Speaking but saying nothing
“Good Friday morning to you!”
Who in the real world ever tells you what day it is while saying hello?
Promoting your departure
“I’m Ed Jock, and I’ll be here with you until 3 o’clock today….”
If the first words out of your mouth are the time you’ll be leaving, that must be because you have nothing more exciting to promote that day.
Which begs the question, “Why did you bother to show up today?”
For too many jocks, the most dramatic part of their show is the periodic “countdown to my departure.”
Traffic reports that tell listeners the problem, then the location
This is Radio 101, yet I hear it daily here in Los Angeles:
“A five-car collision has closed two lanes and slowed traffic for several miles starting at the Cahuenga Boulevard Exit of the 101 Freeway….”
And the listener who is driving along the 101 Freeway says, “Huh? What’s that about the 101?”
First identify the location of the traffic incident, then identify the problem.
Opening the mic without knowing what you plan to accomplish during that break
I’m not suggesting you should script out every word you’ll say. But a true radio professional knows exactly what he plans to accomplish before he opens the mic.
Sadly, the majority of the radio world opens the mic and then thinks, “Well, now what??”
If you simply reverse that two-step process — first figure out what you want to accomplish and then open the mic — you’ll be amazed at how much better your program is.
