CCM Coaching Tip #17: Don't Try

by Tommy Kramer, KramerMedia.net

Here's something your boss will probably never tell you: Don't try.

How this translates to what we do is that sounding like you're "trying" can be felt on the other end of the radio, and it pushes people away.

It's got to seem easy, spontaneous, like you just thought of it. When you attempt to "sell" something, you're missing the whole point. We want to SWAY the listener, draw her or him a step closer, convince that person break-by-break, day-by-day, that listening to you is the most valid choice.

I'm not saying you shouldn't give it your best effort. You should be conscious of making even the simplest, most mundane break you do be bright, tight, pro, and polished. But "trying" comes across as "trying too hard" - maybe even begging for attention or validation. That never works.

ESPECIALLY in the Contemporary Christian Music arena, we hear people "trying" WAY too much. Just last week, a very good morning team I work with had a wonderful call from a woman about how her daughter's cancer had miraculously disappeared, ending with how "when we heard it was completely gone, all of us started crying."
This was a great place to get out (the First Exit, if you're familiar with my most important technique). But instead, the male cohost added, "How do you not believe in God after a story like that?"

In our session the next day, I asked him, "Was part of the story that someone DIDN'T believe in God? Otherwise, this seems superfluous."
And even more importantly, it seems way too typical of what a new listener to the station (or format) would expect. (And reject.)

A much better option after the woman said "all of us started crying," would have been to simply pause a beat, then add - softly - "we did, too"...and then GO! No "summation" or "the moral of the story is..." No "commercial for God". (He doesn't NEED them.)

So give this some thought, then go have fun today...but don't "try".