About tommykramer

Tommy Kramer has spent over 35 years in radio as an on-air talent, Programmer, and Talent Coach, and has worked with over 300 stations in all formats, specializing in coaching morning team shows, but also working with entire staffs. In addition, he works with many premium voice actors that you hear every day on Imaging, Radio and TV commercials, and Hollywood Movie Trailers. Tommy was elected to the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. Call Tommy @ 214-632-3090 (iPhone), or email coachtommykramer@gmail.com

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #585: It’s About How Long it Sounds

It’s not how long something IS. It’s about how long it SOUNDS.

Too many words, too many examples, or parenthetical “side road” journeys, will automatically make you sound longwinded.
And it’ll feel long, no matter how it times out on a stopwatch.

“2 minutes isn’t that long.” Really? How long does it FEEL? Try holding your breath for two minutes right now. You’ll understand.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip # 584: The Starting Place When You Have a Guest On

If you want to have a guest do a good job and want to come back, you MUST start with this…

Take a back seat to him/her/etc. It starts with how you bring them on. Don’t “give away the plot” and tell the guest’s whole story. Take ONE thing and start giving, like “So, tell us about this movie…” (or whatever the guest is there to promote).

Or with a caller…suppose she’s obsessed with the movie “Back to the Future”. (This is an example from a show I coach in Houston.) Naturally, you ask how many times she saw it when it came out, and she tells you – instead of YOUR telling us you learned something about her, then telling HER that she has an obsession with a movie. (She knows that.) When you let the guest (or caller) tell the bulk of the story, that person comes across better – and so do you.

I can tell you from experience that the guest will really appreciate it. And you build a catalog of people who’ll gladly come back on the show.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #583: The Two Options in Content

“Content Creator” may be a new title to the You Tube/Tik Tok generation, but to those of us in radio, it’s been part of our lives for a long time.

So, if you’re just starting out in this business, or if you’ve been around for a while and want to refresh and refine your Content, it boils down to two options:

(1) Be of Service. This can be about where to get relief from the heat in the dog days of Summer, helping out storm victims, or simply sharing what the station does that makes us a part of our community.

(2) Entertain me. No matter what format you’re in, if there’s not true Entertainment Value in your show, it’s going to be really difficult for people to become fans.

Filter everything through those two goals, and do your best in both.

(And remember, you can even accomplish both at the same time.)

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #582: What Makes a Benchmark

Pretty much every air talent tries to establish “benchmark” material. But what, exactly, makes something a “must hear” feature?

Well, first of all, it’s about the idea itself. Back when the huge box office sci-fi movies were just becoming all the rage, my morning show partner in Houston, Fred Kennedy and I came up with a thing we called “Star Fake”. It was the cast of Star Trek, but the plot of Star Wars. (With one exception: We did keep the Princess. Kind of essential.) Each episode was highly produced and campy, with a discernible ‘soundtrack’ and at times dozens of character voices, all done by Fred and me.

We tried it out for a few weeks, one episode per week. By the third episode, we had a LOT of people commenting on it and requesting more episodes. We ended up doing 49 episodes in all. We actually had to re-run them several few months later, that time running two episodes per week.

One of the keys was that even with those familiar “cast members”, there was always something LOCAL. We purposely fit local celebrities and political figures into the plotlines.

If you can keep it fresh, add a local flavor, and people like it, it’s a benchmark. Otherwise, it’s just something that’s ‘regularly scheduled’.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #581: The Formula for Doing It Well

One of the things that comes up in coaching sessions with any music radio air talent is not just doing it, but “doing it well.”

It’s easy to wonder what key ingredients add up to accomplishing that. So here’s how it works:

Keep things short. This isn’t about a word count or how many seconds something takes. It’s about not adding words to sound more important.

Keep things simple. Make it easy to follow. Too many details, or parenthetical phrases will inevitably add up to unnecessary “side roads” in your Content. Always imagine the listener in the car, with his or her head on a swivel trying not to get crashed into by some distracted driver. The last thing anyone needs is something that takes too much time to follow.

Keep it short + Keep it simple = Doing it well.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #580: IT versus US

Most air talents talk about “it”. A great air talent talks about us, and how “it” affects us.

Many air talents struggle for Content, but you can see Content pretty much everywhere if you think about how to make “it” about us, and if you do it the right way.

And the right way….is always to tell stories that paint pictures.

This doesn’t just apply to obvious “do Content here” breaks. Painting a picture can actually be done in a very few seconds.
Example, from comedian Rodney Dangerfield – “I told my dentist my teeth were getting yellow. He told me to wear a brown tie.”

Without diving deep into these two areas, you can be good, but you’ll never be great. Skills are one thing; nuance is a different thing altogether. It takes a little brain work. Forget about your voice; forget about trying to force a punch line in, and explore how to pull people toward you (in as few words as possible; we’re busy).

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #579: Observational or Experiential

There are only two basic types of Content: it’s either observational (you saw it or read it), or it’s experiential (you actually did it).

So…your initial camera angle will be either Observational or Experiential, and either way will work. It’s your choice.

But remember this: no matter which path you choose, some of YOU – what you think or feel about it – HAS to be in there, or it’s just quacking into the wind.

Side bar: This is the great mistake that people make by thinking that social media posts are “Grade A” Content. If you haven’t actually seen it or experienced it, you have no way to connect with the listener. Be wary of the “click bait” disease. Just because there’s a posting about it, and a bunch of people with a lot of time on their hands commented on it, does NOT mean that it’ll automatically work on the air.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #578: The Two Goals When You Open the Mic

It’s very possible to become overwhelmed by what you’re required to do by the higher-ups. Research studies, guidelines for Content, listener profiles that only provide one side of the equation, etc. can hamstring an air talent to the point that you can feel like there’s nothing you can say. Or you second-guess things, wondering if you’re meeting the sometimes lofty guidelines that are presented to you.

So, let me simplify things for you.

Everything we say on the air should either [A] reinforce what the station is all about, or [B] be about what we have in common with the listener.
There is nothing else.

The brilliant PD’s know this, and don’t get sidetracked with too many thoughts in mind.

Who are you? Why should I listen to you? How are you like me? Those are the unspoken questions in the listener’s mind.

Simple. Have a great day!

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #577: A Simple Guide to Giving the Weather

It’s a shame that so few music stations do a good job of giving the weather forecast. An air talent clonking through it like it’s the biggest chore in the world is a drag, but by far, the more irritating form is the person who has to give every single little detail. Let me help you with this…

UNLESS YOU’RE FACING SEVERE WEATHER, the forecast should be short and sweet. What’s the high today, the low tonight, maybe the high tomorrow, and tell me if it’s going to rain (or snow). That’s it.

No “Partly cloudy with a thirty percent chance of showers today, then turning to mostly cloudy tonight and a forty percent chance of more showers or thunderstorms. Tomorrow, again mostly cloudy with a fifty percent chance of showers. High today in the high seventies, then we’ll see an overnight low in the upper 60s. Tomorrow’s high will be around 80. Currently, it’s 79 in Saddlebag, in Turkey Beak City it’s 76, and here at the KRKL studios, it’s 77.”

In case you think I’m joking, what set off this review is that I did actually hear a 111-word forecast recently!

Let’s make it easy. …4 guidelines:

(1) Anything less than 50% is “a chance of rain.” Anything higher is “a good chance of rain.” I don’t care about the amount of cloudiness. (“Cloudy,” “some clouds,” or “clear” is definitive without being analytical.)

(2) “Currently” is an unnecessary word. Of course it’s “currently”. You wouldn’t say “and two days ago, it was 75.”

(3) Pick a number. It’s not “in the high seventies.” It’s “High 78” or “high near 78.” (Then if it doesn’t make it to that temperature, God changed it. But at least you knew what it was supposed to be. Same with the low. Not “low thirties.” Instead, use “low 32” or low near 32.”) This sounds more accurate, and lends credibility. (“About” or “around” just says “I don’t really know.”)

(4) No one cares what the temperature is at your studio (wherever that is), or at the airport. I’m not in your building, and if I’m at the airport, I’m leaving town, and I no longer care what the temperature is.

Hope this helps.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip $576: The First Secret to a Great Team Show

In the last tip, I talked about how the old Jack Benny formula (giving each member of the cast or a guest the spotlight) applies today.

Let’s take it one step further – how a slight modification of that principle is the secret to being a great team show.

It’s simple: If each member of the team does his or her best to make the OTHER person sound good, you’re going to be fine. If that’s not the case, there’s an imbalance of power, and that doesn’t work nearly as well.

I did five team shows in my on-air career, and have coached hundreds of them. I can spot whether or not a team show “has it” in ONE break. So can the listener.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.