Change Your Radio Game With What You Don't Say

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"

It's a question first asked by Dr. Seuss, I think? (That's what page 1 of my Google search told me. I didn't click past page 1).

It's relevant to what you do on the radio. Set your humility aside for a moment. You must stand out. You don't have a choice anymore, if for no other reason than self and career preservation.

Standing out starts with what you don't say. When you decide to stop sounding like every other "deejay" and amateur podcaster who can afford a $50 microphone. Below is a list of over-used radio (and now podcast) crutches and cliché's. Things you've heard up and down the dial since before you were old enough to read Dr. Seuss. And full disclosure: I've been guilty of my fair share of these audio sins. They're like weeds: Just when you have one defeated, another roars to life.

If you're diligent at whacking away though, you'll be ahead of most other voices vying for your listener's attention.

1. "That's music from..." (your listener already knows it's music; it's not "broccoli from.")
2. "A little something from..." "Here's some..." (I want it all. Not "some.")
3. "Don't go away we'll be right back." Or, "up next." Or, "after this." "On the other side." "Right after we pay some bills." (The moment the first syllable of one of these phrases begins, your listener's survival instinct nopes out. They'll THINK what follows is a commercial, even if your brand is commercial-free. And the important message you want to keep them for won't get heard.)
4. "Right now it's partly cloudy and 78-degrees outside." (Lots of words for a little info. "Right now" vs. some other time? "78-degrees outside" vs. in somebody's closet?) ("Degrees" is also an extra word that can clutter breaks up. Semantics, I know. But using it takes you a step further from brevity. Great communicators are crisp.)
5. "Mike with you here." (I'd never talk to you like that in person. I'd say "I'm Mike.")
6. "Mike with you here on a Tuesday." "On a Tuesday afternoon...morning..." (We're entertainers, not calendars.)
7. "_______ (your name) in the air-chair. On the 1's and 2's. The wheels of steel." Etc. (How is this still happening in 2018?)
8. "It's yo boy/yo girl _____ on ______." Or "It's yo boy/yo girl in the studio....on the mic...." (I guess if you're talking up a Vanilla Ice intro, this still works.)
9. "Keep it locked." "Don't change that dial." (Do radios have dials anymore?)
10. "Log on to ____dot com." Nobody "logs on" anymore. Simplify. "Go to ____ dot com." (And please don't say "www dot" before the site.)
11. "Broadcasting live." "Live in the studio." (Does the listener care?)
12. Referring to various parts of town as "up there," or "over in," or "down at," etc. The audience is EVERYWHERE. "Up there" from where you sit is exactly where they might be, and you'll be removing intimacy from the just-you-and-the-listener relationship radio is built on.
13. "_____ (your name) hanging with you." "Checking in." "Keeping you company." (I can't recall a time you ever walked into a room and said "Hey everybody. It's me checking in! And keeping you company!")
14. "_____ (your name) here with you." (You're not THERE withOUT me? I'm shocked!)
15. "Out there" (like "be careful out there." "It's hot out there.") It's just you and the listener, forming and intimate bond. Until you use words that put some subtle distance in the middle.
16. "around the corner." "When we come back after this break." (Translation: go listen to something else because what's about to play sucks.)
17. "Chance to win." "Qualify to win." "Enter the drawing." Radio wonders why 1% of our cume participates in our contests when we all use the same rehashed phrases that were tired in the 1980's. Why not be the only talent in your market that captures your listener's imagination and paints a picture of what winning will FEEL like for them? Make them believe the winning moment is theirs to grasp.
18. ANYTHING that feels like a marketing phrase. You are a real person, connecting with real people. When you start talking in promotional terms, you put up a barrier between you and your listener.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. I'm not the first radio voice to point many of these out. But it's kind of like reading the Bible: believers often value reading it over and over. We find new truths and/or rediscover old habits we thought we'd conquered. And when you're self-air-checking, you'll probably discover your own unique crutches and clichés.

Go easy on yourself if you see things from this list you should nuke. Don't freak out and try to be perfect overnight. Work on one thing at a time, and over time, you'll become one of the most remarkable people to ever grace a microphone.