ready to recast it to fit your style, whether you’re the snarky realist or the heartfelt connector.
Ava In Action
Here’s what she recommends for these two different types of personalities:
The Sassy Skeptic: You like your coffee strong and your takes stronger. Ava crafts your lines with a wink and a bite:
Commentary:
Oh cool, four-day school weeks. So now teachers get three-day weekends, and parents get three-day migraines. Love that for us.
Phone topic twist:
What do you think? Is this genius or just a teacher’s dream disguised as a logistical nightmare for every working parent?
The Heart of Gold: You’re authentic, warm, and full of positive empathy, and Ava matches your vibe with content that connects:
Commentary:
I love that we’re trying something bold to give teachers more balance and it’s great for families to have more home-time with kids. But what about single moms working two jobs? We’ve got to find a middle ground.
Phone topic reframe:
Let’s talk about what your Fridays look like. What would you need to make it work into your life?”
With Ava, content doesn’t just sound good. It sounds like you.
What This Really Means
Here’s how Local Pulse impacts you:
- You’re not wasting 90 minutes a day in prep searching for stories that go nowhere.
- You’re not scrambling to write clever teases or praying the phones ring.
- Your show needs a producer, but most stations don’t have the budget. Here you go. Local Pulse finds the gold in your market and brainstorms it into angles, teases, and talking points.
It’s like having a newsperson, social media manager, producer, and talent coach who molds everything to your unique style. And it’s always on, whether you’re prepping the night before, in the car on the way in, or staring at a blank screen with five minutes to go with show-ready content. You can check out Local Pulse here.
Local content is hard, but this makes it easier because it brings out your est. You’re funnier, sharper, and more connected. And that’s how you win — every segment, every day, every market.
Pic by Freepik.com.
Tracy Johnson is a talent coach and programming consultant. He’s the President/CEO of Tracy Johnson Media Group. His book Morning Radio has been described as The Bible of Personality Radio and has been used by personalities worldwide. Tracy is also the creator of Radio Content Pro an AI-powered show prep service that addresses all three of these triple threat filters by putting stories in radio speak and giving you teases, on-air copy, responses, phone topics, social copy by platform, blog copy and more.
