“You Don’t Need to Be the Next Anybody — You Need to Be the First You”

When you abandon who you are to fit in, you are robbing the world of that originality that can only come from you. This is what you have to really get about who you are. In this short life that we are living, there are things that can only be said by you, in the way you express thoughts, feelings, and emotions. The way you think is original. You just don’t say it, because the Herd (This society) is afraid to stand out on its own merit. YOU MUST LOSE YOUR FEAR OF BEING JUDGED BY OTHERS.

This is why you can tell when people write and use Chat GPT to put together stories. It’s generic and uses a lot of phrases that you do not use. We just don’t trust ourselves—who we are in public. We just can’t face being judged. This is why people are into the copycat game.

In music, all the songs sound the same. Females are using the same riffs when they sing. Auto-Tune has made rappers sound the same. In radio, I have heard people say, “I want to be the Black Howard Stern,” as though we need a Black one. People say, “I want to be the next so-and-so.” No. You need to be the first you.

Things have gotten so generic in our society that it is exhausting. It’s like the mediocre people have taken over the planet. Some technology—the way we use it—has made us less innovative and less creative.

Tech is speed. You can get your original work out quicker to the masses. This is how it should be used.

There is only going to be one Tom Joyner for Black radio. That’s it. Tom did his job, and I hope he is not finished giving us his creativity. I know Tom has another lifetime of content on the digital side. You don’t need to be the next anybody. We have been programmed not to be original. It started in the ’70s with that stupid “more music, less talk” philosophy baked into Black radio. They took the soul of black radio off the radio. It was the beginning. Then consolidation finished us off in the 90's.  A slow death of original black radio.

Black radio created movements. Radio personalities could move people and empower the community. Each had a swag associated with their shows. Colorful commentary. Distinct-sounding voices. Now, in hip-hop radio, DJs talk with the same vernacular and distinction is thrown out the window.

We need to encourage originality again. We need DJs who believe in themselves and are seeking to be great. They need mentors to encourage them to be their original selves.

I remember early in my college days I would mimic radio personalities from all over the country. My goal was to be a big-city DJ, so I thought I had to sound like the people working in New York to get there. It was exhausting, for one (lol), but it did help me with my diction. I’m from Goldsboro, NC, the grandson of a tobacco sharecropper. So I knew I had to get rid of those “dees,” “dems,” and “fintoo” out of my vocabulary. LOL. I was very conscious of learning how to speak well in college at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC.

What will make you better as a radio personality is someone who can help you lean into your natural gift for communicating. I want you to try writing as an exercise to find your voice. Nobody knows where their next thought is coming from. Try it right now. Can you determine what you will think about in the next five minutes? Thoughts travel through you at 24 billion miles per second. How many can you capture that are just for you in this moment?

Real thinking is done in silence. Turn off the noise and get acquainted with yourself. Get to know yourself. There is too much influence coming into your mind every day to know which thoughts are yours and which belong to somebody else. Too much outside stimulation. Get quiet and think. Every day before your show—think.

This is your secret weapon living in a world like this. And guess what? It’s going to get even noisier in 2026. The future belongs to people who can get control of their thinking in silence. This is where originality is born.

When you are riding in the car, turn off the radio. Hear yourself think. Always keep a clipboard in your car to jot down ideas.

The world needs what you have to say. So if you don’t say it, who will say it like you can say it? We want to hear what you have to say. DID YOU HEAR ME?  What did your thinking produce for us to consider? YOU YOU YOU!! You are so smart and don’t even know it. You think other people are smarter than you because they know how to talk that BS. These are the people who sound smart to DUMB PEOPLE.

So don’t be a fraud. Be you. This is your unfair advantage in a room of copycats. A room full of people who talk with no substance. Don’t be one of them. Resist being lazy and looking for the easy way out. There is no replacement for show prep—but also in show prep, are you prepped  to be the real you?

So here are some things I want you to work on in your personal development this week:

1. Find time to be alone every day with a blank piece of paper.
Develop a writing routine. Write how you feel about things. What’s going on in your life. What thoughts you’re considering. Writing helps you form an opinion. You are organizing your mind. It will help you articulate your ideas better. Your mind will recall what you wrote earlier in the day, and you’ll begin to use your ORIGINAL thoughts in conversation. This will happen naturally. This will transfer on air. This is how you fix your articulation problem. Write. Write. Write.

2. Read. Read. Read.
Reading changes your perspective. Reading other people’s ideas is cool. You can take an idea, run it through Chat GPT, and pick out what resonates with you.

3. Practice. Practice. Practice.
I don’t know why radio people don’t think they need to practice and rehearse off-air to get better. Football teams and basketball teams practice. So why would a person who talks for a living not need to get better at their talk game? Talking is a skill that most people don’t do well. Practicing will set you apart from the mediocre radio people in this country. Most people have never been taught that communication is a highly specialized skill. To be excellent on the air is not for lazy people.

Humility will make you great. We all need to get better every day.

If you resonate with anything I said, leave a comment. Can you think of some things I may have left out?

“When You Stop Hiding, Your Real Voice Scares People—and That’s the Point”

Clarity Repels Before It Attracts

Once you say, “This is who I am,” you can’t hide anymore. You’re accountable to your own voice.

That’s why most people never do it. They are afraid of Silence.

This is what I know for sure: if you really want to be free on air in expressing yourself, you’ve got to understand something most don’t — clarity repels before it attracts. If you want to be a personality driven opinionated radio pro, this is what comes with becoming that person.

When you’re clear, the wrong people leave fast. That’s good. It creates space for the right ones to arrive. Real growth comes when your audience feels like they know you. Your'e personality is not suppose with everybody. You might be like I was early in my career when I thought that everybody had to like me. I would broadcast like that. I would get quiet when people disagreed with me. I was afraid of losing listeners. It's naive to think everyone is gonna like what you say or stand for. This is what we must break away from to cut through the noise. You gotta be you.

Once you start doing this, some people will get uncomfortable. But your tribe will begin to arrive. People on your show will get quiet when they hear you speak in your real voice. Why are they silent? Because you destroyed who you were in their minds. Now they have to deal with something else.

You stopped hiding among your peers on the show. Now the real fun begins.

As you practice your freedom on the air, you are getting ready for your next opportunity to be even more emboldened in a new city. I’m coming with fire.

Right now, just remind yourself , "I’m practicing my freedom".

Start now. Challenge yourself. Let your heart beat fast with nervousness. That’s when you know you’re alive. You are about to say something of consequence because you’re getting nervous. That’s what freedom feels like.

Say it.
Go ahead. Say it.

I really want you to know that the most important thing you can do in your personal development at any age in this business is to eliminate the judgment of other people’s opinions about you. Don't you let that stop you from being yourself on air.

So today, make a declaration of independence when you open your mouth to speak. Set yourself free by being you.

In 2026, we are ignoring all the player haters that surround us. Together, we are gonna set ourselves free for real.

Are you with me? Leave a comment.

Show Prep Is the Job

Show prep is nothing more than building a road map for your show or podcast.

Finding things you actually care about and turning them into conversations your audience can feel is Show Prep. Talk about what you truly interests you that is going on in the world.  You’ve got to introduce something to your audience they have not thought about yet — and then have an opinion about it.

When you’re building a show, look for the humor. Look for the angles. Look for the moments you can make people lean in. Say the things out loud that most people keep locked in their head. That’s how you become there go to for insight. 

People who rely on generic phrases and safe language usually sound “smart,” but empty. That’s filler.  That’s someone trying not to get exposed. When you play it safe, your material dies. A big Thud. No risk,  just blah blah blah. I can't stand to hear people talking just to be talking. No substance, just generic as hell. It seems nobody is coaching these days. (https://insideurbanmedia.blogspot.com/2025/12/about-blackradiotalentcom.html )

Show prep is content development. Period.

I’d rather have five strong, fully developed ideas than 20 shallow ones that go nowhere. Depth beats volume every time. When you take time to really think through your content, your show stops sounding like everyone else’s and starts sounding like you. This is what I need young talent to understand. People can talk about Donald Trump all they want to, but who is gonna give us the new angle, no one has ever considered. This requires thinking. Go to the library and sketch out your show for the next day. Go somewhere quiet everyday and think out loud on paper. Separate yourself from mediocre broadcasters. This will help you articulate your ideas better on air.

If your job is to create something meaningful every day, how many hours are you putting in after the mic goes off to make tomorrow better than today? That’s the real question. That’s the difference between people who talk on the radio and people who connect with an audience.

ABOUT BLACKRADIOTALENT.COM

Black Radio Talent is for media professionals who’ve outgrown the system but never lost the craft.

This isn’t a space for trend-chasers, or people looking for applause.
It’s for the ones who’ve been in the rooms, built the rooms, and watched others benefit from the work they helped create.

If you’ve ever felt overqualified, underestimated, or quietly pushed aside while less capable voices rose — you’re in the right place.

WHO THIS IS FOR

This is for Up and coming DJs and experienced broadcasters, producers, writers, and creatives who:

• Know their value without needing validation
• Have survived layoffs, politics, and reinvention
• Still care deeply about the work
• Refuse to shrink to stay comfortable

You’re just done pretending.

WHAT THIS SPACE IS

Black Radio Talent is about clarity, ownership, and authorship.

It’s where seasoned professionals reclaim their voice, sharpen their thinking, and speak without permission.

No hustle talk.
No performative inspiration.

Just truth, perspective, and lived experience.

WHAT THIS IS NOT

This is not for:
• People chasing attention
• People who confuse noise for influence

If you value depth, welcome home.

THE PHILOSOPHY

You don’t need to be louder.
You need to be clearer.

You don’t need a platform.
You need ownership.

You don’t need permission.
You need alignment.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

BJ Murphy is a National Black Radio  Hall Of Fame radio personality and media architect with 40+ years of experience building talent, shows, and platforms across major markets.

He’s seen the industry rise, fracture, and repeat itself.

Black Radio Talent exists because some voices don’t fade — they evolve. BJ Is Based in Charlotte

This isn’t content for everyone.

It’s for the ones who know who they are — even when the room forgets.

We Got Receipts On Show Prep From 1994

When you talk about having receipts,  when I talk about show prep is the key, here are some old show prep folders I found from 1994 when I was doing mornings in Kansas City at KPRS Hot 103 Jamz. This shows you that as my career progressed, we kept evolving in preparing for our show over the next two decades. Myron Fears was my partner there when we started the Breakfast Brothers Morning Show in 1994. Later in 1995 in Charlotte, I teamed with Keith Richards and we brought the Breakfast Brothers Brand to Charlotte from 1995-2004. Point I'm making, is that it was show prep that we took pride in everyday. We created a network on talent and we would exchange Ideas via fax machine every morning

Those are some of the sheets from the month of October 1994. I can't believe I still had this. I just wanted the young talent out there to know that we have to be serious in preparing for our shows. Now this is still early in my development as a morning talent, and as I learned more about prep we got more elaborate and intensive in preparing for our shows. I call this our baby level of prep. We were preparing books of prep everyday when we got to Charlotte in 1995. I will share some of those when I find them.

We were swapping prep every morning with others shows via fax in 1994. Keith Richards was in Memphis and Curtis Wilson was in Columbia SC. We had the late Brian Carter from Power 99 Carter and Sanborn, Jasmine James in Greensboro NC and a few others.

 

Eliminate Ego Gymnastics In The Studio: Ego's Must Die for the Show to Live

Secure radio hosts don’t need ego gymnastics to appreciate the excellence of their co-hosts.

What’s wrong with taking the time to single people out and tell them how much they mean to the show?
Is that going to diminish you — No. It will raise your position as a leader and cause people to perform up to your level of expectation?

Balance in the studio matters.

If you want to keep people from getting puffed-up heads, you first have to get your own insecurities in check.

A great lead host will always surround themselves with people who can stand out and deliver powerful content on the show. A great lead host is the director of an orchestra. You hear the show in your head before it ever hits the air. Your job is to bring the right instruments together so they harmonize and create something unduplicable.

A signature sound.

Like Earth, Wind & Fire.
Like The O’Jays.

You can hear who says what. You already know how another person will respond. You hear the exchanges before they happen — and then you bring those voices together and create your show.

BUT FIRST......Your heart has to be right to receive them.

Because when you invite talented people into your circle and then get jealous when they blossom — when they start getting more attention than you in the community — you are not ready yet to scale your show.

Envy and jealousy ruins ensembles. Envy tears great potential apart. Usually it starts with the insecure host of the show. The type of person who wants to hog the mic and then point to you like a peasant when he wants you to talk.(Do you know this clown?)

Don’t invite super-talented people into your studio if you’re not prepared to celebrate them.

This is the number one reason shows with tremendous potential fail: when one person among you starts rising in popularity, and the host doesn’t like it because they are the host.

Listen, lead hosts — you still get credit for pulling that team together.

Celebrate the greatness of your people.
You go get better at leading them.
You go get better yourself.

Work on your on-air performance in private. Accept your role in the show you created. Keep growing. Keep getting coached.

Now when problems arise, talk to your talent individually and correct them in private. Don’t wait weeks to address behavior you don’t like. Be brave and handle it now.

Don’t let yourself get to the despise stage — where every time they open the mic you’re irritated. That’s on you as the leader.

Radio people are some of the quirkiest, most peculiar people you’ll ever meet. Some have dark auras and simply are not good team members. Eventually, you may have to let them go.

But most of the time, it’s our fear of being seen as a player hater that stops us from correcting behavior we don’t like on the show.

We have to learn how to communicate.

Rehearse what you’re going to say.
Give examples.
Show them how they can do it better.

Your job is to make yourself better as the host — and when you do that, you make the entire team better.

I always tell hosts to think of themselves as the quarterback. You’re responsible for getting the team down the field and into the end zone. Your program director is the coach on the sidelines helping you win.

If your PD isn’t good at coaching talent, find someone who is.

Most new PDs don’t yet have the body of experience to diagnose dysfunction in a studio. I do. And if you ever need help, reach out to me.

I hope this helps you better understand your role.

I’ve learned from the greats in Black radio, and I refuse to bury this knowledge with me when I exit the planet. That’s why I write BlackRadioTalent.com — because I care about the next generation of Black radio talent and who Black America will be listening to.

I only teach what I know.

If this article is resonating with you, let me know. Ask me questions about studio dynamics and working with two or more people. At one point, I had seven people in the studio with me on a morning show.

Whew. LOL.

See, I’m a talent guy. I love talent on Radio and TV. I’ve never been an envious person of someone else’s gift. Managing egos is the dilemma many leaders get wrong — because where is your correction coming from? 

A player hater… or a teacher?

To genuinely be a fan of the people you work with every day is rare. But that’s the environment you have to create — one where everyone is performing at their highest level, rooting for each other every time the mic switch is flipped.

We win every break together.
Whoever has the best line — we celebrate it.

That’s how you become the most electrifying show in the country.

The ego must die in order for the show to live.

Only Say What You Can Defend: The Lost Art of Being Honest

Most on-air embarrassment comes from saying things you haven’t thought through.

That’s why being vague will get you hemmed up in conversation every time.
Vague opinions vanish quickly when you run up against a formidable challenger in the studio—or a phone call from a listener.

Can you defend your point of view?

Do you really think it makes you sound smart to repeat a clever line you heard from a talking head on TV, only to get challenged and realize you have no depth behind it?

Can you articulate it well?
Where is this opinion coming from?

And if I’m not 10 toes down on it—why say it at all?

I believe you should never say things you can’t elaborate on intelligently. Some people will go for the jugular on purpose. They want to position you as having no substance, talking just to be talking. That’s a painful lesson to learn on the air. A nemesis co-host who wants your spot will go for the jugular everytime the opportunity presents itself.

This business runs on ego.

So all the lazy, surface-dwelling DJs—this is a warning.

Preparation isn’t optional at the elite level—it’s the separator.

The mic only reveals the work you didn’t do.

YOU MUST PUT MORE THOUGHT INTO YOUR SHOW!

I tell people I mentor: once it comes out of your mouth, you better be able to defend it and expound on it, because your credibility is on the line.

STOP BEING A SURFACE-DWELLER DJ.

For example—interviewing a political candidate you haven’t researched during a critical election in your city. Most people sound ignorant on the air. Most people ask the mayor softball questions and let them skate out of the studio with nothing of consequence revealed.

What is a “Surface Dwelling” Radio Personality?

A surface dweller:

• Gives opinions without reasons

• Reacts instead of thinking

• Repeats popular talking points the rest of America is repeating. Not original

• Pitches softballs as questions

• Hides behind “safe” language because you don't know what you are talking about

• Makes lame jokes to cover lack of substance

They say things like:

• “I just feel like…”

• “People are saying…”

• “Everybody knows…”

No depth. No ownership.

Surface dwellers get snared because they just want attention—but exposure is always waiting.

They:

• Don’t think things through

• Avoid writing things down

• Avoid strong opinions

• Want approval more than authority

• Think prep will make them sound “stiff”

• Just want to be liked

A surface dweller gets on the air just to say something.
No depth.
No conviction.
Just noise.

They chase approval, react instead of prepare, and hide behind what they think is popular.

An elite broadcaster opens their mouth with intention.

They’ve already done the show prepand rehearsed and wrestled with their ideas.
They’re not looking for agreement—they’re standing strong in their opinions.

And you can hear it.

It sounds real. It cuts through the airwaves.

Every broadcaster has been a surface dweller at some point. As I told you before, I really grew out of it in 2004. I was 17 years in my career before I learned to let it go. Somebody taught me. Do you want to learn?

Some grow out of it.
Some build a career around it.

And the mic always exposes which one you chose.

Be great every day.

Revealing the Cost of Becoming Yourself in The New Year

1. Being alone.

2. Get use to the loss of people who are uncomfortable with your growth.
   People like you to stay in the position they have assigned you in their own mind. This is laughable, but sad, because many people comply just to stay in good graces.
   True friends like to see you grow. These other people are not your real friends.
   People want you to stay where they placed you in their mind.

3. You will not get a response.
   Don’t take it personally. Most people’s egos will not allow them to give a decent compliment about your growth. So What.

4. 
   People want you to stay in the place they have assigned you. Again this is why you get no response. when you hear the uncomfortability with you come out of their mouths believe it.
   Your growth makes some people angry.
   
   

5. When you permit yourself to be honest about what you like and what you don’t like, you will repel fake people from around you. They thought they had you figured out. Surprise!!!

6. Silence from your peer group.
   Some people don’t want to see you grow. So what.
   I’m growing into the So What phase of my life, and I am smiling and laughing at myself.
   It took awhile to get here, and I’m staying.

7. Embrace silence.
   Silence becomes a weapon, a sanctuary, and a teacher.
   You can hear yourself.
   The real you.

As you grow in life, you will gain people and you will lose people. It is part of the journey.
Real friends return, and some fade away.
This is what happens in the journey of becoming yourself.

The First Exit Rule: Why Great Radio Knows When to Stop Talking

From Disc Jockey to Personality: The First Exit Rule and the Lost Art of Coaching

Growing from a disc jockey into a true personality-driven radio host is not accidental. It is an intentional act.

You have to have someone in your corner who is willing to push you, challenge you, and make you uncomfortable in the right ways. For me, that person was Sam Weaver.

 Sam was my program director and mentor in Greensboro, NC, Kansas City, MO, and Dallas, TX. In 1990, Sam put me in morning drive in Greensboro. I was working with Jasmine James at the time—a multi-talented college student who was my on-air partner (RIP).—and that period changed everything for me.

Sam drilled into me the discipline of saying less to say more. Less is more. And it is.

One of the most important tools he taught me was something he called The First Exit Rule.

It means: Stop talking beyond the punchline.
Get off the exit ramp at the high point of the conversation.

Most people miss that exit. They keep talking. They explain the joke. They stretch the moment until it dies.

When I got to Dallas—where I really learned how to do personality radio—something unusual started happening. Listeners would call the station and say, “Hey man, y’all don’t talk long enough.”

What???

Usually, listeners complain that hosts talk too much. But what they were really saying was this: You leave us wanting more.

That was the First Exit Rule in action.

We learned how to extend multiple breaks throughout the show without ever overstaying our welcome. We didn’t stretch content by talking longer—we stretched it by giving listeners just enough laughter, just enough insight, just enough personality between records to keep them wanting more.

That technique makes shows sound more exciting. More alive. More professional.

What you hear today—people talking past the point, rambling, filling space—that’s not creativity. That’s a lack of teaching.

Here’s the truth nobody likes to say out loud:
You do not get better without someone listening to you.

If nobody in your station is working with the talent, and if you’re not actively seeking help, how exactly do you think growth happens?

I listen to the radio now and think, Wow—nobody is working with these people anymore.

That’s why mediocrity is being showcased as greatness.

So if you want to be great on the air:

1. Seek an outside ear to critique you honestly.

2. Don’t be afraid to listen to your aircheck—and critique it harshly.

3. Give yourself an honest assessment of where you actually are.

4. Identify who you admire as a personality and why. Borrow principles, not personalities.

5. Study great broadcasters. I used to tape people I respected and break down what they did. Somebody taught them—and you can learn through osmosis.

6. Practice. Practice. Practice. In college, while people were on the yard chilling, I was at the radio station. Everybody practices—except disc jockeys.

7. Seek mentors. I don’t see people doing that anymore. Too many think they don’t need coaching.

8. Decide if you want to be an amateur or a professional. That decision is personal—and unavoidable.

9. Know your ambition. Why are you on the air in the first place? Do you really know your purpose?

Greatness on the air is not accidental. It’s intentional. It’s coached. It’s practiced. And it requires humility.

 Radio people stopped teaching people how to grow and started rewarding people for simply showing up. That’s how mediocrity got mislabeled as excellence.

Personality radio is a craft. And crafts only improve when someone is willing to tell you the truth—and when you’re brave enough to hear it. That's what I do. I coach talent. 

NON-NEGOTIABLE SHOW PREP PRACTICES FOR ON-AIR DOMINATION

 BJ-Murphy-Style Show Prep Practices

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1. Walk in with the show already done.

If you’re preparing at the station, you’re already behind. The show should be created before you walk through the lobby. You had from the time you got off the air to the next day to prepare for your show. It's just laziness that stops us from growing. People who get to the station 10 minutes before the show starts and jump on the computer to see what the prep services came up with are not serious players.

2. Start prepping the minute you get off the air. 

Everything that happens from that moment you end your show until tomorrow’s show is content. Treat your entire life like show prep material. What can you bring to the air the next day of your lived experience. What happened that you can share? Tom Joyner said, that he and Doug Banks would be talking on the phone at night and Doug would hear their conversation on the air the next day. Everything is show prep.

3. Collect your lived experiences daily.

Your observations, your interactions, your frustrations, your joy — that’s the secret sauce. No one else has your life.

I use to talk about my wife on the air all the time, and people would ask me, how is Vanessa. So people do care, when you make them care. The struggle to be Human in sharing our lives helps them embrace us.

4. Over-prepare 

You need several breaks that are undeniably better than any other show in your city that day. Be determined to be more interesting to listen to than anyone in your market. Be the go to show when major things happen in your city. Know what you are going to do at all times.

5. Know the story before you give the story.

Don’t learn it live. Read, research, verify. Form your own talking points instead of repeating what CNN said.

6. Have your own angles for every major topic.

Your version is what we want to hear… a deeper version… and the emotional version. A version your audience can't get anywhere else but from you.

7. Ask yourself: “Do I really Care?”

If it means nothing to you, it won’t mean anything to the audience. it's best not to bring it on air, until it means something to you. If it is a major breaking news story, you have to do it. Reporting it and having an opinion about it are two different things. Oh, and by the way, you don't have to have an opinion about everything. So can you elaborate on a breaking news story. Can you speak with authority about what you know about this breaking news story. Can you be better than the rest of the market reporting facts? Now that's next level. I remember how we handled 911 in Charlotte in 2001. It happened right before we got off air. I was so proud of my show, we were on it. We stayed on the air till afternoon drive as we turned into journalist.

8. Rehearse mentally.

Practice over in your mind how you want to frame it. Make it yours. Own your statements. Write it out in your own words. 

9. Build a “prep folder” for the week.

Save videos, quotes, stories, thoughts, audio moments — everything goes in there. There's gold in them files.

10. Prep your transitions.

Sloppy transitions are just not well thought out transitions. Clean transitions make you sound like you live inside the radio. Your listeners can tell the difference between mediocrity and excellence.

11. Have a backup if your guest don't show up. Be ready to pivot.

Because radio is live. Things fall apart. Guests cancel. Technology fails. You should never be caught off guard.

12. Prep your authenticity.

Not fake vulnerability — real honesty. You can’t fake real. Don't do it if it is not real to you.

13. Practice saying things shorter.

Clean, sharp, tight storytelling is what separates pros from people who ramble. Be as brief as possible. It does not take that long to make a point. Practice using less words to make your points. When you do that, all your sentences strung together have power. Practice making impact statements. 

14. Always prep your interviews from the heart.

Skip the generic questions. Prepare the questions YOU actually care about.

15. Prep in layers: Content → Angle → Emotion → Delivery.

That formula makes you unstoppable. You've got to put more thoughtfulness into your show. What is it that I really want to say about this story. Stop being a lazy surface dwelling personality. Don't be afraid to share your unique perspective. This is what makes you stand out. People are afraid to be themselves, don't you be!

16. Have one thing in the show that scares you a little.

Growth comes from the edge. Going to the edge does not mean being vulgar or sexually explicit on the air. That's not what I mean. The edge is honesty. Prep so you’re brave enough to bring your real self to the mic.

17. End your show with tomorrow in mind.

You and your producer should be planting curiosity, teasing unfinished conversations, and giving the audience a reason to come back tomorrow.

18. Write, Write and Rewrite

I use to go to the library and write for my show after I got off the air. I was always fascinated how tv shows put their shows together, especially the late night shows. They have a room full of writers and comedians coming up with their monologues. All of it was prepared, but is seemed like it was off the cuff. The more you prepare, the more spontaneous you can be. Your mind is full of ideas and thoughts that naturally show up when you prime your mind. This is where the magic happens in a break. What you had prepped for suddenly shows up and you are like wow, there it is. This is the power of show prep. If you learn how to do that, you will be on the road to becoming a world class communicator.