This has become a huge pet peeve of mine...so here is my rant. I'm hearing quite a few local jocks who consistently use "Uhh" between every 5th, 4th, 3rd, and yes sometimes between every other word. And no I'm not exaggerating. I won't name them but some of these guys are old vets who should really know better. Back in the day, a jock learned NOT to do that, and doing so would get you hauled into the PD's office, that is if you even got hired in the first place. I hear people making commentary on DVD's, People being interviewed, etc who speak clearly and don't use the "uhh" crutch and they're not even "professional" announcers!
PD's...actually listen to your Jocks, if they do this...make them stop.
JOCKS...if you can't get through a simple weather forecast without saying "uhh" every other word, then get a job announcing specials on the P.A. at Walmart where no one can understand you so it doesn't matter.

I can't watch KOIN 6's weather guy because of this. He does it even when he has to rush, so it's not just a delay-filler!

And how about "and um" ??

and "you know?" Bleccccchhhhhhh.

You know, um, I like kinda can relate to uh, people who totally do that!

(ugh)

The morning guy used that crutch on The River ALL THE TIME. It drove me nuts! But he would dwell on the "uh" so that it was even worse. I know the guy is an old pro, but if your mind slows down so much that you can't think as fast as you speak, it's time for the rocking chair. I'm not saying that's what happened though, it's probably just a crutch that can be overcome.

Another thing that gets me is the "filler" sounds before and after words. "Good moringinggg-uh". I always figured this was a technique to avoid dead air between words that possibly developed back when proccesing on the AM band required stronger voices and more enunciation.

Yup. You are absolutely correct, Mr. Cunningham. Even a long pause is better than "uhh" or "umm." I try really hard not to emit these sounds, but they escape occasionally. I hope to learn to speak correctly before I shuffle off to Buffalo for good. It really is an art, and one never stops trying to perfect the enunciation, the intonation, inflection, pace, the breathing and a million other technical aspects.

Of course, if you offer truly great "content," you can get away with a lot. The real greats
have/had it all. But we can't all be Orson Welles. Or even Jean Sheppard, Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins or (insert any number of excellent Portland names here. For fear of leaving any good ones out -- and there have been some real diamonds -- I mention none. We know who they are. Or might be.)

I think "ahhh" is a self defense technique to prevent the processing from fully releasing during pauses, which would suck the jock in through the microphone and out the top of the tower.

LOL!

Bernie Ward does the opposite on KGO 810.



There are pauses between his sentances that are so long,





that you can fall asleep.

At least when Bernie pauses you have KPDQ's upper sideband to keep you entertained until he comes back.

Just wondering.....

if Rick Emerson talked just 10% slower, could he eliminate 85% of his "umms" & "uhhs"?

Four words:

Paul Harvey




Good Day(?)

I am as guilty as the next ...uh....jock. When I listen back and hear too many uh's..umms...or my personal crutch "SO"....I cringe. However to some extent a few now and then seem fine when it comes out naturally and not sounding like someone is looking for something to fill.

I agree longer pauses and less awkward umms and uhs is much better.

When I was training young jocks back in the day it was an easy fix.
I would take a large piece of cardboard poster paper, and in large black marker pen write: UH and tape it to the wall or window or whatever was right in front of them.
Only took a couple shifts of long pauses and they were cured.
One of my other favorites to kill the "all of you out there" etc, was to tape a picture of the jock's girlfriend, wife, mother whatever in front of them and say "talk to that person". Two things happened, they became more conversational and less puky, and they stopped referring to the audience in wholes. Look, there is only one person listening to you when you are on, they don't know about the other people listening, so why refer to him or her as "you all" or "everyone out there". Bad jocks use those crutches. I tried to take them away. Moderate success. My "kids" are all doing well now and I am selling junk on ebay. Oh well.

uhhh, so, you know, what's your point? :-)

...I am selling junk on ebay....

Me too. Actually, I seem to be GIVING most of it away. I netted 7 cents on my last lot, and lost 32 cents on the one before that. I say no selling fee if the item goes under a dollar....

listing fee, selling fee, paypal fee, a stamp or two, there goes the profit. Lets bring back the subsidized post office. A good 6 cent stamp would be a shot in the arm to the economy!

"if Rick Emerson talked just 10% slower, could he eliminate 85% of his "umms" & "uhhs"?"

He just needs to cut back on the Red bull and coffee. I like Rick, but instead of just an ordinary "uh", he does this long kinda weird AHHHHuhhHHh noise when he's trying to collect his thoughts. It kinda sounds like the noise from "The Grudge".

I see ebay just raised their rates again. What kind of junk do "you all" sell?

not much more if the jumped their fees again... I may have to go back to yahoo auctions!

The "good morning everyone" crutch always gets on my nerves.

i thought one on one converstation was a radio basic.

TV people do it all the time too, maybe more, even the billion dollar news babe Catie Couric does it all the time.

Tim Becker's "Hey Gang" grinds on me. However I do find him to be a decent sportscaster.

Doing a morning show myself, I try and limit my good mornings or pick my spots. We do a short top of the hour break and if I use the "good morning" phrase it's usually at those breaks.

saying good morning is fine, its the adding of the "everyone" at the end that makes it clear that you aren't talking me but to some anonymous large group.

well, . . . umm . . . never mind.

Notalent- "Good morning everyone" is for those listening with multiple personality disorder.

Paul _ _ _ _ _ Harvey.
Bernie _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Ward.

Different Question: Is it good practice to have a radio announcer with a speech impediment? Or is that A.D.A. protected or discrimination issue such that you have to put him/her on?

There are a couple that bug me to no end

1. Saying "on your Friday"...or whatever day it is
2. Saying got instead of has or have

Dave Salesky (KGW 8) calls me "folks" a lot. I see him looking straight at me, so I know it's me he's calling "folks"...maybe I'm gaining too much weight.

"Or is that A.D.A. protected or discrimination issue such that you have to put him/her on?"

He or she has to demonstrate that he or she would still be able to do the job with reasonable accomondations. This is all the ADA requires.

Obviously, people that can't be understood with reasonable accomodations need not be kept on.

Smart HR personnel would underline a requirement suitable rating performances standards in ALL on air talent contracts and routinely replace those (impediment or not) that fail to get desired ratings. This will prevent lawsuits from disabled (and "normal") employees.

The ADA in no way forces employers to hire/retain people that cannot do the job with reasonable accomodations.

See an attorney.

If we're on peeves, Skeptical you just set one off for me!

"He or she has to demonstrate that he or she would still be able to do the job..."

Arrrgh!

As they used to teach us in elementary school before the feminist movement, "she", "her" and "hers are specifically female, but "he", "him" and "his" are generic, and the correct pronouns when the sex is unknown!

So, it should be...

"He has to demonstrate that he would still be able to do the job..."

...and you've covered both male and female.

"Mankind" doesn't mean just men, either!

At least you didn't say, "He or she would have to demonstrate that THEY would still be able to do the job..."

Paul, "Walking with your child to his or her bus stop" ... or "walk with your child to their bus stop" is perfectly acceptable. It's not a "man's" world anymore.

I've always been annoyed at a jock who says it's time for a "little" Barry Manilow or a "little" Nirvana. I had a PD who smacked me in the back of the head when he or she heard it.

Dodger, I still say "uhh" just to spite you. And the picture of the wife you made me paste on the wall. She divorced me.

Jeffrey, it wasn't the long pauses you did, it was the belching on the air that got me. You know I love you.

I've told you all of my disasterous try at the Newport station a few summers back (see "Come Work for the Boss" thread). When I said "Steve Lindsley with you on a Wedensday" the boss immediately said, in essence, "you're not a professional."

On the other hand, people have been known to walk into a room and say "Good Morning, Everyone!"

?!?

I do that, from time to time. What's the peeve?

"Different Question: Is it good practice to have a radio announcer with a speech impediment? Or is that A.D.A. protected or discrimination issue such that you have to put him/her on?"

I bet we could come up with a good list of broadcasters who have a speech impediment. Tom Brokaw, Barbara Walters come to mind. I am sure there are many others. It's not the impediment but the way someone communicates that is the real talent. Some have to overcome speech challenges which can add character or style to their on-air work.

paul, I leave it to copy editors to decide the final version of my prose! (and spelling)

Steve, thanks for making my real point.

"'...walk with your child to their bus stop' is perfectly acceptable. It's not a 'man's' world anymore."

"Child" is singular, "their" is plural, always wrong, always will be. No different from, "I'm going to Mom's for dinner, because I love their cooking!"

"His" is genderless, making "his or her" redundant, which used to be considered sloppy writing. It has nothing to do with a "man's world".

I lost count of the number of times TV reporters covering the New York "Subway Superman" said "he dove onto the tracks". The past tense of "dive" is "dived". Collegiate dictionaries don't recognize "dove" (with a long "O", used as a verb) as a word. The one I've seen that does, the authoritative Oxford dictionary from the UK, actually spells out that "dove" used as a verb is wrong, and says careful writers never use it!

This all sounds picky, but a common language should be important to anyone in the communications business, because you need to be understood to make a living. It's important to a successful society, because we can't successfully interact socially or do business efficiently if we can't understand each other.

We can't take lessons from history if we can't read and understand what was written fifty years ago! Hundreds of words have been "slanged" so that their original meanings are no longer recognized. If our kids read a piece of old literature and see, "he was a gay fellow, always ready with a smile", they will not understand what the writer intended!

I'll rephrase my peeve. It is now perfectly acceptable to use incorrect English in media.

Paul,
Sorry to disagree with you. There is no word meaning a singular he or she except "their." Your point is wrong because the word for mom is "she". The word for dad is "he". What if you meant I'm going to a parent's house ... and I didn't know the sex of the parent? The word for either a boy or girl or man or woman is their, unless you know the actual sex of the child or person. I've had this debate many times when I was in newspaper. We thought about using "he/she", but decided their was better, since we don't have a word for it. I'm not sure why the big debate. We all have things we hate ... most of us learn to deal with them. Your "incorrect English" point here is wrong. Come up with a word and get everyone to use it.

..or just use one or the other consistantly and deal. It is not possible to make all the people happy all of the time.

What do "we" sell on ebay?
I don't know about roger but I do pretty well. More than my crappy radio career paid me and I can golf whenever I want(weather permitting of course) so I can't complain. As to what I sell, that's a trade secret.

Thanks for all the tips, guys. But if I keep cutting all the crap out of my delivery, there'll be nothing left.

"Thanks for all the tips, guys. But if I keep cutting all the crap out of my delivery, there'll be nothing left."

And that pretty much sums up what is on the air most everywhere when I tune across the dial. According to many posts I read, That also sums up what a lot of people think of different stations..... a bunch of crap.

...and I can golf whenever I want.....

Me too, IT only costs 10 bucks for 18 holes, the ten bucks is the problem.

:-)....

East OHIO... Cheap real estate, Cheap golf, No jobs! Great place to retire.

Outside we ...HAVE GOT... 39 degrees... HATE THAT! but, I am definitely a "with you on a rainy afternoon" sayer!

I see irony and slightly satirical, sarcastic, even self-deprecating, humor still goes over really big around here, as it does most other places. Not. Right down the tank. I'll never come back here ever again, for at least two days.

OK, on KGO they have promo for Ray T. whey they play several short segments in which he is repetitive repetitive, like uhh, umm, he repeats words words to make a point point. Promo does not mention that he is left left left.

Jeff, some of us get it.
Roger: I am a member of a country club so the cost was paid for years ago, so I play for free now.
I think it's time you give up radio rog.
It ain't in the cards for ya anymore.
I have moved on, you should too. The business ain't a career move anymore.
Just my humble opinion.

laid back lennies say "uhhhh"

"There is no word meaning a singular he or she except 'their.'"

So, "they" and "their" are now singular pronouns? Incredible. What newspaper was this?

I moved on... I will say that I do not carry the same interest or passion into any other field of employment that I brought to radio. It's just for the paycheck now. I would look seriously at radio employment, and still apply, for the occasional one that interests me, but only places where I want to be.

Still, I enjoy it so much, that I continue to haunt a couple of radio boards just to keep in touch with people who also share an interest or are apart of the industry. The upside of being outside is that I can speak my mind without fear of cutting my own throat. The downside is that sometimes, those who are unfamilar with my writing style, might put me into the old bitter burnout category. That is fine too. In a nut shell.......
Too many stations...
Too few owners...
No respect for the importance of live talent and how important they are in conecting the station to the listener...
No effort to make a station a part of the community....
A plug and play mentality....
Too many stations, diluted quality....

Jeff...But if I keep cutting all the crap out of my delivery, there'll be nothing left....

You'll still have linercards... wait, those are crap too....

Paul,
You should walk your child to they bus stop. Hmm. Nope, doesn't work.
It was a great newspaper!!! I loved it.
How is your New Year?

Steve, 2007 will have to go some to top 2006, but I expect it to be great! Moving to a new market in April, recently remarried to a wonderful woman, expect to finish building an aircraft and fly it. The only radio left on my plate is a one-hour syndicated weekend show, otherwise earning a living podcasting!

Try it this way - "You should go with your child when they walk to the bus stop." Wrong usage of a plural pronoun in the same way.

If you've succumbed to the political subversion of the language, and feel compelled to replace the non-gender-specific "him" with something else, the only other singular choice is "it".

"You should walk your child to its bus stop." I heard this one last night on KOIN's coverage of the baby left on the nursing home doorstep. The woman who found the baby said, "at first I thought it was, you know, dead."

If this really has become objectionable in modern society, and we want to make "he" and its inflections male-only, then perhaps we need a fourth set of pronouns to take the place of the formerly genderless ones.

Hir? Hem? Hes? Hirs? They all look like misspellings. What then?

This whole pronoun thing became an issue about the time of the peak in the feminist movement. Feminist writers are the first ones I remember introducing the "he and/or she" nonsense. For centuries before 1970, "his" was a generic, and "hers" was specifically female.

"Man" and "mankind" meant the human race, not just the male members of it. Any staffing involved "manpower", and jobs were estimated in "man-hours", even if they were done exclusively by women. "Manhole covers" allowed sewer and utility access by workers of both sexes.

The only thing I can't figure out is whether these writers were ignorant of the traditional usage, or whether they actually objected to the existence of a special pronoun just for females. Part of the whole feminist agenda at the time was eliminating distinctions, not just gaining equality. Maybe this was an example.

OK, OK, I'll stop. May each enjoy their day!

ok

man.... is short for HUMAN when used to express terms such as manpower, manhours,

It's not Mstaken to refer to them as such.

Roger, that's just silly. What, then, was short for "huwoman"?

Doh! I said I'd stop...

OK, this goes back a few posts to the 6th.....

Dodger, Haven't you been watching TV? We sell IT on eBay!!!!

I've looked I haven't seen an IT. I was thinking of making them and selling them but figured EBAY would sue..........

Yeah, that'd be my luck too!