This was an interesting Easter weekend, but many churches said they actually had MORE people watch their church services online this week, than they have ever had in their building. It’s funny to say “watch” instead of “participate,” but isn’t that the reality of what most non-believers do even when they attend a church in person for the first time? They don’t know the songs, they don’t know when to stand up or sit down, they don’t want to shake everyone’s hand or be singled out. They don’t know much about the pastor or the people leading worship on stage. They feel out of place because they know they aren’t part of the regular club,  but they are taking it all in, hoping God speaks to them in a special way. Think about all the new people who are tuning into your show this week. Do they know the songs? Do they know the Christian buzzwords? Do they know the artists leading worship?What do they know about you and your personalities on the air? Think about what you can intentionally do to welcome these people in to grow deeper with you! Think about how you can develop more on ramps to get them up to speed and invite them to plug in deeper. Don’t talk at them, wrap your arm around them and encourage them. Love them to life and show them they are welcome regardless of where they are in their faith journey . If you need help, contact us at Creative Cardio Showprep!

“Find the helpers when you want to share hope. You can always find people who are helping.” – Fred Rogers.

Look for stories where you can share the heart of the helpers! Our world has been crazy this week, and it doesn’t look like that will change tomorrow. God has given you a circle of influence to share hope and encouragement in your show. You don’t have to mention Corona at all, just share stories that point your listeners to God’s goodness and the generous heart of people. Look into God’s word for encouragement. Actually listen to the words in the songs you are playing! Champion a heart of service. Champion a heart of gratefulness. Champion generosity. Be a hope dealer! 

If you need showprep, just walk through your grocery store and talk to people! Look for those who appear stressed. Ask how you can serve them. Ask about their experience this week. It might be hustling for childcare, fear of being laid off, no toilet paper in stock, babysitters cancelling, hours cut at work, the election, no lunches at school for the kids since it’s cancelled, the losses in their 401k if they are elderly, fear of infecting someone if you feel under the weather, or it might be worry over their elderly parents who live alone. Think about where your listener is right now, and how you can speak to their need.

Here’s the audio recording of our entire Thanksgiving Ideas Brainstorm call! Grab a pen and start writing. Tons of radio personalities share ideas for the Thanksgiving season!

Here’s some DRY Thanksgiving calls you can use in your imaging or voice trax. If you’re doing a live show, the dry calls are great call starters to get your listeners calling.

Download the calls here!

Download the file HERE (Right click “SAVE AS”)

Download the file HERE (Right click “SAVE AS”)

Download the file HERE (Right click “SAVE AS”)

*If you want more DRY calls like this, click our SIGN UP page and join CreativeCardio.com! We keep them in our DRY CALLS page. It’s only $40 per month for a solo membership in the CreativeCardio.com community!! We also have a team show rate too!

This year I want to help my listeners better comprehend the reason “why” our radio station exists. Our “why” is different than every other media option our listeners engage with. I want to help our listeners visualize where we’re going. I want to better frame the WHY behind what we are doing.

I think about the way Dr. Martin Luther King shared his dream for what our country could look like. He didn’t say “we need to do this” or “you need to change” or “people need to stop doing.” He simply cast a dream and invited America into it.

Some of the most compelling pledge drive breaks actually cast vision for the listener. Here’s a few ideas you could use to share a dream for what God could do through your radio community.

I want to be a part of something that is really changing lives!
I want to be part of something that encourages others!
I want to be part of something that challenges our kids!
I want to be a part of the solution and not the problem!
I want to see a revival in our city!
I want to be part of shifting our  culture!
I want to encourage the people around me!
I want to challenge the next generation to really step up & shine a light for God!
I want to see God do even more in this city!
I want to be a part of real life change!
I want to see my money go farther than my own resource!
I want to help dream up solutions!
I want to build into my neighborhood!
I want to help make this city a better place to live!
I want to see more Christians doing real art!
I want to build something that will be here for my children!
I want to connect with Christian music on my iPhone!
I want to reach people in cities that don’t have Christian radio!
I want to reach people in some of the darkest countries of the world with the hope of Jesus!
I want to help bring the churches together in this city!
I want to see my church grow!
I want to be a light in the darkness
I want to help be the ‘shift’ that our culture needs!
I want to fuel something that others are also investing in!
Our desire is to share the hope of Jesus with even more people this year!
We desire to bring even more family friendly events to this city!
We want to connect more people with local churches!
We want to encourage even more people to make God’s world their moral and spiritual foundation!
We believe the local church is the hope of the world!
We want to challenge your kids to life boldly for Christ!
We desire to see a new generation of children growing up with Christian music!
We want to tackle the the most challenging social issues in our city!
We want to see our kids singing worship music in the car!
We want to help churches thrive in our city!
We want to give even more people a place to plug in with!
We want to share news and information from a Christian perspective!
We want to connect you into a community that challenges your relationship with God and with other Christians!
When I give, I feel like I’m part of the solution!
When I live generously, money doesn’t have any control over my life!
When I give, my money helps the less fortunate right here in town!
When I give,  I’m helping to share the hope of Jesus with people who are struggling!
I’m investing in the life change that’s going on behind this radio ministry!
I want to see hearts softened in our community!
I love the way God’s working inside our city!
I want to be a problem solver. I want to be an organizer. I want to be a world changer!
I want my kids growing up with Christian music because I believe in the power behind it!

I want to invest in the ministry behind this radio station!

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!

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!

Growth usually takes place in the hard times that push you outside of your comfort zone. You are a part of a united team of communicators who want to influence your city! Even if you simply do a voice tracked show, please know that what you share today matters to people craving a spiritual experience in your city! A lot of people are plugging into your show this week, looking for hope and encouragement, and you get to deliver today! Live or voice tracked, what you share today matters to hurting people in your city. Through your voice and your faith, lives are being changed. People working in dark spaces are being encouraged, and Jesus is being reflected from the life you share on the radio in your city!

“Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it, and not in the one who says it, our prayers DO make a difference!” – Max Lucado

If you feel like you’re in a rut, or your creativity just hasn’t been firing on all cylinders this summer so far – pray a dangerous prayer!

“Lord use my words this week. Jesus, what do you want to do through me to accomplish your vision with this radio show?”

“Lord, how do you want to use me to connect the values behind SOS Radio to our listeners?
Holy Spirit, if there is anything I’ve been doing that’s distracting people from growing in their relationship with you or blocking that connection, please move it, even if it hurts.”

“Lord, I invite you to use my voice and move me outside of my comfort zone. Will you use my voice this week in spite of my pride, my personal life and my shortfalls in faith?”

“Lord, if there is anything that’s blocking our relationship from flourishing, I’m ready to confess it. I’m ready to study and work through it. I’m ready to own it. I’m ready to grow and put down roots…”

“Jesus, help me to better understand the values you set in place when you started this radio ministry. Show me a fresh revelation of the role I play in the unity of this radio team. Remind me what you see in me! Show me a glimpse of my potential! Lord, how can I best frame your values and passion when I’m hosting a radio show here today?”

“Holy Spirit show me a fresh revelation of the role I play in the stationality here at this radio station… because I want to help this ministry grow! I also want to grow in my faith while I serve with this team!”

—Pray a dangerous prayer and watch how God works through your show, AND renews your passion for lifechange in our cities. I’m so glad you are on this team and we get to do significant kingdom building work together!
Every revival starts in prayer. I hope that is a significant part of your daily showprep.

“Lord, what do you want to develop in my show this summer? If there’s anything I’m doing to block that connection, please move it.” -Scott Herrold / Creative Cardio

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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…