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

Just a few things that may be on your listener’s mind TODAY!   

Click here for the list!

Here’s some ideas to help your kids grow spiritually this summer!

• Visit a mission site or take the kids to serve at a local rescue mission. (Use this as a teachable moment to talk about generosity and how Christians can be the answer to the tangible needs in our city)
• Plant flowers or build a garden in the backyard.  (Use it as a teachable moment to talk about God’s creation and the way he planned our world)
• Set a summer reading plan. Make a chart and challenge your kids to read a certain number of books each week. Even better – read a book together. Make it like a Bible study without calling it a Bible study.
• Write a family memory verse in the kitchen. Google “Bible verse games” or “kids memory verses.” Reward each person who has memorized it by Friday night dinner.
• Donate old books or toys to less fortunate kids. Let your children choose where they want to donate the items. Get the kids involved in organizing and packing the books for delivery.
• Print out the words to some of your family’s favorite Christian songs. Most of the artists we play on our radio station have lyric videos on Youtube you can watch as a family and talk about the words in the songs.
• Ask each child to make a summer prayer list. Challenge your kids to pray BOLD prayers this summer. List friends & family you want to pray for too!  At the end of the summer you’ll get to look back on every prayer that God answered. You’ll probably be surprised what you notice!
• Ask your kids to write a list of questions about God. Look up the answers together. (Use this as a teachable moment about generosity & faith)

Awana, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Life.Church Resources & Orange all have free parenting resources online to help our kids grow in their faith!

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

Want a sample of what we do with idea starters for your show?

We post a list of examples each week on the Christian Music Broadcasters site!

CLICK HERE to grab the FREE ideas!

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Creative Cardio is much more than showprep. It’s a series of idea starters. We aren’t about posting the “day in history” or the “latest celebrity gossip” or the “impossible question/trivia.”

We post idea starters that you can take and develop into show topics/bits/stories & discussions that will engage your listeners on a deeper level. As a member of our community, you post ideas that are sparked from the resources, articles & stories we share. It’s a community that perfects ideas and transforms them into unique content. We believe that if you engage in the community at CreativeCardio.com it will develop you into one of the most creative radio personalities in America! Click here to make a trial login for 30 days & dive into all these resources!

“God what do you want to do through me to accomplish your vision for this radio station?”

“God, how do you want to use me to connect this company/ministry vision to our listeners?”

“God, how should the original vision of our founder come through in my show & how can I do a better job sharing that?”

Pray a dangerous prayer and watch how God works through your show…

“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

Tell the truth, share your world view, speak from your heart & be more connective with people. That’s how creativity builds into innovation. We’re always trying to push the envelop to be creative & innovative with our radio stations & shows. If we think of new ways to include people and help facilitate community, we will always add innovation to what we do.

When you can use media to help facilitate community, you innovate.

When you use technology to grow your relationships deeper with listeners, you innovate.

When you make people a priority, you innovate.

When you create fresh distribution channels for your show, you innovate.

When you give your listeners new opportunities to connect with your people and your brand, you innovate.

When you love your listeners, you innovate.

When you connect your web, your apps & your radio to people, you innovate.

When you encourage your listeners, you innovate.

When you give your listeners an experience, you always innovate.

And if necessary use words…..

I think we can all learn a little about storytelling from this video.

The key to showprep is knowing your strategy. Knowing what you are going to do on your show before you walk into the studio. It’s finding a fresh mix of content that’s really going to connect with your audience. Knowing where and when to use content it is part of the strategy.