Back in my teevee and radio days, I worked with some amazing people. Many are still contributing to the business, and everyone had something important to share. Some of those lessons, however, were by negative example.

We’ll call him Carl. Carl was a journeyman, bouncing from station to station in town. He was well-respected on the air, with a decent reputation for hard work. To his detriment, he had a short fuse and an even shorter tolerance for seeing things done “the wrong way.” This wasn’t the lesson I learned from Carl.

Carl was an instant charmer. He was glib, and some of the funniest things I had ever heard came out of his mouth. I wish I could remember some of the examples, as the phrases and humor would just flow with no effort.

The Turning Point

After about three months or so, I started to learn Carl’s secret. After you spend a significant period of time with a person, you start running across some of the same triggers. And wouldn’t you know it, those same glib turns of phrase would come spilling out of Carl’s mouth. Just like Pavlov ringing a bell, here came the catchphrase.

In the sitcom world, a catchphrase needs to be hammered home every week for it to permeate the culture enough that you’ll want to buy the t-shirt. In real life, catchphrases are inside-jokes at best, divisive at worst, and annoying to most everyone. It’s one thing when a violent hit in the football game results in six guys yelling “Blammo!” It’s another to be known as Blammo Guy in the mall.

Carl wasn’t as obvious as the Blammo Guy, because it took a while to experience all his triggers. Yet after a while, he was just as predictable. And not as funny or charming.

The Ninety-Trick Pony

It took me a long time to verbalize the concept of the 90-Trick Pony, but the notion has been a touchstone for me for years. And it took me even longer to understand why Carl was that way. He wasn’t stupid, nor was he shallow. For a long time, I thought it was a manifestation of insecurity, and it probably is to some degree. But now I know that Carl’s biggest problem was over-programming. He patterned himself into a rut.

When you’re a disk jockey, you have to multi-task constantly in a very unforgiving environment. For every Howard Stern who gets paid millions just to talk, there are tens of thousands who have to talk while punching buttons. In Carl’s day, it was punching buttons, swapping stacks of carts, spooling reels, and taking phone calls. And in Carl’s day, the equipment was never your friend.

Carl figured out that he could “program” himself with some fairly lengthy witticisms, and run his mouth on autopilot while briefly turning his attention elsewhere. I don’t think Carl ever discovered what he had done, and I’m not sure he was conscious of it. Half the time, I don’t think he remembered which of his catchphrases he’d just used.

Communication Ruts

Maybe you know a Carl in your life. Maybe you secretly are a “Carl,” with your own subconscious patterns that once served you well but now drag you down. We all have a little Carl in us — the part that wants to be accepted, and knows that killer line will kick us up a notch in the approval rankings. Unless, of course, everyone has heard all 90 of your Tricks and sentences you to the Pony Stable.

Carl’s biggest sin was that he merged his on-air persona with his personality. His routine became a rut that got in the way of face-to-face communication. Don’t get me wrong, he could function very well and was capable of delightful conversations. But every so often, someone would hit a trigger, and out would spill the catchphrase. It made you wonder how often he lived there in the moment with you, and just how often his brain was drifting elsewhere.

What Carl Got Right

Real communication is about making a connection. It’s about listening, talking, and remembering. It’s rather ironic, but Carl is the one who taught me the secret of connecting over the air: whether you’re broadcasting to ten or ten-million, you’re talking to one at a time. This is the part Carl got right, and it’s the piece that I hope I’ve carried over into the online realm. You don’t “talk to an audience.” You connect with people.

Now, go back and look at your online trail. See if there are any patterns you’ve relied upon too much, and change your routine before it becomes entrenched. After all, ponies that learn no new tricks stay in their ruts, running circles forever.

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