Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Make Prep A Priority

There are few things that can make a greater difference to a radio station’s sound than show prep.   

The difference between personalities (and especially morning teams) that prep material in advance and those that don’t is audible and awesome.

Some characteristics of the morning team show that doesn’t prep:  
  • They tend to have one “bit” through the show.   
  • The only thing they do to create listener interaction is contests and prizes.
  • Their content is purely “off the news” with little or nothing local.  
  • They ramble because they haven’t worked out where the bit’s going to end.
A multi-person team simply must do at least some group prep.  Certainly, the classic "generator" vs "reactor" character balance can be a crutch if the reactor never knows in advance what the point of the content is.  How do you know when the bit is over if you don't have any idea where it's going?
 
If your people are sloughing (show prep) off, work with them, encourage them, provide them the time and atmosphere, if possible, in which they can prepare material for tomorrow’s show.

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