We're On The Air!

Lucy Ann Lance

Today was my big break into the world of radio. I don't have the audio ready just yet. Hopefully that will be coming in the next couple of days. I know some of you must be a little curious about what it's like to be on a radio show, so here's my experience. Hopefully, this will give you an idea of what to expect should you find yourself in a similar position.

So, what happened?

Well, the show was set to start at 7:35am, so I, being of the "better 30 minutes early than 5 minutes late" set, arrived at the WAAM 1600 station at 7am. I actually hadn't intended on being quite that early, but I didn't realize exactly how close it was and I forgot that there wouldn't be much traffic at that time of day.

I walked into a tiny lobby -- dark paneled, with just enough room for a couple of chairs and a display table. Much of one wall was taken up by a window looking in on the producer's station. Drew Priebe, the producer, saw me as I came in and waved, but obviously had to keep his mind on the show. I settled into one of the chairs to await my "co-stars", Cheryl O'Brien, the Membership Director of the Chamber of Commerce, and Jesse Bernstein, the President of same. I was also working hard to get the butterflies in my stomach to fly in formation.

Cheryl arrived about ten minutes later. We sat and chatted about Chamber business until Jesse showed up around 7:30. He's apparently done this so many times that he was feeling pretty relaxed about the whole thing. For Cheryl and I it was the first (though she had actually met Lucy Ann before).

Suddenly, the door to the studio opened and Drew was there to beckon us in to the broadcast booth, where our host, Lucy Ann Lance, was waiting for us. My doom was approaching, as I was certain that as soon as I opened my mouth on the air, something idiotic was bound to come out.

OK, first of all, at least on first impressions (and from what I've heard, those impressions are completely accurate), Lucy Ann is one of the sweetest, kindest, most generous souls you ever will meet. She was a complete delight getting us seated and making us feel right at home with a little small talk. She asked me a few questions about myself -- this was all off the air -- and joked around with Jesse whom she obviously knew quite well.

For the next twenty minutes or so, broken up by traffic reports, weather, and the occasional commercial, we had what felt like a private chat with Lucy Ann. She would be a great addition to any social gathering because she has the wonderful ability to draw a person out and make them feel like they are just the smartest, most interesting, and most important person around. I was further amazed by her ability to do all of this while signaling to her producer to do a variety of things that I'm assuming involved the technical aspects of running the show.

Twenty minutes literally flew by. I couldn't believe it when it was suddenly time to go. Lucy Ann thanked us and said goodbye as we filed out the door. Out in the sunshine of a beautiful summer morning, it all felt like something out of a dream. Honestly, I'm not even sure what I said, for the most part. Lisa assured me that I didn't sound like an idiot, so what more could I ask?

So, let me say, if you ever have the opportunity to be on the radio and especially if your host is Lucy Ann Lance, be sure to show up and be assured that you have nothing to fear. In fact, you'll probably have a great time.

So, have you ever had a chance to be on the radio?