It was one of the first things Lyndsay "Crackley" Rackley was told when he started working in radio.
Half a century later, the 67-year-old Radio Dunedin announcer believes the words of wisdom are what has kept him in the profession so long.
Mr Rackley said he fell in love with radio as an 8-year-old when his father bought him a crystal set radio receiver.
"I used to get a bit of asthma and when I was crook, I used to spend hours in bed listening to the radio.
"I used to talk to myself, imitating the voices I heard on the radio.
"I played records on my grandfather's wind-up gramophone and announce each tune before it played."
By April 1961, Mr Rackley had worked his way into a job, cataloguing records and helping with the Smile Family children's live radio show at 4XD.
And soon after, his enthusiasm for radio led him to his first job as an announcer on the Tea Time Tunes show.
"It was something I always wanted to do, since I was 8."
He has interviewed every prime minister of New Zealand since Norman Kirk, and highlights had been interviewing entertainers such as Sir Harry Secombe, Daniel O'Donnell and Des O'Connor.
His job as a radio announcer has not always been full-time. It has been interspersed with jobs as a traffic officer, an ambulance officer, a funeral director's assistant, and a taxi and bus driver.
"I haven't thought about it until now, but they were all jobs where I could listen to the radio while I worked."
Mr Rackley said 50 years on the air waves was a long time, but he had no desire to retire just yet.
He quipped he may never retire.
"I love what I do. The boss joked she was going to increase the retirement age to 80.
"It would be nice to go doing what I love."
Management and staff at Radio Dunedin will gather to officially celebrate Mr Rackley's milestone tomorrow.
