30-Second Radio Spot Script Writing Template printable pdf download

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How to Write a Script for a 30-Second Radio Spot

By Christopher Carosa, eHow Contributor

A 30-second radio spot tells a story---will your script make it one worth remembering?

Hey you! Wanna discover the incredibly simple secret to writing a script for a 30-second

radio spot? What?! You're asking me, "Why should I want to write effective scripts for 30-second

radio spots?" Many consider 30-second radio spots the bread and butter of radio advertising. Most

radio ads play for 30 seconds. Longer ads lose the listener's attention (or cause her to change the

dial). Shorter ads don't have the time to accomplish anything other than brand-name recognition.

If you can write an effective script for a 30-second radio spot, advertisers, producers and

businesses will come knocking at your creative door.

Read this article and you will uncover the deceptively easy and popular method to writing

successful 30-second radio advertising scripts. What is it? Simple, you just tell a story in 23

seconds. Here's how.

The intro shown here is the correct length for a 30-second radio commercial

How to Write a Script for a 30-Second Radio Spot

How long is a 30-second script for a radio ad? The intro to this article reads for 30 seconds in

"radio-speak." Think of a 30-second radio ad as two segments. The first segment emphasizes the

product benefit, and the second segment closes the ad with your tagline. The first segment contains

three acts: the Dilemma, the Pain, and the Solution. But first, you must match your product's benefit

with a customer's dilemma.

In Act I, you must immediately grab the listener's attention by forcefully spelling out a problem he

needs to solve right now. It could be in the form of a question like the first line of this piece. If your

radio advertisement fails to instantly engage the ear, the listener flips to another radio station. In our

intro, we present the Dilemma with an opening tease and an implied problem (the reader doesn't

know how to write the script for a 30-second radio spot).

In Act II, you must use the Pain to reinforce the need to solve the Dilemma. In the above intro, we

reinforce the opening with reverse psychology (the Pain of denial), proving the importance of 30-

second spots and finishing with another luring enticement---earning lots of money! When you

reinforce, you allow the listener to justify the momentary shock upon hearing the opening line.

In Act III, you provide the Solution and graciously cure the listener's pain by solving the original

dilemma with a call to action. The intro ends by asking the reader to read this article to get the

answer to "how to write a script for a 30-second radio spot."

30-Second Radio Spot Script Writing Template