Check everything before going live

Whether you are mixing a live show, church service, broadcast, doesn't matter what, check all your audio sources beforehand.

And this does not mean a few days before.  Check it immediately before.  Just because it worked on Tuesday doesn't mean it's working on Sunday.

How many times have you been somewhere and a video comes up on the screen and no audio?  This happens far more often than I am comfortable with.

Check it beforehand.  Are all the connections right?  Has someone unplugged something without you knowing?  Is the audio output on the computer set up properly?

Do you use radio mics?  Check them.  Are the batteries dead?  Is the receiver picking up the signal properly?

Do you need to play a CD in the show?  Have you checked the CD player actually reads the CD and audio is coming out?  Does it cue up properly so that when you push play there is not 5 seconds of silence first?

Check all mics to make sure they work and are coming in on the mixer where you are expecting them to.

Please people, no more gaps.