Page 1
Program
Preparation Guide
When it comes to crafting your own radio show on SYN, there are a bunch of steps that
every SYNner goes through so that their program’s potential is fully realised. Within these
pages are instructions for you to put together all the components needed for an awesome
SYN show. Fill out this bible and use it as your own reference to hold yourself accountable
throughout the season.
If you need any assistance with your show, please email [email protected] or
[email protected] for a good time.
Your Show’s Name :
Presenter’s Name(s) :
Page 2
Show Brief and Outline Your plan for the duration of the show
Program Logo and additional graphics A simple logo to use on the SYN website, social media etc.
Show Media and Promos Giving your show personality and promotion
Running sheets, Cue Sheets and Briefs, OH MY! Preparation each week
Music Direction 40% Australian Music. Theme? Tone?
Regular Segments Live segment, journey segment, pre-recorded segment etc.
SYN Website and Social Media Text, audio, video and image posts
Page
3
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Page 3
The first step to jumping into a new
program is to set your show‟s brief- this is
a short blurb (1-2 sentences) on what
your show is setting out to achieve.
Some things to consider before defining
your brief are summarised below.
The following is an excerpt from the SYN Radio Training Manual 2013 chapter „Creating
a radio show‟. You can have a Radio Manual refresh by heading to syn.org.au/radiomanual
A good radio program:
Knows its mission
Knows its audience
Owns its topic
Sets a tone
SYN operates three main program types:
Flagship program
A flagship program is a permanent fixture in
the SYN program grid. It has a
predetermined topic and audience in mind.
Seasonal program
A seasonal program can be a program about
any topic that runs for a 10-12 week season.
Can only run 2 seasons max.
Diversity program
Our Diversity programs provide a unique
platform for youth, community and cultural
groups to get their voice heard. They usually
run as if they are flagships, with the
opportunity to run all year round with a
rotating roster of hosts.
Page 4
Know your mission
What do you want your program to achieve?
Example: The Science Show- “Our mission is
to make young people more informed about
science”
Know your audience
Who do you want your audience to be?
Example: The Naughty Rude Show- “Our
audience is young people aged 12-25 who
are curious about sex and relationships, but
who don‟t know where to get advice or
information from”
Owning your topic
Do your research. You should know your
topic back to front before you enter the
studio. Your audience are relying on you to
give them reliable information.
Example: The Video Game Hour- “I read
gaming blogs each week to make sure I
know all the latest releases and any big
news in the video game industry”
Setting your tone
How do you want your audience to feel when
they tune into your show?
Example: Panorama- “Panorama is a news
and current affairs show. We want to be
treated as serious journalists so the tone of
our program is authoritative and
professional”
Sustainability
Is your program sustainable? Can you
possibly think of 10-12 weeks of
content/topics to talk about? Map out and
plan your topics over a season - if you don‟t
have enough to talk about consider
broadening the scope of your program.
Show your passion
The best radio makers are passionate about
their content.
They care about what they are producing
and why they are producing it. Your passion
will shine through in your voice and in the
quality of your content.
Page 5
The previous six important elements, when combined, make your show into an awesome
show. When preparing any of these elements it‟s first important to ask yourself- what is
the brief (or aim) of your show? By defining this brief you can always look back whenever
you‟re developing content- if the content has the same aim as your show, it makes
everything seem united resulting in a stronger program.
What is your show brief (in 1 - 2 sentences)?
After setting out your show brief, try to determine the following-
Your mission: (what do you want your program
to achieve? This can be a single
statement or a few key content
ideas you wish to set out to do.)
Your program‟s
tone: (how do you want your audience
to feel when they tune in? Think
about what genre your program
is, eg. Comedy- light, humorous
tone)
Your program‟s
audience: (who are you setting out to
speak to? Eg. Students? A
particular ethnic group? People
interested in a particular topic?)
Age ranges (circle): under 12 12-17 18-24 25-34 35 & older
Page 6
After coming up with the concept
and brief of your show, it‟s important
to think about how your show is
going to last over a sustained period
of time.
Whether it is a 12 week season or a
year of flagship material that you
have to plan, working out an outline
for your program can be very
beneficial. It can not only help you
come up with content each week but
also aids in making your show feel like
it is progressing forward.
When you are planning your program outline, simply write out each of your episodes and
their air dates, adding any notes next to the program. These outlines do not need to be
used like a strict rulebook but are helpful documents to look back on if you‟re ever stuck
for content.
Think of your outline as planning out chapters in a book- what will go in those chapters?
There could they be:
Themed weeks
Events related to your show that you can cover
Potential interview ideas
Events to get your audience involved (eg. text in questions, contest etc.)
Segments ideas
Regular segments that progress and differ each week
Page 7
Abridged Show Outline
Week /
Air date
Ideas
1 Week of
__/__/15
2 Week of
__/__/15
3 Week of
__/__/15
4 Week of
__/__/15
5 Week of
__/__/15
6 Week of
__/__/15
7 Week of
__/__/15
8 Week of
__/__/15
9 Week of
__/__/15
10 Week of
__/__/15
Page 8
Space for additional awesome show outline ideas:
Page 9
In this shiny, new digital world we live in, it‟s important for your
show‟s presence to not only be on the radio – every successful
program on SYN employs a certain amount of cross platform
content. Whether it be posting video podcasts, articles,
maintaining social media accounts or just posting on your
SYN.org.au program page, every show needs some graphics to go
with its content.
Program logos are a requirement on the SYN website, otherwise
you get stuck with sad looking SYN dot logos, which are no fun.
So here are some tips to designing a really awesome program
logo-
The following borrows from an article entitled „5 Tips for Designing a
company logo That Wows‟ by Deborah Sweeney from Under30ceo.com
1. Colour
Colour is by far one of the most important components of designing
any logo that can work to unite all of your materials!
Sweeney suggests picking and sticking with “three or four main
colours… assigning each main element of the logo its own colour”.
Also, don‟t combine colours that don‟t match- unless that‟s what you‟re
going for!
Choosing a colour palette is one of the most fundamental parts of logo
design.
2. Typography
This is usually the first step to making your good logo AWESOME- finding an excellent font. An
excellent logo can just be comprised of the shot title against a coloured background, so picking a
great font is half the battle. Sweeney advises being careful in your choice, as the font can project
an idea of what your show is about, saying “mortuaries, for example, probably shouldn‟t use
Wing Dings”. In that vein, Panorama, a news program, shouldn‟t use Comic Sans.
Make sure your font is also free for non-commercial use or creative commons. Some good font
websites to browse include- fontspace.com and dafont.com
Page 10
3. Tone
It might be hard to work out this one by yourself but it‟s important that your logo is getting the
right tone across that matches your program‟s own. You wouldn‟t want your show to be very
serious but your logo to put across that it‟s a funny program.
Sweeney‟s tip to working out the tone of your logo is to “simply survey a few random people –
family and friends are typically the guinea pigs of choice”. Ask around and make sure that your
logo is going to draw the right people to your show!
4. Clarity
If your logo is doing its job, people should be able to tell what your show is about from looking at
it! With the same people you asked about the tone of your logo, also quiz them on what they
think your show is about.
If it‟s not coming across, Sweeney advises either coming up with a creative solution or “simply
fall[ing] back on the text and mak[ing] the graphic[s] more symbolic than explicit”.
5. Consistency
So, you have your lovely logo that conveys the right tone and message with its pretty colours and
font- now make sure you keep that going with all the other graphics in your show! Always make
sure you use the same logo across all your platforms, from your facebook account to your SYN
page and for extra points, try to use the same colour palette as your logo with everything
associated with your program.
Sweeney‟s last tip is that “an open mind and patience goes a long way and, when you design
your own logo, you can be sure it will be as much of an expression of your personality as the rest
of your [show] is”.
Page 11
Now it‟s your turn- give sketching a logo a go!
Page 12
What is show media?
The term „show media‟ refers to a few different types of audio pieces that work together
to give a program its sound, while also acting as an identifier to the listener, allowing
them to easily recognize the program they are listening to. The different types are-
Show Intro
This is a small audio piece that introduces your program. It is usually comprised of a music track
being played underneath a voice over introducing the program and can also utilise some sound
effects or clips. They generally have a long tail of music on the end to fade down and talk over at
the beginning of your program.
Sweeper
A sweeper is a short audio piece containing a combination of any or all of the following- the name
of the program, the hosts of the program, the time of the program and a short description of what
the program is. It is always best to make a version of your sweeper with music playing underneath
and one without, so that you can play the ones without background music over songs you are
playing!
Segment Sweeper
These are sweepers that usually announce the name of a segment, which can also include some
music, sound effects and a call-back to the name of the program or the person presenting the
segment. They can also be small sketches, working up to announcing the name of the segment. If
you want to put a description of the segment in there too, that‟s not a zany plan!
Show Outro
This is, strangely enough, the reverse of your show intro. It could be a simple sound clip
announcing the end to your program, the equivalent of Porky Pig saying “That‟s all folks!”, or could
simply be the intro theme track that you talk over.
Station ID
These identify the station that the audience is listening to, usually stating the station‟s name,
frequency and other methods of listening in (eg. Digital and online). They can also utilize a tagline
or have incorporate more information about the station through simple statement or sketch.
Generally these are put together by the radio department and scheduled in Flywire but you can
make a station ID specific to your program for fun!
Page 13
What are promos?
Promos are the sprinkles on the fairy
bread of radio- they are not only
delicious but also make the station
look good.
They make programs sound more
professional who play them and also
work to draw listeners to other
programs on the station and keep
them tuned in to SYN. Considering
they can take only minutes to whip
up, they are too good an opportunity
to pass up!
Standard Promos
These generally 30 second audio clips work to promote a program or event on SYN. They always
must include the name of the show/event, the day and time it is on (including AM and PM) and
where to listen in/go (eg. “Tune into SYN on 90.7FM, digital and streaming online”, “head to
[website] for more details” or “upstairs at the House of SYN” for an event). Anything else is up to
you! It‟s also best to include a music track underneath and sound effects where you see fit. There
are two types of standard promos that are generally used on SYN-
Weekly Promo
These are promos that have a shelf life of only one week! They can have a format of “Here‟s what
you missed on _________ this week” followed by a clip from your last program or can say what‟s
coming up on the show next week.
Generic Promo
These are promos that detail what your show is about but are not specific to a specific date. They
can run the whole season and can be anything you make them!
Edu-tainment Promos
These promos are not only a way to get more listeners to flock to your program but also are
informative. They come in two distinct types-
FYI Promos
FYI promos break down a topic specific to your program explaining it to the listener while also
stating that you can find out more by listening in! Eg. Your show is about 90s nostalgia, so you
might have FYI promos about the history of certain 90s fads, perhaps one explaining the history of
Furbies.
Review Promos
Review promos are made up of an audio review of anything from films to books to video games-
any medium that is related to your programs topic, calling for the listener at the end to then listen
in to your show. It can also include clips from whatever you‟re reviewing or an overarching format
(eg. 30 second review)
Page 14
Up next Promo
Up-next promos also come in two distinct types-
Coming up next on SYN
These are played only once a week and scheduled into the show previous to your show, to
encourage people to keep listening. A good way of ensuring they get played is to meet the
people involved
Coming up tomorrow on the show
For flagship programs that have a show every weekday, it‟s a good idea to do a little
promo featuring the hosts from the next day‟s show, saying what‟s coming up and inviting
the listener to stay tuned in throughout the week!
Combo Promo
Combo promos are a new trend at SYN and one we‟re very happy with! If you have any programs
of a similar theme or genre, or even have a bunch of show on one night at SYN, you can get
together with your fellow SYNners and make a promo that promotes all of your shows at once!
Can you feel the love tonight?
Sponsorship Announcements
These help pay for SYN‟s costs and MUST be played when scheduled.
Advertising is strictly prohibited on SYN so instead, SYN is able to sell “sponsorship” with some
strict rules:
SYN may broadcast no more than 5 minutes of sponsorship per hour.
Sponsors must be clearly identified in the sponsorship announcement.
So you don‟t need to worry about making these ones, just be aware that you have to play them!
Required content Show Media-
A connection to your program and a fulfilment of the show media’s purpose.
Promos- Stating the station’s name “SYN” Your program’s name Time and day that the program is on What the show is about (though your promo should
illustrate this) Lengths Show Media-
Keep it short and snappy but there is not limit! Promos-
30 seconds to 1 minute
Limit on quantity Show Media-
As many as you can churn out! Promos-
Four max per program. Keep them new and rotating so you can make more!
Things you cannot include
o Obscene content (just think- will this be okay to play during ‘Schools on Air’?)
o Defamation
o Promotion of violence drugs and Alcohol
o Plagiarism
o Copyright- try your best to use creative commons audio! Some good websites are-
http://www.freesound.org/
http://www.jamendo.com/
http://freemusicarchive.org
Page 15
Use this space for scripting your new show media and promos!
Show Media
Remember-
Is this relevant to your
show?
Does this show media
fulfil its intended
purpose?
Will anyone listening to
the program understand
what‟s going on in this
piece of audio? Is its
purpose clear? Test on
friends!
Page 16
Promos
Remember-
Does your promos
include all the relevant
information? Eg. Who
you are, the name of
your show, what time it‟s
on, how to listen in,
what station it is on?
Are they entertaining?
Is it clear what your
program does from the
promo?
Page 17
Running sheets are the backbone of every well prepared program on SYN. Their many
benefits include-
Ensuring that your show will run to time
Allowing for anyone to pick them up and know how the show should be run
Allowing each of the presenters to be on the same page
Helps in back/front announcing music
For your own blank, auto-calculating runsheet, you can head to tinyurl.com/synrunsheet
and hit „Make a Copy‟ while logged into your own Google Drive for a copy or click
„Download As‟ to edit in your choice of spread sheet editing program
Page 18
Once you have your runsheet tying the show together, there are a few other helpful tools
you can employ that expand on the items upon that runsheet- namely, cue sheets and
briefs! Both have specific uses but are very much of the same purpose- keeping your
show tight, prepared and professional sounding.
A cue sheet is used for introducing any pre-recorded
material or packages. It includes information on the
piece being played (such as who it was produced by, it‟s
location and the duration), a short, scripted intro
detailing what the piece is, the first sentence or two of
the piece (cue in), the last sentence or two of the piece
(cue out) and a scripted backannounce (which can detail
who made the package, where to find it after broadcast
or even a question to ask the audience).
Cue sheets are usually written by the person
constructing the piece and passed onto the announcer,
so don‟t forget to pass yours on with any audio you
produce!
You can download an example at syn.org.au/resources
A brief can be used for a lot of different things but the main
use of a brief is for interviews. It contains all of the
information anyone could possibly need on completing a
segment or interview by just picking up the brief, without
any previous research.
It can be put together by the person doing the segment or a
producer and can include the topic, any names required
(and their pronunciation), a scripted introduction to the
segment, an opening question, some more questions or
lines of enquiry for the interviewer or segment producer to
take and any other notes or background information that
the presenter may require.
You can download an example of an interview brief at
syn.org.au/resources
Page 19
So you‟ve constructed all of the runsheets, cue sheets and briefs you could possibly
desire- now how do you pass them onto the rest of your team? There are a few websites
and applications that are perfect for collaboration that many SYNners use to make sure
everyone is on the same page. Some of them are-
Google Drive
Google drive is a really excellent method of not only sharing
documents but also working on them at the same time,
together in real time.
It‟s used by a lot of programs at SYN, sometimes with a
gmail account connected to their show and other times by
just making a shared folder that everyone in the program
has access to.
Secret Facebook
Group
This is a flagship favourite- for organising or discussing your
show, facebook is an excellent place because most people
can‟t get off the thing.
All you have to do is head to
facebook.com/bookmarks/groups and click the „Create
Group‟ button in the top right hand corner. Just change your
privacy settings to „Secret‟ to keep your discussions
internal. You can see how SYN uses its group by heading to
facebook.com/groups/synmedia
Dropbox
For everything that‟s a little bit bigger than google drive,
Dropbox is an excellent alternative. It‟s a good place to keep
copies of old shows and clips of audio, or even just store all
the media associated with your program.
The desktop version also allows for syncing between your
files on your computer and the cloud, so that nothing will
get lost. Get on it!
There are many more methods of preparing and communicating with your fellow show
runners- why not try them and pass them onto other SYNners via SYN‟s own secret
facebook group? ( facebook.com/groups/synmedia )
Page 20
Even if your show isn‟t a music program, it‟s more than likely that you‟ll have some music
in it- such is the nature or radio! It‟s important that your music choices go on to
perpetuate the tone or the program that you‟re trying to put across. Try not to randomly
select music for the sake of filling in where you need music- think about what that music
says about your program.
Here are four tips that you can fall back on when playlisting your program-
Consider the tone of your program and how that will work with your music
selection. Eg. If you have a program about philosophy, combining this with top 40
hits may seem a bit disjointed, Katy Perry and Satre make strange bedfellows.
Wheras, if you have a discussion program about the latest in pop culture, top 40
music will suit you just fine. Pick the right music for the right program.
The excellent thing about SYN is it‟s eclectic music selection as it‟s the
combination of all of our volunteers- so when you‟re in a pinch and finding it
difficult to pick between tracks, embrace that and play something you wouldn‟t
expect to hear on the radio.
One way of helping select music is to work with themes- if back in your program
outline stage you assigned some themes, perhaps your music choices could sit
within them? Eg. You might have a pirate themed program for „Talk Like a Pirate
Day‟ and play nothing put sea shanties!
If you want to aid in making SYN sound more united in music direction, there is a
perfect way to do this by adding some Sweet 16 tracks or Feature Album tracks to
your program. Each week, the music department meet and select the top 16 new
music tracks of the week- eight Australian and eight international. They also pick
two Feature Albums- one for a local artist and one for an international artist.
If you play any two tracks from this wide selection of music, you‟ll help give a
musical flow to our eclectic little station.
You can find all these tracks at the House of SYN or the studios on any computer
with the LIBRARY drive. Just click around and go on a musical adventure!
Alternatively, you can help steer music selection at SYN by heading to the music
meeting, every Thursday from 5:30pm at the House of SYN.
Page 21
Show Page and maintaining a web presence
The SYN website is a pretty
place but it can be confusing
when you start off!
Head to syn.org.au/gettingonline
for step by step guides on
making show pages and doing
more awesome stuff.
If you need any help in setting
up and maintaining your show page you can email the online
dudes at [email protected] !
It‟s important to keep up a web presence elsewhere on the
internet as well so your show is a program that the audience can
interact with! Pick any social media sites of your choosing for your
program but don‟t just get all of them and let them sit idle eg. If
your show isn‟t going to use an instagram, don‟t just make one for
the sake of it. Then let [email protected] know what social media
you have so they can promote your feeds!
Even if you have all these social media streams you still have to
post things to your SYN program page. It‟s the first port of call for
listeners and SYN will promote your shows in the eNews if you
have full show pages! So get on it!
Page 22
And a few more things….
Podcasts
Always make sure you edit out any
music or sponsorship announcements!
Don‟t ever upload a podcast with
copyrigted content in it –we‟d been in
legal issues if we acted like the Pirate
Bay!
Playlists
Post a playlist of all the songs you played during your show AFTER EVERY SHOW. On
the new website, if you click „Add Content‟, then „Add Blog Post‟ and click the second
tab up the top that says „Extra Options‟ you can add an awesome playlist! This helps
with the crazy amount of emails that the radio department get each day asking them
about a particular song playing during a particular show – you‟ll be helping out
listeners and the radio manager from their heads exploding! They also make us look
totes profesh while giving artists some lovely exposure.
SYN Awards
The SYN Awards are held every year. They annually celebrate how awesome we all
are and you can nominate yourself/your show/presenters/others throughout the
year. You can nominate by heading to http://members.syn.org.au and clicking the
„Nominate for a SYN Award‟ tab!
Guests
Oh hey! Do you want a specific guest? Do you want a random guest? Do you want a
guest? Then you need to email [email protected] ! Always email Talks when organising
any interviews – it makes us look professional and avoids guests being able to
appear on every single flagship throughout the week with no-one knowing. You can
also use this form for interview requests http://tinyurl.com/synterviewform