If you ever had a minute to stop and think, you’d feel it – that deep foreboding dread of the Christmas flip. While everyone else will be decorating, party planning and filling with holiday cheer, you’ll be chained to your studio trying to smile as the dump truck of seasonal production and year end giving demands just keeps giving and giving.
But what if there were something you could do right now to potentially change the entire game? What if you already have everything you need to make this holiday season the first one you actually smile back at…for real. Here are three things to do right now to make a real difference this holiday season.
ONE: TEAM UP to agree on a priority approval pipeline
Prioritize one meeting only with the heads of sales, programming, production, promotions and the GM. Have each department head list what might constitute an urgent order or change to them during Q4. Compare notes and white board final definitions by three levels of priority: Now, Next, ASAP. Your GM is the tie breaker. Get ahead of this as soon as you can and you’ll be shocked at the difference it will make.
I’ve developed a no-fail detailed production triage system that I teach my coaching clients to make this simple and extremely effective, but for this year, this single meeting can slow the tide and restore some joy to the season. (Number 3 will make Christmas future thank you big time.)
TWO: TEMPLATIZE your best holiday production
Instantly save valuable production time by having producers work from templates and gain ultimate control over consistency and quality. It’s much easier to tweak plugins and settings than to start from scratch. And listening through the highest quality example first sets an auditory expectation that any tweaks will be balanced against. The result is always better production when rushed for time
The rising tide that raises all ships
Have every producer send their most well produced work. You’ll want to gather examples for every category of holiday production you use most. This makes great Christmas contest for producers Give the winner of the best sounding work a hilarious white elephant gift. It’s a fun way to light a fire to up their game for this years holiday production for next years contest.
Choose the cream of the crop
Narrow down the ones that sound the best and make copies, keeping only the plugins and settings. If you have trouble with consistent quality on important production direct certain types of production to select music and effect libraries as a starting point.
Skip Categories – go for FEEL
Well produced audio changes not because of content but because of the feeling we want to leave the listener with. A concert or event spots needs to feel huge and exciting. Emotional scripts need paired down effects and EQ to feel intimate. Save even more time by preloading folders with your best holiday beds and effects. Preload effects that are likely always in certain production pieces like jingle bells, crowd sounds or for imaging, any signature sounds that identify your station. (you have those don’t you?)
THREE: TRACK every problem
You’ll never have a greater opportunity than Q4 to learn what’s really causing the problems that can be most easily fixed forever. All you need to track is the order name or number, the problem, and any detail that will help you identify where the kinks are in your production pipeline.
Once you’ve recovered from Q4, compile your results and identify the core problems. Prioritize training or systems to solve these in next years budget and take the overwhelm out of the busiest seasons.
Having the whole team working off the same definition of ‘urgent’ will decrease burnout, templatizing will automatically improve consistency and quality, and tracking now is the key to making next year.
Kim Snyder is the creative force behind the nationally recognized radio avatar “Linda,” the cornerstone of Christian radio branding. As lead writer and producer for K-LOVE and Air1 for over a decade, her campaigns helped define the voice of a generation. Today, Kim consults through ChristianRadioCoaching.com where her signature insights continue to shape the future of faith-based media.