The Making of The Jaily Show, Part 1

Prepping The Show 

As the flagship output of GLProUK, we like to make the most out of any given episode of The Jaily Show. For us, it’s not just a podcast series or a regular live video stream. It’s the basis for a regular cycle of content that can be shared across a multitude of platforms – audio, video and social alike.

We host the show on our YouTube channel, put it out across all podcast apps, and drop audiograms and video promos across our social media. Behind all of this is a regular hum of activity that touches everyone at GLProUK: guests have to be sourced and booked, graphics have to be created, and a live show and subsequent releases have to be managed.

Over a two part blog, we explain the steps taken for each Jaily Show episode to ensure that we’re not just getting great guests and making fun and interesting shows, but that we’re also making the most of our content. In the first part, we look at the processes that need to take place right up to the point we go live – from booking guests to creating visuals and prepping the live show.

Booking Guests - Jay Ludgrove: Host

“My first job for any Jaily Show episode is to find and book guests. We like to stay quite ahead so I'm usually looking around two or three months ahead of a show. The first question is do they fit the show and what we want to achieve for our audience? A lot of people want to get better with their social media and digital marketing, and I’m very much one of them. I personally like to learn by getting information in a conversational way. So we’re hoping viewers and listeners come away with four or five golden nuggets, and are entertained along the way.

I tend to go out and find guests who are killing it on LinkedIn with a strong audience. An awful lot of people say that they are great at LinkedIn or Instagram but I’m looking first and foremost for the people who can practice what they preach – what success have they had? Once booked, I can then sit down with all of these brilliant people who are doing so well and try and find some common denominators. But first it’s over to our graphic designer Toby – we can’t go live without him!”        

Creating Visuals - Toby Askey: Graphic Design

“I create all of the visual elements for the show, including live on-screen assets, thumbnails and images used across the social media platforms. We use a range of images when promoting the show, and there’s different thumbnail sizes needed for release across different platforms. After I’ve done those, I’ll move onto the still lower thirds that appear on screen during the live show itself – captions that provide information on both host and guest.

So in the weeks running up to a show I have to make sure I have everything I need: a headshot of the guest, plus details such as titles they prefer to go by and their company name. Plus social media tags – because we go out live on LinkedIn, we include these tags as standard, but we may also include YouTube, Instagram or Facebook. Sometimes a guest at the last minute will decide they don’t like how their headshot looks so I’ll have to quickly make a fresh batch of images!”

Live Production - Tony Gordon: Producer

“Once Toby has created all the necessary graphics, and we’ve teased the show through a few social media posts, it’s up to me to make sure we’re ready to go live on the day itself. Once Toby has handed over his on screen assets, I’ll build the digital stage as it were. This includes getting all the right captions in place, and making sure we’re all synced up and ready to go on our platform of choice, which for the live show is LinkedIn Live.

Come going live day, my job like any producer is to ensure Jay as host is not worrying about anything other than talking to his guest. With my timeline of visual and audio assets laid out, I’m ready to drop in stings and lower thirds as required. And just as importantly, if anything goes wrong it’s me – and not Jay – who is frantically trying to fix it. For example, sometimes we can’t avoid the live stream cutting out and this involves creating a new link for the event and reaching audience members by posting on existing pages. This is something you simply couldn’t do if you were also hosting the show and trying to keep a guest happy.

With all of our interviews since COVID having to be conducted remotely, we have come to rely on other people’s infrastructure a lot more. Everything from their internet service provider to their camera angle and background setting has an impact on what I do. We try and plan what we can, but often we only have the ten minutes before we go live to get everything in place, asking guests to reframe themselves or put on headphones. The good news is over the last year so many more people are used to communicating in this way and have upgraded their gear.

I’m looking forwarding to recording on site again even though that poses a completely different set of challenges! There I have to worry about setting up multiple cameras, and cutting between them over the course of the show. The logistics of interviewing people in their home are relatively simple – dial in, boom, you’re there.”

In the second part of our The Life of a Jaily Show blog, we have a look at Jay’s approach to the interview itself, plus all that needs to happen to ensure the show is promoted and adapted as far and wide as possible.

Simon Watson, Operations Manager, GLProUK

GLProUK is a digital marketing agency based in London and Surrey, helping market-leading brands fulfil their content requirements. We bring a passion for innovation to our podcasts, graphic design, professional video and photography, tailoring our expertise and enthusiasm to the unique aspects of your project.

We believe in making the client experience as easy as possible, whether we’re developing a full marketing strategy, fulfilling your production brief, supplying a production crew or offering post-production services.

Visit our website here.

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