Episode 214: How To Create An Alexa Flash Briefing Skill

I had no idea if building my first Alexa Skill was going to work. But it did. Like a freaking charm. It never happens like that. And when it does, it kind of feels like serendipity. There are already more than 40,000 Alexa Skills in the Alexa Skills Store within the Alexa App (how you set up / customize your Echo, Echo Dot or other Alexa-enabled device like the Roav VIVA or Sonos Speaker), but now the Data Driven Daily Tip is in the mix. While future posts will explain why the heck I’m spending time doing this, this post is all about “HOW TO ADD MY BRAND SPANKING NEW ALEXA FLASH BRIEFING SKILL TO YOUR DAILY ALEXA ARSENAL.” But first, we can definitely review. Chances are, even if you have some familiarity with this space, you’re still asking yourself What The Heck Is An Alexa Flash Briefing? Read below from an earlier blog of mine. But there’s also a kind of Skill that many content companies and media companies use that is much simpler and more common during this infancy of Voice. And as you can imagine, these have my attention. These Skills are called “Flash Briefings.” Top Flash Briefing skills include Wall Street Journal, Cheddar, CNBC and Fox News. But even brands like the NBA have Flash Briefing skills. What’s cool about Flash Briefings is that, as a user, you can customize your own. For example, mine could be “weather in Spring Hill, Tennessee,” “Top Tech News from TechCrunch.,” “MLB Schedule Today,” and “Gary Vee 365.” You customize your own by heading to your Alexa app, tapping the hamburger menu then, Settings, then Flash Briefing. So now, you can get my Data Driven Daily Tip on Alexa. Here’s how. 1. Open your Alexa app on your phone. 2. Tap the hamburger menu on the top left, tap “Skills & Games” 3. Search for “Data Driven” 4. See this screen, and click “ENABLE.” 5. Once the Skill is enabled, tab the Hamburger Menu Again, then “Settings” then scroll down to “Alexa Preferences” and tab “Flash Briefing.” 6. This is how your Flash Briefing will play in order when you say “Alexa, Play My Flash Briefing” or “Alexa, What’s In The News?” Make sure Data Driven Daily Tip Plays First!