The No-Runway Rule: Just Say It — No Long Set-Ups

The No Runway Rule simply means this: no long setups.

Just get into it.

We don’t need to see how clever you are in the way you set up a topic on the air. Tell us what you want to talk about — and say it. The most frustrating thing I hear, over and over, is someone doing a long, drawn-out introduction to a thought.

I’m listening and saying to myself, Oh my God….

You get seven seconds these days to hold someone’s attention. When you do long setups, you risk people tuning you out immediately — and sometimes they never come back.

That’s what we mean by the No Runway Rule.
Don’t take off from the other side of the airport.

By the time you finally get to the point, the energy is already gone.

Sam Weaver used to get on us all the time in aircheck meetings.
“Guys, it’s taking you too long to get to the point,” he’d say.
“Get into it — and land the plane.”

This is my operating system. Leave the audience wanting more.

Less is more.

A radio show is a continuous taste test.
Taste this.
The listener takes a bite.
I like that.
Give me more?

Nope — you’ve got to come back for the next break and get another hit.

That’s how you increase time spent listening. The audience is always looking for their next hit — a dopamine hit — from you. Not because you talk a lot, but because they like what you do between the music. Now if you are doing talk radio, it's the same concept. You've got to know when to move on from beating a dead horse. When the energy is gone, you must move on.

This is art.

Thoughtful, strategic moments of pleasure for the listener.

People will tell you, “Hey, I like your show — but you guys don’t talk enough.”
They told me that in Dallas. I said it works! that was unusual. Nobody has ever said that to me.

But most of the time, the real listener complaint is:
“You talk too much.”

What they’re really saying is: You’re in the way. You are bothering me

You’re disturbing the experience.
You’re not interesting enough to justify the interruption.

So practice this discipline:

Practice getting into what you want to say in 7 to 10 seconds.
No long setups.
Straight words only.

Do that — and watch the difference.