We have two different resources for pledge drive/sharathon season. We have a DRY AUDIO page with stories and listener calls for your pledge drive. Plus we have an additional PLEDGE DRIVE FORUM full of ideas for pledge drive angles, listener stories and invites for listeners to call and give. $40 per month, gets you into the resources! Click here to join!

Here’s a huge list of FREE back to school idea starters.

Crowder’s Milk & Honey album released this summer. We recorded fresh interview audio that you can use in your show here! Here’s this week’s freebie.

Crowder shares about typical summer days in high school, his new songs, how he lived in the house where Dr Pepper was invented, and how he never participated in orchestra or choir in school.

Free dry audio here!

The ninjas at Creative Cardio specialize in idea starters! $40 gets you into thousands of prep ideas here!

We have a forum full of good news stories. We have dry artist audio you can use like interviews to add artist texture to your show. In addition we have fresh questions to build call in discussions. We have faith discussion starters, spiritual encouragement angles, and dry calls from listeners you can use to start a call/text discussion in your show! We send out a very looooong email full of showprep angles every week too.

In addition we have a Member’s Only Facebook Group where we post TONS of idea starters & showprep angles each day. (that’s totally different than our public Facebook page where you might find a few free showprep ideas. We guarantee you’ll find fresh ideas to use in your show today, if you try CreativeCardio.com! – Scott Herrold & Jayar Reeves

Let’s rethink the way we do news on our show. Let’s start by investing in storytelling. Rather than give breaking information, let’s tell better stories. News can be divisive, but stories can be encouraging. News can divide and stories can bring listeners together. News has victims and stories have characters who overcome adversity.

If we do anything that is reoccurring on our show, we should have a well through out strategy for it. I think the key to making news connect is embracing your listener’s point of view . We’re not investigative reporters. We are personalities. Let’s use our strength as a way to tell better stories.

Are we doing news as a topic starter? Are we doing news to connect with trending/what’s on our listeners mind this morning?

Are we doing news to share a local point of view?

Are we sharing news from a Christian point of view?

Are we sharing news in order to be a breaking news source?

Are we sharing news as a source of faith stories?

Are we a consistent good news source to the encouragement that our listeners are hoping we can be? -Scott

Here’s a neat walk through Holy Week that might give you some rich content ideas. Use your storytelling skills! Think about the characters, the setting and the conflict in this story! Shine your camera angles in some new places with these stories!

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”
― C.S. Lewis

Creative Cardio is an idea catalyst for showprep! Sure, we share great stories for your show, but Creative Cardio cultivates idea starters. We challenge you to think about the way you grab your listeners attention. We equip you to think about fresh ways to tell stories. We share distinctive angles everyday, so you can connect the heart of the character in the story, directly to your listener. Creative Cardio is rich with encouragement & acute angles to connect the emotions. Give it a try for $40! There’s no contract. You can cancel anytime. Dive in if you’d like to challenge your creativity!

There’s a lot of different styles of communication in Christian radio. We have those that lean toward preaching, we have those that want to let the music be the message, we have those that focus on encouragement, and we have personalities that live life from a Bible centered worldview.

How do we communicate Christ to a culture that thinks it already knows all about Jesus?

We tell stories. We reflect his light. We share our heart. We invite people into community and we intentionally encourage.

God’s word does not return void. Rethink the content that you’re putting into your showprep this week. Intentionally frame the stories with heart, characters and encouragement.

Frame the heart of the artists you play. Tell stories with a point. Actually listen to the words in the music you’re playing.

Think about what a Christ centered world view actually is. Share what you’re learning. Share what you’ve been reading. A Bible verse isn’t a radio bit or a scheduled benchmark. It’s your source. Use it that way.

Choose to be an encourager. Think about how your pastor does sermon illustrations. He generally starts with a story that relates to someone in his audience  and he brings out a spiritual truth that’s related to it.

Ask callers or artists what they are learning, what they are reading & what their through process is in raising kids in this crazy world. Let them share God’s truths from their life.

Quote the people of the Bible directly. Instead of saying, “The Bible says….. or reading off a long verse and reference, try this to make it more personal to someone who doesn’t know much about the Bible:

“Paul explained grace in Romans 8 – he said if God is for us, who can be against us….”

“When King David wrote Psalm 119, he said…”

“In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he explained….”

“Jesus explained the difference between work and grace in Matthew 5. He said…..”

When you want to communicate God’s truth in your show, lead with encouragement. Speak to who your listener can become with a personal relationship with Jesus. Speak to the unique giftings, talents and raw potential you see. You’ve been given a circle of influence, so intentionally speak life into those people and they will come back tomorrow even if they don’t know Jesus….yet. – Scott Herrold

Is there texture in your show? Are your discussions actually inviting to new people? Think about your strategy in how you use recorded audio to build momentum!

Using artist audio can add texture and interactivity to your show. Just because you have recorded audio from Tobymac or Lysa TerKeurst doesn’t mean you have to use it only as an interview! Use your artists/authors & local pastors as experts! You can use their audio to start a discussion with listeners! Here’s a strategy idea: 

Start a discussion by sharing a personal story about something that’s topical this week and invite listeners to call. (Then you play a song.) Right after the song, you reset what you’re talking about and invite your listeners to call again. Right after you give the phone number, play a great clip from an author like Mark Batterson chiming in with his opinion. Invite the listener to call again before your play your next two songs. Maybe even follow up after a few songs with a recorded clip from a different author like Louie Giglio addressing the same faith topic! (Use your archived audio like Mark & Louie are guests just responding in your show!) You can do the same with any artist audio you have in the archives. Use them as experts!

We have a TON of dry audio like this in our DRY CALLS page for our paid members. Join us if you want to add some texture to your show! A paid membership is $40 per month and there are no contracts. You can try it and cancel anytime!

Building call in discussions is all about setting momentum! Look at each call, each personal story or each artist clip as a power up on your journey toward flight. Your stories strategically build momentum. Plot out the way you will use audio to build that!  

** I suggest you have 2 different pieces of audio edited and ready BEFORE you start the discussion on the air! (Call a friend and ask their opinion if you need a call starter or a follow up to your discussion with a community leader.) -Scott Herrold / Morning Show Host at SOS Radio

The Devil uses the same playbook over and over again! Six weeks ago he was stirring up fear about the WHAT IF’s, and he’s doing it again this week.

Last month the fear was: WHAT IF the economy tanks? WHAT IF my income drops? What if my industry doesn’t bounce back as quick as others? WHAT IF this drama lasts longer than a month? The WHAT IF’s will always drive you crazy because they remind you that you are not in control!

Today he’s using the SAME playbook again. WHAT IF we open too soon? WHAT IF our government makes a mistake? WHAT IF our sales/donations don’t bounce back in a month work? WHAT IF more people get sick in the fall and this swings back worse than what we’re dealing with now?

It’s the SAME playbook with a twist on days’s events. Focus your eyes back on Jesus – not on your circumstances! WHAT IF God actually shows up in a bigger way than you could ever imagine?

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:6-7