How To...... STRUCTURE A SHOW

[BeccaAttfield]

The first guide we'll be working is...

HOW TO STRUCTURE A SHOW

If you have any kind of show on a hospital or community radio then we want to know how you plan and structure it.

What are your tips for new presenters who just look at an empty two hour slot and don't know how to best to fill it/ make effective use of their airtime?

[Jingleman]

I think everyone who faces the mic will agree - it's really important to know what you are going to do NEXT when you are live on air, so my playlist plans are based on this. And this is what we tell our volunteers if they are looking for some guidance.

So my playlist has headings - Artist / Title / Info / Next. In the "info" column I may have the year or chart position or the LP that the track is from just as a reminder. In the "Next" column it will simply remind me in one or two words of which jingle I'm going to use, or of a feature that I'm doing (movie reviews for instance) or of info that I want to give out (how to get a request, what the web address is etc).

So whilst I'm blabbering on about the weather and how much I enjoyed my tea etc - my show retains some direction and the features and other things I wanted in it don't get forgotten.

And for a new presenter struggling to get past "that was .. and this is" it leads them from point to point in their show without it sounding actually scripted.

And for everybody's info, the cellular structure of Excel or similar lends itself to the making of these playlists much better than Word etc. And for your chart info go to everyhit dot com or the invaluable Wikipedia. If anyone would like a sample or a blank sheet to work then do email me and I'll happily send one on.