Radio Hall of Fame broadcaster Preston Elliot, host of “The Preston and Steve Show” on 93.3 WMMR-FM, was the guest speaker for the Montgomery County Community College’s Master Class series recently.

Hosted by MCCC’s Sound Recording & Music Technology Program (SRT), Master Classes are free and provide students and community members with the opportunity to meet with and learn from professionals in the music industry.

Elliot, a native of St. Louis, told the crowd gathered in MCCC’s recording studio, The Mix Room, of the Advanced Technology Center on Blue Bell Campus that he found a passion for radio in high school.

“I always had an interest in radio,” he said. “I was a music fan and was enamored by what came out of my speaker. I was also curious about the people who presented that, the on-air personalities.”

On the radio he heard an advertisement for a trade school called the Broadcasting Center teaching students about announcement, production, copywriting, business and sales. Elliot’s early days as a musician weren’t panning out as he had hoped, and his mom suggested he enroll at the school.

“I found my spot,” he said. “I took to it quickly and wanted to be there.”

Before long he was working in local radio station in Salem, Mo., where he learned the trade and climbed the industry ladder. Elliot told students how important it was to explore internship programs.

“You absolutely have to get into that. It gets you mixing in with other industry professionals. It gets you in front of people like program directors and decisions makers, who can maybe see that you are, that you kind of stand out, ‘we should keep an eye on this person, maybe we should look to hire them when a position becomes available,’” he said, “because one of the truths about my business is that jobs, a lot of times, they don’t come along very often. Although it can be a very transient business where you have to move around, sometimes when you get into a place, you can end up staying there a long time. But positions don’t open up that often. So, you have to be at the right place at the right time.”

Elliot also talked about how he came to work at a radio station in Philadelphia through a contact he knew from working in St. Louis, and subsequently how he and eventual co-host Steve Morrison launched “The Preston and Steve Show” in 1998 before then moving the show to WMMR in 2005.

David Ivory, Director of MCCC’s Sound Recording and Music Technology, Grammy-nominated engineer and lead member of the Philadelphia Music Industry Task Force asked Elliot how important it is for students in an internship to be on time and to work hard.

“It’s crucial, it is absolutely crucial because management will notice these things without question,” he said. “They’ll also notice if you call in sick a lot, if you’re not on time, if you’re not doing what is asked of you, but what we do notice is people who do that and more, who are proactive and come to you with ideas. And also the thing you have to learn is not to be intrusive as well, and kind of pull back and wait for your moment, that although you may be eager you have to be careful not to insert yourself in too much into whatever is going on.”

Ivory thanked Elliot and his family members who came to watch the presentation for their time.

“It’s exciting for our program to bring professionals in like you,” he said. “To talk to students who are up and coming. You said you wished you had somebody at your college to give you some insight. So, we really appreciate having you today.”