“After 41 years in radio, here’s the one thing that still makes me nervous before I go live"

HAVE I PREPARED ENOUGH?

People that really know me in the radio industry, know that I am a show prep junkie. Each show we would produce what I would call manuals of show prep material. Each day we had a 30-page script of show prep for ideas and conversations. On top of that, I would ask my team to bring at least 10 ideas from the last 24 hours that interested them, or happened to them. Family, TV show, interesting conversation you overheard—just anything was on the table that was interesting. I myself was loaded with at least 15 solid things out of what I wrote for the show. Tom Joyner once said that there is comedy all around you. He said he would take a conversation he had with Doug Banks at night, and would be doing a bit on it the next morning.

If we would concentrate on doing a lot of observing on what you are being exposed to everyday, you would have a list of 20 things every day. Everything won't make it on the air, because they need more development, or you can just chuck it for later. Just keep writing and developing your own thoughts and marry them with facts to make your content strong. The things you have strong opinions about, bring it on air. You can do anything you want to create energy and excitement on your show. Just prepare, prepare, prepare. The more prepared you are, the more spontaneous you can become.

I was never one of those radio personalities who just got to the station in the nick of time before the show started. I was a 3am guy. I was the 4am guy for the 5:30am or 6am show start. That to me was a sin to show up right before your shift. One of my mentees in radio, Shay Moore, arrives at her morning show at 3am in Kansas City, MO. She is a one-woman wrecking crew and she is successfully dominating the market. People who want to be great and impactful every day adopt this type of mentality. Some personalities, because they work at the big stick in the market, will win by default because the signal affords them the luxury of exposure, so the ratings gap may make you think something that may not actually be true. Winning by default is real. I have seen giants slayed by the hard work and dedication of a team on an inferior signal
producing great content every morning to dethrone a market staple.

So in closing, yes I am always uneasy if I feel I did not prepare well according to my standards. So I put more thought into what I want to say. I spend time alone with me and my notepad and come up with my content. So if you care, be careful in preparing for your show.