I’ve written about this before, but recent listening to stations in three different formats, it begs being revisited.

Here’s the magic key to becoming someone out of the ordinary on the air:  Avoid the Obvious.

Example:  Years ago, doing a morning team show in Dallas with my wonderful partner Rick “The Beamer” Robertson, there was a massive wreck on I-35, one of the city’s main arteries.  It turned out that a huge truck full of books was involved, and we knew we needed to talk about it.  Immediately upon seeing the story, Rick said “set it up, then throw it to me.”

I opened the break with a warning to anyone traveling in that direction, saying they should get off I-35 NOW and find an alternate route, or they’d surely be WAY late for work.  I added the detail that a truck overturned that was full of books.

Because no one had been hurt, Rick then said that the books were a shipment of thesauruses, and “The wreck was awful…”
Me: “Really?”
Rick: “Terrible”
Me: “Really!?”
Rick: “Dismaying”
Me: “Wow”
Rick: “Tragic”
Me: “Uh-huh”
Rick: “Appalling”
Me: “…uh, yeah, got it.”

With just a little imagination, Rick saw a different way to handle it than anyone else.  That’s what made him special.

And not doing the obvious will make YOU special, too.