All Those Buttons and Knobs: How to be a Good On-Air Tech
By Victoria Fenner

1. Relax. Learning to use the equipment is like learning to drive. After the first day, you won't even have to think (much) about where everything is. Expect a few glitches.
   
2. Be organized. Always keep one step ahead of yourself. Know which music or interviews are supposed to go next. Do a program "log" before you go into the studio. Keep it in front of you so you can see what's coming up next. Cross off finished items so that you can see at a glance what's next.
   
3. If the next item is on tape or CD, have it "cued" and ready to go while the preceding item is on the air.
   
4. Always have a piece of music cued up and ready to go in a CD or cassette player you're not using. That way, you have something you can go to quickly if need be.
   
5. Talk to the on-air people regularly about what they have coming up. Be flexible - changes can and will happen.
   
6. If it gets too busy in the control room, tell people to take their conversations somewhere else. You are the final link in the chain before you go on air. You need to concentrate, and people need to be aware if they're interfering with your concentration. They won't always figure it out themselves.
   
7. Pay attention to the person who's on the air. You need to watch each other for hand signals, since we won't have a talkback system. Plus, the person on the air needs to see that somebody is listening. If you're ignoring her, she'll think everybody else is too.
   
8. Have fun!
   

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