Not quite the same thing but I saw the Fresh Prince of Bel Air reunion and there was some ribbing of Will Smith over the fact that for the first six episodes of the series he was so nervous about never having acted before and getting it right that he memorized everyone's lines and can be seen mouthing the other actors' lines while they're performing. Finally, he was told to cut it out and stopped. Just another example of an unconscious habit you don't realize you have (or that other people are noticing) until it's pointed out to you. 

There's a thing I have noticed about CP-24 -- and also Nathan Downer when he was there.  Most of their anchors start a sentence with "well" as in "well" the mayor of Toronto held a news conference today.  "Well" there was a protest in downtown Toronto today.   "Well" vaccines for COVID-19 will arrive next week... and on and on.  Now that I've pointed this out it will probably drive you crazy when you watch CP-24.  Well.....

Later in his career Peter Mansbridge used to make a "tsk" sound coming out of every piece of video.

You should all share some of your own personal "habits"  and "crutches" 

I'm honestly not sure if some of us notice this because we were or are in the biz and are more sensitive to it or whether it's plain to the general audience at large. I only pointed out the original Downer pen click because I found it so unusual. It's not a vocal tic, just a nervous habit. But he shouldn't do it near a microphone and my guess is he might not even be aware he's doing it.

There's also the reliance on certain phrases. John Oakley must say "put some water in their wine" at least once or twice a show. This is an expression that I don't think I normally hear more than two or three times a year. Yet he seems to somehow work it in on a daily basis. That and "the human condition." Can anyone tell me exactly what that means?

Odd how these little things sometimes stand out to certain listeners, while they wash right over the ears of others. 

rawkgurl wrote:

You should all share some of your own personal "habits"  and "crutches" 

While this thread may be seen as criticism, it could be interpreted as how seriously many here take broadcast communications, rawkchick. 
 

Tq345 wrote:

Re-reading this post, it makes me think my fellow board members will think The Stickler has returned. I better shut up now.

Yes, we wouldn't want people to think that ... or at least I wouldn't. When I used that persona to post about various matters here, I meant it to be at least somewhat self-deprecating because I didn't think a lot of the things I was mentioning were really that important (and the name had come from how a regular had referred to me in that kind of context). But eventually I felt that it was leading to some rather hypercritical comments that weren't in the same spirit, and that's why I stopped using it. 
But having said that, I feel the same way as others here about these things -- and I've never worked in broadcasting. But if I did, I'd want to be told -- politely -- if I was doing anything like this. I know I sometimes do such things myself, but I've tried over the years to eliminate or at least reduce how much I do them. I especially like your comment about trying to make everything succinct, which is what I've often thought when I hear people use unnecessary phrases. I don't know how much this is addressed in broadcasting courses, but I think that broadcasters should want to avoid them -- and especially as they become more experienced.