When scanning the radio dial it doesn’t take long to hear something you already know.

“It’s Friday.” Well, thank you very much for that valuable insight. “It’s Labor Day weekend!” Well, I’m certainly glad that I was listening to your station at this particular moment or I would have never known!

Telling your listeners something they already know IS NOT compelling content. Filling time with words that have no purpose other than filling time is not a way to connect to your listeners.

Flying recently I heard the flight attendant announce, “We know you have a choice of airlines.” Well, there’s a news bulletin. THEY know that I have a choice of airlines.

We state the obvious because we having nothing of value to say. That’s because we haven’t spent the time preparing. Laziness is seldom rewarded. And we wonder why people think talk on the radio is a tune out.

In the words of the great theologian Steve Martin in “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles,” “when you’re telling these little stories, here’s a good idea. Have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener.”

Don’t tell me what it is, tell me why it matters.

When asked how he created his famous statue of David, the master sculpture Michelango replied, “I just took away everything that didn’t look like David.”

At your radio station, what if you simply took away everything that wasn’t meaningful?