In a recent coaching session, a very good air talent I work with had chosen to do a stunningly uninteresting story about sleeping better with something called “cognitive shuffling”. I’d tell you more, but the story itself was a better cure for insomnia.

This happens a lot nowadays. A posting that you think is “interesting,” or that you can think up a funny line for, makes it through your filters and gets on the air.

I think it’s because of what I call “outside-in” show prep: looking at the outside world first, then trying to make it sound personal. Ho hum.

Here’s what I wrote in her session recap:

To me, this sounded like just another click-bait posting. (Anytime I hear “It’s gone viral,” that’s a dead giveaway.) You did your best to make it work, but you’re going to get far better traction with what you see around you than what gets posted to social media. First of all, I doubt that many people listening to that break (at 11:14am on Friday) was really thinking much about sleep tips.

But more importantly, this “outside-in” show prep method is what makes shows more generic.

The greatest show prep starts at home, because what goes on in your family, your neighborhood, your city, is always going to be stronger than just some random article or social media posting.

Posting something is just an exercise, but LIVING something is different. And by prepping inside-out (your own home first, then work out from there), it automatically results in more natural language, and being more emotive.

It’s the difference between reading something to your husband at breakfast versus actually telling him about something that you did or that you feel.

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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.

It’s easy to settle for the low-hanging fruit, in terms of Content. What “the Buzz” is may be the 34th most important thing today to your audience.

Don’t ever confuse “the Buzz” with what actually matters. Resist the easy path. Don’t ever let the headlines, or some Buzzfeed article keep you from seeing what’s top of mind – TODAY – to your listeners.

I assure you, people have other things that they’re far more interested in than what some prep sheet or news website might lead you to believe. (And don’t even start with me about the Political channels or websites. That little world that seems so big doesn’t matter AT ALL if your kid or your best friend needs help.)

When you weigh in on what your listener actually cares about each day, you’re way ahead of 99% of your competitors.

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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.

Show prep is SO important. I’ve seen hundreds of people I’ve worked with who had no real plan, or a partial “subject list” type of prep, thinking that this is enough.

It’s not. If you want to win, and become a well-oiled machine, don’t just plan what you’d like to do. LAY OUT where each thing will go.

Pay attention to the normal amount of station “business” and promotions, contests if you have one, and interview time if you have a guest. I’d slot those in FIRST, then look at where your Content goes.
In the Talk arena, this is ultra-important. The late Pat Williams, former manager, then V.P. of the NBA Orlando Magic, used to do a show once a week on a Sports station I programmed in Orlando. He would come in with a list of every single question he wanted to ask a guest, in order, and if some interesting “side road” developed, he’d go with that, then immediately return to the questions list. He was smooth as silk on the air and did consistently amazing interviews, and he personified show prep – and he wasn’t even a full-time radio guy!

Let’s close with this: There are reasons that jet pilots don’t just fly by the seat of their pants. It’s because (1) they want to consistently be at their best, and (2) they like to avoid things like flying into a mountain.

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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.

In the last tip, I talked about the rhythm inherent in the best comedy, comparing it to how a great TV sitcom pauses, then reinvents itself over and over again. That’s really how everything works. I’m just rewatching the amazing series “The Newsroom”, written by the great Aaron Sorkin. He understands this rhythm as well as anyone I can think of who does drama. (I would say Neil Simon when it comes to comedy.)

Whenever you start a sentence without knowing how it’s going to end, you’re on the diving board about to jump into the pool without knowing if there’s water in it. Improv is not something most people can consistently depend on. Without at least some structure laid out, you’re taking a chance (especially in a team show). Thinking something “magic” will “just happen” describes every “almost, but not quite” show I’ve heard.

Composition – writing – matters. That’s why I aways planned the ending first. Sometimes I (or we, in my team shows) wouldn’t get to that ending, because a “First Exit” appeared that would have made anything else anticlimactic. Try this. Know where you’re going, and see if it doesn’t make things smoother and give you more clarity, mentally. The confidence you’ll gain can be felt 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.

There’s a famous story that David Letterman tells about Johnny Carson. One night on The Tonight Show, fairly early in his career, the young Letterman was a guest. And he and Carson got on one of those rolls where everything each of them said was funnier than the last thing. The audience was in stitches laughing at each line, and finally Carson broke into the “patter” he had used as a magician when he was young – the absurdity of which resulted in uproarious laughter that led perfectly into a commercial break.

During the break, with the set darkened, Carson, who was a mentor to Dave, leaned over and said, “You’ll use everything you’ve ever known.”

Truly great air talents know this, and it’s a really interesting parameter to work on as a coach. But the key is IF you can figure out exactly what the “fuse” is to light that “nugget” up. Often, I see air talents with a good concept, but no idea of how it might work. Using something just because you have that bullet in the chamber doesn’t mean that you can just fire it indiscriminately.

Think “What would facilitate this?” Because it has to make sense in the flow of the conversation, or it’ll sound awkward.

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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.