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I always hated it when listeners called in on talk radio. They very rarely had anything insightful to day, and even if they did, they general weren't able to co

I always hated it when listeners called in on talk radio. They very rarely had anything insightful to day, and even if they did, they general weren't able to convey it clearly.

frosted-flakes 7y ago
I always inwardly cringe when they start going off topic and the host keeps trying to rein them in. But when it's someone who knows how to present themselves on radio, it's good. There's this one show on CBC where listeners call in to a plant expert about their gardening problems, and he identifies them and suggests solutions on the spot. You get a wide variety of people who call in, but since the roles are reversed—callers are asking questions, not answering them—they tend to be much more to the point and willing to give up the floor. Despite not caring one whit about plants and gardening, I really enjoy this show. If the expert doesn't know the answer, sometimes another listener will call in to save the day. One of my favourite ones is when a lady's tree saplings were starting to die after they got a new well drilled, and after a bunch of questions the plant expert was stumped. Well, a well driller called in a few minutes later and said it was almost certainly the oil coating used on the pipes to prevent rust during storage (totally safe for consumption, but apparently harmful to trees), and the solution was to wait until the oil wore off after a few months. It sounds boring, but the plant expert is one of those old men who just have a way with words, and the CBC host is really good with prompting both the expert and caller with more questions or anecdotes.
- learc83 7y ago
  There is a similar show in the Atlanta area where a professor from The University of Georgia answers gardening questions. I also find the callers on that show are a lot easier to listen to. I think you're right about them asking questions instead of just making comments.
- zimpenfish 7y ago
  "Gardener's Question Time" on the BBC is the same kind of soothing listening https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardeners%27_Question_Time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardeners%27_Question_Time
jhbadger 7y ago
Yeah, the whole "Long time listener, first time caller" thing where they take like a minute before they get to their question, if indeed they actually have one. To be fair, I see this sort of thing in person fairly often in scientific seminars where somebody "asks a question" but spends time first complimenting the speaker on the seminar, and then spends a couple of minutes just making comments rather than actually asking an answerable question.
- ghaff 7y ago
  Pretty much every conference with Q&A ever. You can't avoid it in some settings, and sometimes a question will hit some point that the speaker obviously deliberately avoided, but for the most part Q&A is an anti-pattern at events. Provide some forum where the speaker can interact one on one instead.
- pwinnski 7y ago
  Long ago I listened to a once-popular talk show host whose name is something in the neighborhood of Tush Pinball. He pushed his callers to dispense with all of that "Long time listener, first time caller from the heartland hills of Indiana" stuff and just start the call by saying "Ditto." Easy and convenient, a really time saver, right? Except callers somewhat quickly started saying things like "Mega-dittoes from the heartland hills of Indiana..." and little, if any, time was actually saved. P.S. I made up "the heartland hills of Indiana."

I always hated it when listeners called in on talk radio. They very rarely had anything insightful to day, and even if they did, they general weren't able to convey it clearly.

frosted-flakes 7y ago

I always inwardly cringe when they start going off topic and the host keeps trying to rein them in. But when it's someone who knows how to present themselves on radio, it's good. There's this one show on CBC where listeners call in to a plant expert about their gardening problems, and he identifies them and suggests solutions on the spot. You get a wide variety of people who call in, but since the roles are reversed—callers are asking questions, not answering them—they tend to be much more to the point and willing to give up the floor. Despite not caring one whit about plants and gardening, I really enjoy this show. If the expert doesn't know the answer, sometimes another listener will call in to save the day. One of my favourite ones is when a lady's tree saplings were starting to die after they got a new well drilled, and after a bunch of questions the plant expert was stumped. Well, a well driller called in a few minutes later and said it was almost certainly the oil coating used on the pipes to prevent rust during storage (totally safe for consumption, but apparently harmful to trees), and the solution was to wait until the oil wore off after a few months. It sounds boring, but the plant expert is one of those old men who just have a way with words, and the CBC host is really good with prompting both the expert and caller with more questions or anecdotes.

learc83 7y ago
There is a similar show in the Atlanta area where a professor from The University of Georgia answers gardening questions. I also find the callers on that show are a lot easier to listen to. I think you're right about them asking questions instead of just making comments.
zimpenfish 7y ago
"Gardener's Question Time" on the BBC is the same kind of soothing listening https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardeners%27_Question_Time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardeners%27_Question_Time

jhbadger 7y ago

Yeah, the whole "Long time listener, first time caller" thing where they take like a minute before they get to their question, if indeed they actually have one. To be fair, I see this sort of thing in person fairly often in scientific seminars where somebody "asks a question" but spends time first complimenting the speaker on the seminar, and then spends a couple of minutes just making comments rather than actually asking an answerable question.

ghaff 7y ago
Pretty much every conference with Q&A ever. You can't avoid it in some settings, and sometimes a question will hit some point that the speaker obviously deliberately avoided, but for the most part Q&A is an anti-pattern at events. Provide some forum where the speaker can interact one on one instead.
pwinnski 7y ago
Long ago I listened to a once-popular talk show host whose name is something in the neighborhood of Tush Pinball. He pushed his callers to dispense with all of that "Long time listener, first time caller from the heartland hills of Indiana" stuff and just start the call by saying "Ditto." Easy and convenient, a really time saver, right? Except callers somewhat quickly started saying things like "Mega-dittoes from the heartland hills of Indiana..." and little, if any, time was actually saved. P.S. I made up "the heartland hills of Indiana."