Early in my career, I lucked into having a tremendous mentor in the great Howard Clark.

My early, feeble attempts to “entertain” were a litany of way-too-long setups for what usually proved to be pretty lame punch lines.

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Okay, we’ve gotten Christmas and New Year’s over with, we’re all going to try to lose 10 pounds, and now we have to settle down and go to work.

So here’s a challenge for you in this next year: Try something different; something you’ve never done before. Continue reading →

For any young air talent, the key to a successful career is simply how to find out what really works for you, so you don’t (1) sound like everybody else, and (2) you’re not predictable.

So how do you accomplish this? Pretty simple, actually: Try stuff.

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It’s easy to settle for the low-hanging fruit, in terms of Content. What “the Buzz” is may be the 34th most important thing today to your audience.

Don’t ever confuse “the Buzz” with what actually matters. Resist the easy path. Don’t ever let the headlines, or some Buzzfeed article keep you from seeing what’s top of mind – TODAY – to your listeners.

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It’s always been an issue, but it’s even more pronounced today, with “cookie cutter” formats so prevalent.

The sad truth is that to most people, most air talents sound pretty much alike. A bit loud, a lot of gab, sort of “announcer-ish,” usually just pretty much what we’ve always heard and gotten used to.

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This is primarily a Talk Radio format tip, but also a tip that I’ve given many times to TV talent.

I keep hearing things like this… Continue reading →

Show prep is SO important. I’ve seen hundreds of people I’ve worked with who had no real plan, or a partial “subject list” type of prep, thinking that this is enough.

It’s not. If you want to win, and become a well-oiled machine, don’t just plan what you’d like to do. LAY OUT where each thing will go. Continue reading →

In the last tip, I talked about the rhythm inherent in the best comedy, comparing it to how a great TV sitcom pauses, then reinvents itself over and over again. That’s really how everything works. I’m just rewatching the amazing series “The Newsroom,” written by the great Aaron Sorkin. He understands this rhythm as well as anyone I can think of who does drama. (I would say Neil Simon when it comes to comedy.)

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The best Content is about real life situations, shared in little bursts. If you start with an unreal situation, there’s no emotional buy-in (unless you couch it as fantasy or exaggeration).

But going from Real to Silly is better than going from Silly to Real. (Knowing when to stop is the key to this – and I’ll share some thoughts about how to attain, or at least, sharpen this skill in a future tip.)

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“I want to tell you…” “I want to share with you…” “I want to let you know” = announcing that you will tell me something. Instead, Just TELL me. (An added benefit of this is that you take out the *I – me – my factor.)

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