What to Expect

At the beginning of the semester when I went in for my producer training and was handed a stack of papers about formatting and everything else a producer needs to know I was completely confused.  The idea of producing made me nervous especially since I did not know what to expect.

Since then I have learned things that can only be taught through personal experience.  I have learned that no two news days are the same, to be realistic when putting story ideas together and most importantly things will not always work out.  There is no way to learn those lessons without actually going through a producing day.

The advice I would give incoming producers is to be patient.  It is easy to get frustrated and stressed during a hectic news day but keeping calm and understanding that this is a learning process makes a difference.  Staying organized is also really important.  As a producer there are so many things to remember and I thought making lists during the day was extremely beneficial.  

I really believe in order to learn as a producer you have to experience it firsthand.  When people told me what to expect I did not quite understand until I actually went through the situation.