The Most Annoying Sound Ever… Are You Making It?

Snoring.  An Alarm Clock.  Nails on a Chalkboard.  Whining.  A Baby Crying. The Vuvuzela.

Some scientists have determined that these are among the most annoying sounds ever.  I’d throw in the sound of the sales manager’s voice as he pokes his head in your office and says, “You got a second?”

We are in the business of sounds, we radio people.  The sounds we make basically determine how much money we take home each payday and our odds of being forced to move to Butte, Montana.  Oh, I get it.  It’s more than just sounds, it’s your delightful and absorbing personality and the amazing content of your show.

But I’m worried there might be one more thing slipping into your show.  I’m hearing it more and more on some pretty high-profile morning shows.  I’m sure they don’t realize it’s there, but it pokes its ugly head up here and there and it’s super-annoying.

I’m talking about yelling.  Shouting at other characters on the show. Screaming to show excitement and energy or to show just plain zaniness. (Yes, I hate that word too, but the vibe I’m getting is a “zany” 1997-kind-of-a-thing.)

I was listening online to a big show in a big market the other day and it sounded like the characters were trying to out-shout each other.  They’d lean back from the microphone and hoot and holler and laugh and then back in to yell a little, then lean back out again.  The good news is they were all having a good time, but the bad news is it was annoying.  I’m guessing by the end of the segment I heard, all the panelists had not just tuned out but jammed number 2 pencils in their eardrums.

“Dave,” you shout, “Don’t be a buzz-kill!  We yell to show our energy!  We’re not the Lite-Rock station!”  Okay, I get that, and energy is important.  If you keep it under control, raising your voice occasionally can be a tremendous show of emotion and energy.

But for the most part, leave the yelling to your night jock.  After all, he’s SO excited about that new Nicki Minaj single!

-written by Dave Ryan

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