Category Archives: Radio coaching tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #648: Two Talk Tips

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Some people say that 99% of the tips I write are for MusicRadio stations. That’s true, but I’ve worked with a LOT of Talk stations, too, and I can’t even count how many individual Talk Radio air talents. Two of my main “rules” are actually the same as in MusicRadio. Talk is just a different format, in terms of how much time you have to talk.

But…

1. You still have to edit yourself, so your points are concise and targeted.*

2. You should put things in STATEMENT form instead of asking Questions – especially avoiding those “Right?” types of rhetorical questions that sound needy and unsure of yourself. Statements get phone calls, pro or con. But Questions, because they’re insipid or typical, tend to get insipid or typical responses.

*By trying to say things in as few words as possible, you’ll end up saying more things that MATTER.

– – – – – – –
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.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #647: What Do You Want Them to Say?

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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.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #646: The Giant Stop Sign to Pay Attention To

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This is a recurring theme that I’ve dealt with before, but it seems to be metastasizing…again. It’s this thing; this all too typical “tease”….

“Listen up – this is something you’ll want to hear.”

No. I already don’t want to hear it.

Unfortunately, I see and hear this a lot now. Ugh. Remember my rule: Stop telling people what they’re supposed to like or what they’re supposed to think.

In the example above “Listen up – this is important…” would work FAR better. It’s about the ‘thing’, not about trying to “guide” my feelings.

Words are what we do. Use them stupidly or unknowingly, and you lose people. Shape what you say so it doesn’t treat people like cattle, and you’ll be much more successful. (And the air talents who DON’T think about this technique will become the ones that people don’t want to listen to.)

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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.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #645: More “Reveals”

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After you get to a certain stage in your career where you’re confident in what you’re doing, you have a certain “flavor” that you bring to the show – and it’s working; you’re successful – how you get even better is when you show more dimensions.

For example, maybe your show “plays dumb” a little bit, but actually gets very smart at times.
Or maybe it’s the opposite: Maybe you’re kind of cerebral, your humor is a little harder to reach, but when it does click, you make people laugh – but then at times you can be ‘down to earth’ stupid, too.

Whatever. The point is, showing more of who you are (and why) always works.

Example: David Letterman loved dogs, because they were more loving and caring and fun than many of his guests. That explained a LOT. And we knew it; we felt it.

– – – – – – –
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.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #643: Every Good Player Knows…

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Major league baseball runs a commercial during a change of innings that says, “Every good player knows the value of a coach.” And that’s true, but I think the opposite is true, too – every good coach knows the value of a great player.

A lot of good coaching is just staying out of the way, or just gently carving at the edges of things – because…they’re good. They don’t need a lot of, “This is how we do this.” In radio/TV/Voice acting, it’s more about “This plays to your strengths more,” or “It’s better if you stop here instead of adding one more thing.”

Coaching is a two-way street. Hard to do on your own.

– – – – – – –
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.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip $641: Be Like Mic

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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.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #639: A Tip from Robert Heinlein

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“The Dean of Science Fiction writers” is the title given to Robert Heinlein, author of “Stranger in a Strange Land”, “Starship Troopers”, and the wonderful book “Time Enough for Love” – among many others, was both an author and aeronautical engineer. That led to amazingly predicting many things that we now take for granted in the real world.

His main character, running through several of his books, was Lazarus Long, the world’s oldest man. Lazarus had a saying that I believe is the secret to true success in radio: “Be yourself, and be it in style.”

To young talents, stop hiding behind some façade. Stop trying to be or look like or sound like someone else. I always tell people “Crack your chest open and show us what’s in there.”

To veteran air talents who want to stay valid, I would say sweep through what you do, and take out anything that’s not genuine. What makes you “sound old” is clinging to outdated habits that don’t match up with the short-attention-span listener of today. If you sound old, you ARE old. If you sound engaged and interested in what’s new, you won’t sound old.

But above else, be yourself. And be it in style.

– – – – – – –
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.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #638: Teases – the Wrong and Right “Stuff”

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A very talented woman I’ve coached on and off for years faced a challenge recently with a station’s Program Director wanting the air talent to do “teases” of what they’d be talking about a few minutes later.

So, she reached out, asking how to handle it. Here’s part of what I sent her, with a couple of added thoughts…

“Teases” – as in “teasing” what you or someone else is going to talk about – are worthless. We don’t do that in real, everyday conversations.
“Hey, Jim, something is seriously wrong with your car! And I’ll talk about it in the next ten minutes.”
Dangling a subject out there, then yanking it away. SO stupid. And so rude, actually. Tell me NOW.

If you want to tease something, I would stick with the following:
(1) Features of the station – a special guest coming up on the morning show, for example. Or any in-show feature of a daypart. (Each show should have something unique.)
(2) Things that benefit the listener on the website or your social media. A link to an air talent’s podcast, for instance.
(3) A station event, a contest (with a prize!), or a promotion that’s listener-focused.

Program Directors: Everything else is just quacking. If you’re going to tease something, it has to matter.

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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.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #636: Why “Good Enough”…Isn’t

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One of the most crippling thoughts in radio is “That’s good enough.”

The reply from the Listener’s end of the radio will often be, “No, it isn’t.”
I spent practically my whole on-air career being part of stations that knocked off the competition if they thought “good enough” would win. In particular, taking advantage of that kind of thinking was what fueled our staff in the early seventies in Dallas at KNUS, when we became the first FM station to ever be #1 in a major market. (Yes, there was a time when AM ruled. We helped establish that FM was the new sheriff in town.)

We, as a staff, were relentless. We had a sense of friendly competition amongst ourselves in who would be the best each day – who had that line or that “camera angle” that we all quoted or laughed about that night. By holding ourselves to the fire about being fully engaged in a different approach – not too laid back, certainly not ‘pukey’, but down to earth and real, instead – we simply evaporated the stations that lived with “good enough” as their stopping place.

When a station is self-satisfied, it’s easier to knock off.

Want to learn how to do that? That’s why – and what – I coach.

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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.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #635: Your Strategy Each Day

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My dear friend and associate John Frost and I talk to stations all the time about what their Strategy is. (Hint: “What you want to happen” is not a Strategy.)

I talk to air talent all the time about what their specific strategy is each day. And I push them to think about these questions…

“What’s today’s show about?”
“What do you want to be known for?”
“What do you want to be counted on for?”

To use a Sports reference, the best hitters in baseball don’t just go up to the plate and flail away. They’re sure about what they’re trying to accomplish, and the techniques they’ll use.

If you don’t have a real Strategy behind what you do….well, good luck with that. The best air talents are the ones who are clear-eyed about what they’re trying to do, and secure (maybe after some coaching) about how to accomplish it. That’s why they win.

– – – – – – –
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.