The best air talents are almost always the ones who have a wide, expansive vocabulary – and the ability to select just the right words right NOW, in the moment.

Why do I stress this? Because….

When you know what you want to say, but not how you want to say it, you’ll always use too many words. (And that’s just boring.)

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2025 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Everyone should want to be really good at what they do. Really, really good.
But not everyone knows how to get there. Let me make it simple for you:

Sounding great is about being prepared, and then just relaxing into it when you get on the air — but not using more words than you need.

No one can get to the next level as a Talent until they master Editing and Brevity. These are essential skills.

The most remembered songs, speeches, Proverbs, etc. are all SHORT. Make your point, then move on. People will thank you for it – by listening to you more.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2025 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

After hearing a couple of overly long breaks the other day on a music station I work with, this came up in the next coaching session:

Use fewer words.

There’s a reason that most famous quotes are short. Usually, the more words a person uses, the less impact it makes. (A lot of people disagree when I say that, but they’re wrong. In today’s jump-cut, hummingbird-attention-span world, being longwinded makes you sound OLD.)

So, just try to cut down the NUMBER of words it takes you to talk about something.

EVEN IN TALK RADIO shows, fewer words about each point will make more impact than just beating one point to death. And by being briefer, you’ll be able to get more Subjects into the show. The overall “bump” is that you’ll be more thorough – without being boring.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2025 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

The best conversations – whether that’s between you and a listener, you and a guest, or you and a partner in a team show – are made of SHORT sentences.

The longer the sentences, the more the boredom factor is going to set in.
We live in a hummingbird-attention span generation right now. Everybody texts. (And we don’t even text full WORDS. We don’t have time to put “OK.” We can only type “K.” That extra letter just saps our energy.)

Think about this, because chances are, if I listen to your show today, I’m gonna hear you talking in sentences that are much too long and bore people to death.

Or maybe not. You could be really great. But you probably still need this tip as a reminder.

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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.

At the start of his career, *Steve Martin’s standup routine included a “Ramblin’ Guy” parody folk song that started well, and then just kind of drifted off into the ozone layer for a while.

Sadly, we’ve all heard this (or done it ourselves), but it wasn’t funny. It was just someone starting something, then losing the center of it, then trying to steer it back onto the road, but adding too many words, using too many examples – all things I’ve written about in recent tips.

Here’s how to stop the “ramblin’ guy’ syndrome: Figure out how you’re going to END first. THEN figure out how you’re going to start; how you’ll get into the Subject.

Like a lot of things I coach, this seems too simple. It might seem backwards. But it instantly leads to developing a true awareness, in the moment, of how straight a line you’re going in – how many words you’re throwing at something.

Cut it down to the bone, then just relax into it and “let it breathe” a bit when you do it on the air. There’s room for a little leeway, but you have to stop yourself from the “adding one more thing” impulse.

(*We love you, Steve. Thanks for all the brilliant work. And for those who’ve heard that song, “.…blinnnnnnn.”)

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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.

My friend and associate John Frost says I’m the only one he knows who can talk for an hour about editing, so I’ll try to keep this short: Keep things short.

Condense. The fewer words you can use, the easier it is to follow. You don’t have to feel restricted, but as you put a break together, throw out words that aren’t really necessary. That makes what you leave in stand out more.

Think about it; very few long quotes ever get cited by anyone. It’s usually the short, most direct one that gets remembered and repeated.

Note for Talk Radio: this does apply. It’s amazing how short, impactful sentences get the best response. Longer, wordier diatribes tend to get more placid response…or the same person who called yesterday with the same type of comment he’s making today. Three short sentences get better reaction than one sentence three times as long.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2021 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.