What does a radio producer actually do?

The most obvious career path in radio is the presenter, but most jobs in radio are actually behind the scenes.

You might have heard your favourite DJ chatting to their producer... so what does a radio producer actually do?

Julie Shepherd is Clara Amfo's producer. She's going to take us through a day in the life of a Radio 1 show.

The pre-show prep for Clara Amfo's show

Radio 1 producer Julie Shepherd talks us through the things she does to prep Clara's show

We don't just make it up as we go along you know!

OK sometimes we make it up as we go along, but Julie says most of Clara's show is planned out in advance.

"Before I leave the day before we'll have everything set up and we'll have a really strong idea of what we're going to do."

That prep includes a lot of listening to music. Not bad right?

This is the fun bit! The show has been planned, the red light is on and you're on the radio - but that doesn't mean you can relax.

If there's very serious news going on you wouldn't want to be too upbeat, but we need to try and retain the sound of Radio 1

Julie Shepherd, Radio 1 producer

Being the producer means making sure all the equipment is working properly and the quality of both the sound and the content is up to scratch. You've got to be listening intently to what's going out on the radio at all times.

It's down to you to keep the show on-air and running smoothly.

Julie says this means knowing what feels right and when to change things.

That could mean "too much unfamiliar music or too much chat about one thing".

It's the producer's job to make sure nothing that goes out is insensitive to the listener.

"If there's a huge news story then something you had planned to do might feel inappropriate."

What do you do when things go wrong on the radio? Radio 1 producer Julie explains.

Foals' singer lost his voice before a Live Lounge. Here's how the producer responded.

Live radio is fast-paced and exciting but it's the producer's job to stay grounded.

When something as big as the Live Lounge goes wrong it's even more important, so Julie says the top trait you need as a radio producer is being calm, cool and collected when everyone else is losing it.

Radio 1 Producer Julie: "Your main job is to be really calm, clear and consistent"

Clara Amfo's producer Julie Shepherd shares what the top traits for a radio producer are.

Three hours of live radio can be pretty tiring, but your job isn't done.

When the show's off-air sometimes we just collapse in a heap because it's over

Julie starts thinking about tomorrow's show as soon as Clara finishes for the day.

"It's a daily show... so usually we'll be recording bits maybe for the afternoon show or pre-recording interviews we're going to run later in the week."