Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #292 – Don’t Itemize. Summarize.

Posted on January 9, 2019 by tommykramer

Prior to this past Christmas, I heard a talent talking about how his whole family was going to another state, where they hadn’t gathered in years, for the holidays.

But the story really bogged down when he started itemizing everyone who would be there. One sister, her husband, and her two children; her brother, his wife, and their three kids; her, her husband and their three daughters; and an aunt that they hadn’t seen in years.

No one’s reading the guest list. Summarize, instead of Itemize. “Three families, an aunt, 13 people in all…”

The Art of Storytelling lies partly in honing things down to their most concise version, then just letting it breathe a little bit. But when you get too detailed – especially about people your listener doesn’t know (or care about), the story becomes rudderless and lacks momentum.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2019 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #291 – Why it may be better to NOT intro Traffic

Posted on January 2, 2019 by tommykramer

(Larry) “And now let’s check that drive into work again. Here’s Don Googleheimer….”

(Don, the Traffic guy) “Thanks, Teresa. Good morning, everybody…”

I actually heard this the other day. The male half of a morning team intros the Traffic, then the Traffic guy thanks his female partner.

This shows the listener that it’s prerecorded. Or that the Traffic guy isn’t listening.

(And he needs to stop saying “everyone” or “everybody,” too; stay Singular. Talk to ME. And it also told me that if the morning team people DID listen to how the recorded Traffic report started, they forgot that “Teresa” needed to intro it. So many things to coach; so little time.)

So I recommended what I’ve done since about 25 years ago, simply getting to the end of your Content, then hitting a “Vroooom!” sound effect over the start of the Traffic music bed, and cutting right into the update with no intro or phony-sounding chit-chat. That makes the information actually be of service to the listener, and gives you more Momentum.

Oh, and make sure the Traffic person gives his or her name at the end. That covers all the bases.

Some stations that make a big deal out of “Traffic on the 8’s” or whatever may not want to do it this way. That’s fine, if you’ve built up that image. But most music stations should do the “Vroom” thing instead. (You could use a “beep-beep” sound instead. Or screeching brakes, if you want to add a little abrupt humor.)

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2019 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #290 — The Twelve-Ounce Glass

Posted on December 26, 2018 by tommykramer

The other day, I heard a guy who’s quite good RUSHING through every break. Talking to him later, I found that he’d gone through a series of really stressful things, leading to his getting back home at 4 AM, then having to go in and substitute for someone on the air just a very few hours later. In trying to overcome sleep deprivation, he went the “energy” route. But it didn’t really work, because the listener can almost always tell when we’re overcompensating, or just not quite “in the pocket”.

This is what I told him:

A 12-ounce glass won’t hold 14 ounces of Dr. Pepper. Pouring it faster won’t help.

Keep that in mind the next time you’re not physically at your best. Stay ear-friendly. Fit the glass.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2018 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #289 – Talent versus Music

Posted on December 19, 2018 by tommykramer

A station I’ve worked with for years now faces a huge challenge. Their longtime morning man and PD is leaving the station after many years of exemplary service and success. At the same time, they’re being pressured by a relatively new GM to get ratings and revenue up, and part of that is to reduce expenses by going to fewer air talents being employed (doubling up on a jock by putting him or her on two different stations in the cluster) and going to more voice-tracked shows on the weekends.

So I want to speak into that as a bonus for any PD or GM reading this, while at the same time focusing on what will help any talent under the gun from his boss to do better.

First, if you live by math (ratings statistics and projections) as your starting place to the extent that you think more voice-tracked shifts are an answer, that’s not gonna fly. In radio today, both in the short and the long run, Talent doesn’t DELIVER the product, talent IS the product. If you go to more voice-tracked shows with no compelling Content, you’re just another playlist. People remember what PEOPLE SAY, not where they heard a song. Songs are everywhere – Spotify, Pandora, iTunes music, Amazon music, terrestrial radio, etc. Memorable STATIONS create memorable MOMENTS, and it takes talent to come up with those.

Look at professional Sports as an example. Spend the money; get the players. You can’t win with bargain basement rosters. And no talent likes doing a second shift after pouring everything he/she has into the primary one.

Now, as an air talent, here’s your challenge: Deliver memorable moments. Not everything has to be some fantastic production or be knee-slapping funny; but the listener deserves having you be PRESENT in every moment you’re on the air, because a lot can be said with your inflection, your mood, even your silence. But when you’re on autopilot, we can ALL TELL.

Radio isn’t just about Sales; it’s about creating something saleable.

And Talent isn’t just about walking through a shift; it’s about creating a SHOW.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2018 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #287 — All the Great Quotes are Short

Posted on December 5, 2018 by tommykramer

This is probably the shortest tip I’ve ever written…

I talk a lot about editing, and here’s why:

All the great quotes are short. No one quotes a paragraph.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2018 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #286 – Leave Half of it Out

Posted on November 28, 2018 by tommykramer

Okay, you’ve got a story you want to tell. Great. Tell me the story…but leave half of it out.

Yes, I’m serious. Too much detail, unneeded side roads, too many words to express a thought, too much setup, more than one “punch line”, or “backing and filling” because you’re not very well-organized…those things make even the best story incredibly tedious, and not worth the Listener’s time.

To be a great talent, you have to develop discipline and get concise. Great storytellers hold people’s attention every step of the way, from beginning to end. And remember, you’re not paid by the word; you’re paid by the Connection.

(Yes, I’m sure there’s an exception you can think of, some show in your city that gets away with doling out overly long drivel and has high ratings in spite of it. But that’s not the norm, and their time is coming to an end. The world is getting used to 140 characters being all they have time to read. Listening habits will eventually reflect that, too.)

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2018 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #285 – The Brain, The Heart, or Both

Posted on November 21, 2018 by tommykramer

Let’s make this one really simple:

With your Content, you can engage the brain, or you can engage the heart…or you can engage both. What you SHOULDN’T do is only engage the brain. That’s boring.

If you need help with this, get some coaching, do an aircheck session with your PD, or maybe swap ideas with some of the other people on the station. Because if you don’t understand how to do it…and do it well…you’re going to save a lot of time by NOT thinking that it’ll somehow just magically “come to you”.

It’s like that scene in “The Odd Couple” when the slob, Oscar Madison, tells his finicky roommate Felix Unger that he thought gravy just “came with the meat.” As Felix said, “No, it doesn’t. You have to MAKE it.” Sometimes we need help to make it.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #284 – The Barbecue Test

Posted on November 14, 2018 by tommykramer

One of the biggest challenges these days (as always) is Content.

There are lots of questions that help you put it together – Is this top of mind? Does the listener actually care about it? Do you have anything to offer on this subject that’s unique, and not just what everyone else will do? Where are you going with it? Is there a chance that it could lead to listener feedback, or is just a one-off thing? …etc.

But these leave out what I consider to be the most logical question to ask yourself: Is this something you’d say at a barbecue, to a person you just met?

If not, why are you saying it?

This will not only quickly cut to the chase as to whether it’s valid Content or not, it will also (hopefully) shape the LANGUAGE that you use, how you get to it, how you edit it, and most importantly, keep you from sounding like a disc jockey and more like a real person.

No one is enjoying hearing people read crap off a computer screen or someone’s stupid Facebook post on the air. Dig deeper if you want to be great.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #283 – EARNING More than Thirty Seconds

Posted on November 7, 2018 by tommykramer

This is a follow-up to the “Less is More, and More is Too Much” tip from a couple of weeks ago…

Thirty seconds is a significant amount of time. Companies literally pay millions of dollars for ONE 30-second ad in the Super Bowl.

The latest research is showing that millions of Gen X-ers and Millennials go to You Tube to see a video, and if doesn’t have a “Skip this ad” thing after just a few seconds, they won’t stick around to watch it at all. That’s the mentality we’re dealing with.

You owe it to the listener not to waste his or her time. You owe it yourself as a performer to develop the skill set of refining and editing what you do so you don’t waste words, repeat things, or take unnecessary “side roads”. Sixty seconds is a LONG time, and two minutes is an eternity.

Yes, of course, an occasional longer break is fine, but automatically thinking “you have two minutes” (or more) is wrong. You don’t…unless you EARN it. You want more TSL? Try not being tedious to listen to.