When talk show callers aren't prepared to speak and start up with the "umms and ahhh's" it drives me crazy.

[Liberal In Texas]

4. And don't start off with "Thank you for taking my call." It's a waste of time.

You are actually doing the host a favor by calling. It fills the time for his/her show. They should be thanking you for calling and giving them free content.

"First time caller, long time listener." Frankly I don't care. Get on with your topic.

Also a waste of time is, "How are you?" If you've actually been listening you would have heard the host answer that question about a dozen times so far.

There are others that drive me crazy. I was going to write a whole post on the topic of radio show calling but haven't gotten around to it.