Spring cleaning! Aircheck yourself this week and answer these questions:
1. Who is your show actually trying to reach? Is that original target person the one that you are actually reaching? What results are you getting that seem to be a little different than what you are targeting?

2. How does your target listener use your show when you are on the air? (Is that person driving to work? Sitting in a cube at the office? Is she listening primarily in the car? Primarily at home?  Or primarily in the office? Is your target listener using your as background music? As a reconnect with God after a long day? As worship? As an information source? As entertainment?

3. When your listener pushes the button on her stereo for your radio station, what does she expect to feel? (Is your show delivering that intangible the way that your other team members deliver it?)

4. What role does hope and encouragement play in your show today?

5. What is your show known for? Does your show have a competitive advantage? What do your listeners feel when they plug in with your show for multiple days in a row?

6. What strengths does your show bring to your radio station?

7. How long does your average listener actually listen per day to your show? (Think about how your content connects or misses the mark in that setting)

8. What’s the best story you’ve told on your show this week?

9. What are three opportunities in your local market that your show can step up and serve in? How does your show demonstrate service?

10. Is there anything that your show can be #1 at? Is there anything in your market that you can do better than any other personality?

Neilsen Audio released a study that shows that Millennials actually consumer MORE radio than Gen X & Baby Boomers. It’s interesting because radio has always faced competition with all the options that American have right on their smartphone, tablet & PC. Nielsen Audio says  “Of the 243 million AMERICANS (aged 12 or older) using radio each week, 66.6 million of them are millennials. That far outpaces the size of the weekly Generation X and Baby Boomer audiences, with 57.9 million weekly listeners each.” In addition, Millennials  spend over 11 hours each week with their favorite radio stations. That’s 73% of their radio listening outside the home. Afternoon drive is the most popular time of the day for radio listening from Millennials.

Click here for the full report from Nielsen Audio.

Here’s the audio from an air talent brainstorm we had about a year ago on how to build more dynamic call in discussions! We talked about topics, engagement, momentum & framing calls.  Feel free to download this audio and share it with your entire staff!

We invite you to join our community here at Creative Cardio. It’s $35 per month, but the idea starters in our forum will save you so much time in show prep.

We’re all about mentoring and challenging your creativity! Click HERE for a 1 month FREE trial to experience all the topic ideas & raw caller audio in this community! There’s no pressure if you decide not to continue after the free month. Try it out & you might have the best month of content in your entire career. #Honestly

Here’s a taste of what we do with dry calls for our members each week. Use these calls as a discussion starter or use in your voice trax next week to make your show sound live! (There’s a couple calls inside this file)

(You can right click here to download the audio)

**If you find these DRY CALLS helpful, join CreativeCardio.com! We have TONS of DRY CALLS you can use as discussion starters if you join as a paid member right here!

The best worship leaders are not performers. They are composers & servant leaders. They gently lead the audience through worship by inviting the individual to be part of something bigger. They follow God’s presence and they help that individual connect the dots.

It always surprises me how many Christian radio personalities don’t actually listen to music they are playing on the radio.

We let performance, bits & traffic reports pull us away from the bigger reasons our listeners tune in. They are looking for hope, encouragement and a better connection with God.

I think we can all do a better job in our delivery! Click here for the FULL ARTICLE and a few ideas!

We want to tell stories. We want to have interesting discussions. We want to spark ideas and challenge each other to do something memorable. We want our shows to be so much deeper than a list of random songs. We want to question the status quo.  We want to have meaningful discussions about life, faith, work, marriage and parenting. We want to be an encouragement.

We are the Creative Cardio community and we don’t want to follow culture. We want to set culture. Together we have influence.

-Jayar Reeves & Scott Herrold

Come up with 2-3 simple questions each day in your show prep. When someone calls in to make a request/comment, ask them one of the questions you have prepared in your prep. Record every call! After you have 3-4 good answers to the question, use them in one of your slow hours. Set up the discussion on the air and play a great call right away. Invite listeners to be part of the show and share their feedback. Then come out of the next song with another great call to build momentum for the discussion.

Another idea is to start the very beginning of your show with a handful of calls you already have recorded. It could be a song request, a question about a concert or a topic that is relevant to the day. Use those calls to strategically engage more listeners to call in. Use sweepers with your phone number over the song intros in the general time frame after you play the recorded calls. (IE Call, song,  phone number sweeper, song, call, song to build momentum for a continued discussion)

Obviously you never want to play a lame call just for the sake of “interaction” on your show. Lame calls can kill ratings. We’re talking about using some compelling pre-recorded calls to strategically drive momentum at the times when you are ready to kick off an on air discussion. Fire the cannon!

“Young leaders (in their 20’2 & 30’s) are called, but not yet fully equipped!” -Brad Lomenick (Head of Catalyst)

Brad talks with Scott Herrold in this podcast about a changing of the guard in leadership w/ boomers & millennials. He talks about how we (as leaders) need to go out of our way to “honor” those who work with us. He also talks about visionary leaders vs leaders having vision. This should challenge you in the way you lead at work!

Before I start my show each day, I write up a list of simple questions I can ask listeners who call into my show. (These questions are for people calling in to make song requests or ask questions about something they heard on the show) That way I can grab great audio from my listeners and use it to start a deeper discussion on the show. Simple questions like:

How did your team play this weekend?

Best show on TV right now?

How has your schedule changed since your kids went back to school?

Your biggest challenge as a parent this school year?

What activities do you have your kids in this year?

When I record listeners answering simple questions, I can build an arsenal of responses from real people. That way, when I’m ready to go on the air and start a discussion, I can simply play a quick call. It sounds so much better than asking rhetorical questions on the show or begging listeners to call in with a response.

Instead I can say something like: “I still can’t keep our schedule straight! The kids have been in school two weeks, but I need debrief from my wife each morning just to keep my sanity!” Then play a call from a listener saying: “Me too! I used to use my iphone to keep my calendar, but I went back to the old school daytimer book cause my calendar app doesn’t have enough lines!” Then I simply give out the phone number and we start a discussion about it. Multiple calls can build momentum. We always win when we make the listener the star.

Here’s a fun video that Kris P Kreme, Dave Cruse & Jayar Reeves put together for their pledge drive. Get inspired! -Scott