What is a focus group and why do we do them?
A focus group is essentially a meeting with members of the community you are trying to reach. Holding focus groups is a good way to make sure the information and experience we are showing in the radio drama are accurate and reflect the real lives and experiences of the people who will be listening.

How do they work?
For the pilot episode we held three focus groups. The actors would first read the script to the group, or if the actors weren’t present,  the audience was encouraged to play the roles themselves, which helped them identify with the characters and get a true feel for the drama. After the reading, we asked for feedback on the characters, the storyline and the language use.

Results of the three focus groups
The first focus group was done at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. The audience was a group of young lesbians and bisexual women associated with the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW). The general feeling amongst the group was that the radio drama was a fair representation of the issues they are faced with as part of the LGBTI community. They felt they could identify with the characters and appreciated the diversity of sexual identity we portrayed. Having the actors there helped the audience to feel closer to the characters and share their own stories.

The second focus group was held in Soweto with a small group from the Soweto HIV/AIDS Counsellors Association (SOHACA). Again, this group was mainly women. They also commented on the characters’ diversity, and felt that most listeners would be able to identify with at least one of the characters.

In Mamelodi township near Tshwane (Pretoria), we met a group from Out LGBT Well-Being’s outreach program. The group, mainly made up of gay men from the township, was keen to be part of the process of the radio drama. This audience took on the various characters themselves, as the actors were unable to attend. Everyone was very enthusiastic and felt safe to share their feelings through the characters they played. They also helped us investigate township lingo amongst the LGBTI community, which helped strengthen the drama. The script opened up a platform for this audience to share their various experiences, and to laugh at and with each other.

The focus groups further emphasized the importance of having such media that represent the LGBTI community and the issues they face, in the townships and around our country. Most people asked questions about when it would be ready, as they wanted to make sure many members of their community could listen to it and learn about LGBTI issues. They felt that because people trust their radio station to give them informative and insightful programming this radio drama could do a lot to promote acceptance and raise awareness, about LGBTI issues.