There’s a good lesson to learn from the World Series. Or the Super Bowl. Or the NBA Playoffs.
They all have one thing in common: It’s about doing the right things.
But not just that. It’s doing the right things at the right TIME.

It’s the same, in any music format, for what you say on the air when you make a comment. First, did you cut off the very end of that last word in the song’s vocal? Is that because you’re too anxious to talk? (Would you do that if you were the emcee for that artist’s live show? Chances are, the crowd would boo you, and the artist would never want you to be the emcee again.)

Patience.
Timing.
A sense of rhythm.
These things are essential to a great air talent.

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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.

My smart friend and associate John Frost posted a tip recently titled “What do we want them to say?” using baseball as an example.

Specifically, the opening of Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. The question was “What do we want fans to say when they are leaving the ballpark?

The answer was – regardless of whether the Padres won or lost – “I want to come back and bring a friend.”

Now apply that to radio. What we should want people to say is “I want to come back and listen again tomorrow.”

NOTE: You should always want the listener to either stay with you some more today, or come back tomorrow to listen again. If you don’t have that, you have nothing.

NOTHING.

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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.

A generation – maybe more – of young people wanted to “Be Like Mike” (Michael Jordan, of course) when I was younger.

In the radio arena, I wanted to be like Larry Ryan. Larry’s a legendary morning man in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. And besides a terrific, inviting voice and a laugh that makes YOU laugh, Larry embodied what I wanted in my life – to be successful, well-liked, and have a long career.

So, as everyone does, I did my best “impression” of Larry.
Obviously, that didn’t work, since I’m just me. But that’s kind of the point. We all start out imitating someone (or everyone) that we like. Fortunately, at some point, we have to reluctantly settle for being ourselves.

But I think it’s a good thing to have someone you admire be a goal. That instills a work ethic. And by trying, even if you fail, you learn your limitations – and your strengths.

Now obviously I believe it’s a LOT easier with a Talent Coach that you can trust. If you’re working with a good one, you’re going to reach your goals a lot faster (and a lot easier) than I did.

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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.

Radio is not about what you say you do, or what you say you are.
It’s about how you show it, and how you live up to it.

Your “Mission Statement” should really be a simple one:
Welcome in the person who’s never heard you before, and then either inform or entertain them (or both) every day.

I would add “have an attitude.” (The late, great Gordon McLendon insisted on that. It worked pretty well for him. He was a pioneer in both AM and the emergence of FM.)

I hear air talent in every format pushing their agenda on the Listener; the “We want to say this” crowd. But that has an oily residue, because it ignores the Listener’s “but I want to hear this” reply. It’s a shame, because you could be so much more.

The reality is this: The Listener comes First. Your agenda doesn’t actually matter, except in terms of what’s top of mind to your listener each day. If you can’t find a way to give an “accessible” vibe, then sooner or later you’ll fail. The world keeps turning, people have their own thoughts about things, and your job as a Program Director or as an air talent is to REFLECT what matters most to the Listener back to that person, filtered through your own experiences, observations, and emotions. This sounds ultra-simple, and it can be, but it usually takes some coaching. Focus doesn’t come naturally to most air talents.

That’s why I do what I do. There is no room for bad radio in the lives of today’s listeners.

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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.

There was a time when it was in vogue to be overly audacious, tricking people with prank phone calls, embarrassing people, making fun of them, etc.

I thought it really sucked, because to me, it seemed kind of cruel. I didn’t – and still don’t – get why it would be okay to demean the listener, or use that person as a “prop” for something that you wouldn’t do to a friend or coworker.

Stupid games, like getting someone to try and talk about something for a given amount of time while avoiding saying “Uh,” for example, seemed to me like squirting the listener in the face with a water pistol

But, as Bob Dylan sang, “Things Have Changed.”

You know what stands out now?
Kindness. A feeling that’s celebratory – not just phony cheering, but making us feel that you’re really glad to talk to that caller. That you’re glad they took that time to call in, you’re glad that they got their ‘moment’ on the radio, you’re glad that you were able to give them a prize. We can’t hear enough of that.

Drop the “I’m cooler than you” stuff, and you’ll actually BE cool.

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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.

Shockingly, many, many times over the years, I’ve found that an alarming number of air talents never, or hardly ever, listen to their own shows.

Here’s why it’s important: You need to hear yourself as others hear you. That’s how we improve.

If you simply listen while you’re checking your email, or updating your social media, you’ll subconsciously hear when you sound rushed, or like you don’t really care about something, or if you make grammatical errors that undermine the points you’re trying to make.

Listening to your own show just once a week can and will make a dramatic difference in how sharp you stay, or how quickly you change a weak area.

– – – – – – –
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.