Something new for your resume tape: the "teaser package"

I recently received a batch of packages from three different clients, and in each batch there was one piece that made me say to myself, "I gotta see this."

And if I gotta see it, so does any News Director. When you're wading through an ocean of murders and scanner stories on two hundred tapes, something unique always grabs your attention.

So, if you've got this little bit of "must see TV" how do you make sure the ND is still watching when it rolls around? After all, he might bail during the montage.

The answer requires nothing more than adjusting your slate.

Let's say your unique story, heretofore known as a "teaser package", is a piece on an alien spaceship that landed in your market. (Far fetched, I know, but this is just an example.) It's going to be your first package right after your montage.

Make a slate that looks like this:

Joe Reporter
(contact information)

-Montage
-Alien landing package
-consumer story
-feature story

So, the News Director pops your tape in the machine and your slate pops up before your montage. He sees a package coming up that piques his interest, one he absolutely has to see. So he'll sit through the montage, even if he's not that impressed, in order to see said package.

The upside is that he might start to like you after seeing what you can do with a package. If the montage didn't grab him, your reporting abilities might. In effect, you're using the slate to "tease" the News Director into hanging around, in much the same way a producer uses teases throughout the newscast.

This "teaser package" theory only works if you have a really unique story. (You might also put your standup standing next to the alien ship in the montage as well.)

If you've got a story that fits the bill, give this a shot. If you don't, find one.

-