As announcers go, Troy Aikman is doing fine. His current contract with ESPN pays him just under $18 million a season to be the color commentator for Monday Night Football. That equates to just under $1 million a game. So, I guess, from a career standpoint, if you can be Troy Aikman, you should be. You might say he’s as good as anyone in football when it comes to announcing.
At least that’s what Aikman himself might say, considering he has a crutch that he leans on when he’s commentating. He frequently refers to players or coaches as being “as good as anyone in all of football” or some variation of that phrase.
After a recent Monday night game, sports talk host Dan Le Batard pointed out Aikman’s crutch. It drove him so crazy that he claims he didn’t watch the second half of the Denver Broncos game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Instead, he went back and reviewed the first half. He found seven examples in the first quarter, and eight more in the second, of Aikman calling something “as good as anyone in football.” You can see a clip of the discussion here.
And it’s not just color commentators who have crutches. I recently came across a short thread on Reddit’s r/artificial where a user asked for help getting Google’s AI to stop saying “you hit the nail on the head” in response to some of his queries. So even artificial intelligence can have a crutch, which does make me feel better about Aikman’s issues, considering how many hits to the head he took during his playing days.
Radio Isn’t Immune
I’m mentioning all this because if it can happen to a guy who makes nearly $20 million a year and an AI with Google’s resources behind it, then it can definitely happen to any radio announcer. And take it from me, it does.
It’s something I encounter all the time listening to stations. It happens to young talent just finding their way on the air and to veterans who should know better. And once a listener notices a crutch, they can’t unhear it, and it can be maddening. Remember, for every Dan Le Batard or Reddit user twennywanshadows who calls attention to the issue, there are a lot of listeners who are suffering in silence or, worse yet, turning off your radio station.
How to Lose the Crutch
Now, in an effort to help you not be Troy Aikman, here are a few notable ways to avoid crutches based on what I hear most often:
- Brainstorm five ways to talk about each station promotion or feature. This is an area where I hear some of the worst offenses. I understand. It’s hard to talk about the app or a contest for what feels like the ten-thousandth time. Often, that leads to hosts giving up and doing it the same way every time. If you prepare by brainstorming ideas for how to tackle these repetitive promos ahead of time and rotate your approach, you’ll lose the repetition.
- Don’t say your name during your show for one full week. One of the most common crutches radio hosts develop is using their name as a transition point in their breaks. When it’s really bad, I can say the person’s name at the exact same time as they do because I know when it’s coming. The best fix is generally just not saying your name on your show for a week. That’s usually long enough to break the habit, and then you can consciously start to reintegrate it.
- Listen back to your show. I know self-critique is hard, and being a radio host requires putting your ego on the line every day. But going back and listening to your show regularly will teach you a lot of great things, and it’s especially good at identifying crutches. Trust me, once you hear it, you’ll be very motivated to fix it.
Less Margin for Error
Unlike Monday Night Football, which is all but guaranteed an audience regardless of the announcer’s crutches, your show has much less margin for error. It’s hard enough to get people to tune in. If you want to be one of the best in all of radio, don’t drive them off by repeating the same thing over and over.
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