How you get into a subject is the first great skill.  When you can get to the point easily and concisely, you have a better chance to get the listener to join you.

For years, people have been taught the “headline” mentality, which is a decent thing to keep in mind but that can also work against sounding conversational.

Keep these thoughts in mind…

1. You have about twenty seconds to “tether” the subject to the listener.  Don’t rush, but don’t waste words, either.
2. Start with the Subject first, or start with the Listener first, instead of starting with yourself.  Your show is about us, not just about you.
3. You want the listener to be able “see” himself/herself in whatever situation you’re describing.

Refine this one skill and you’ll have a lot fewer ‘swings and misses’ with your Content.

The thing I work with on the most with practically everyone I coach is Content.  It’s difficult to know what works, because you can’t count on accurate feedback from the phone lines.  So here’s the simplest way I can explain it:

Anything you have in common with the listener that leads to some sort of emotional “reveal” is gold.

Now read that again.  No prep sheet item, no social media posting that lacks those two key ingredients – what you have IN COMMON with the listener, and an Emotion being revealed – will work as well without them.

In a recent session, I had to deal with a member of a morning show trying a little too hard.  This is something everyone needs to learn, and should revisit periodically if it “drifts” a bit.  Here’s what I had to say to him…

Today I played you two breaks.  The first one was your congratulating a contest winner, and we heard the natural enthusiasm that goes with that.  The second one was a more intimate thought, but you “milked it” a bit by being overly sincere.

Remember, you want to give yourself to the words and trust them, delivering them conversationally.  You’re just telling a friend, not ‘selling’ a thought.

It’s easy to fall back into “deejay” delivery, but we’re better when we’re just people.

The great Larry Ryan in Shreveport, Louisiana, was my first true radio mentor.  In our first aircheck session, he stopped the tape and said, “Any idiot can sit there and intro songs…”

That empowered me to DO something on the air.  (Larry would keep saying it until you did.)

To update this: Any idiot can read a social media post.  I can read Facebook or look at Instagram, etc. without you.  What else have you got?  What’s something personal you can share with me that we have in common?  Use YOUR life… OUR lives.