Category Archives: Radio coaching tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #684: Give the People What They Want — Really?

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There’s an old saying, “Give the people what they want.” That was the gospel.

But Volkswagon didn’t agree. People were driving huge cars when the original Beetle came out – but then millions and millions of VW Beetles were sold.

George Lucas didn’t. The sci-fi genre was pretty sparse when “Star Wars” came out. Hollywood moguls said people didn’t want that. They were, uh…wrong.

Apple didn’t. They knew a more intuitive computer was better. And a laptop (or later, an iPad) was a much better choice for millions of people than a giant, heavy desktop computer. Plus, Steve Jobs knew that a sleek, futuristic design for a mobile phone was going to make huge, complicated phones horribly outdated. They CREATED desire.

Give people what they want, sure, but also give them new approaches.

Example: My brilliant partner John Frost consulted a station in Austin, Texas. One of the first things he did was to have them play “The Eyes of Texas” at noon every day. People didn’t know they wanted this, but it set the station’s tone as being a TEXAS station. It was what they wanted, but they may not have known that.

Don’t kid yourself into thinking that a corporate, format-wide 300-song playlist is what people want. I’d like to drive a couple hundred miles WITHOUT hearing the same, beaten-to-death songs on every station in a given format.

I’d like to hear Promos and Production in general that can compete with Hollywood movie trailers.
I’d like to hear disc jockeys that sound like they came from the same region they broadcast to.

I’d like to hear something that SURPRISES me, rather than just “what people want.” And I’ll bet you would, too.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #683: Humility

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Here’s something to seriously consider: do you have humility?
This is such an endearing trait.

NEVER be afraid of being the butt of the joke. It makes you human. And it creates empathy.

We have a great example of what a lack of humility is like in a certain well-known President. Can’t take a joke. Ever. What a shame. He’d be so much more likable if he could.

Sure, some people succeed in media as a bombastic, aggressive personality. (I’ve coached several over the years.) But I believe that as a radio personality, the more you’re willing to kind of “take it on the chin” once in a while, the more people will like and respect you.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #681: A Line From a Song

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A song I wrote a few years ago contains the line, “To refuse to see is the same as being blind.”

This definitely applies to radio, and raises questions:

Do you listen to your own show regularly?
Can you hear the things that you don’t do that well?
If you can, do you work on correcting and upgrading those things?
Do you have a P. D., friend, or talent coach to help you recognize where you can improve, and define what your greatest strengths are?

The point is, you want to eliminate the subpar things, discover what you do really well, then only do those things.

I believe that anyone who wants to become an elite Talent needs that focus.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching tip #680: What Will YOU Say?

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Here’s how careers are made…

When something happens – something that seemingly everyone is buzzing about – and you make a comment, what will you say that no one else would say?

If you can get past that, and own that, and get to where that’s the way your brain works, you will be a major star.

Read. Watch great movies. Listen to great songs. They all have that in common.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #676: Crayons

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A radio career is like crayons.
You start with the little 8-pack, and boy, is that fun. All the primary colors at your service. Now to find a surface to draw on….

Your handling improves. You work on writing or drawing things. You need more crayons, so you move to the 16-pack. Lots more colors and variations. Can’t WAIT to put that strange turquoise/green/blue one. That’ll look great on the wall. (And you find out that on paper is better, then the paper goes on the wall – or the fridge.)

Your imagination bursts with ideas; things you want to try. Then, true crayon citizenship comes with the 32-box. Oh lord, such colors. Need a bigger backpack for that baby.

And don’t even talk about the 64-box with the sharpener built into the side. You can rule the world with that gigantic assortment. Are trees really fuchsia? They are if you want them to be!

Just like radio. You learn a little bit at a time, you “play” with each “color” that comes to you, and each thing you learn adds another crayon to your performance “box”.

Listen to great air talent. Ask questions. Understand what the backbone of the station is, then color it your way.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #675: You Need to Know Them

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This is the starting place – especially when you’re new to a station:

People don’t need to know you. You need to know them.

Streets have names that are pronounced differently than you would have thought.
Food tastes are different. (I once went to a corporate meeting in York, Pennsylvania. EVERY store and every restaurant I went into had candy machines in the entrance. Dentists must love that place.)

The point is, the culture of the market is your guide to meaningful Content, so observe, listen, experience, and soak in the little things that make up the fabric of your market. Then, connect the dots TO the listener.

You learn about them. THEN they learn about you.

That’s how it works. You’re either going to be a new neighbor, or just another voice saying words.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #670: The End of a Legend

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If you’ve followed these tips, you know that I’ve frequently referred to a morning guy in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. His name is Larry Ryan, my first mentor, and he’s as good at connecting with an audience as anyone I’ve ever heard in any size market.

“Lovable Larry” did his show with his sidekick “Mr. Weather” for well over 50 years, with consistently fine ratings.

Just recently, Larry Ryan retired.

And – of course – the cookie cutter, “play-the-same-300-songs-over-and-over-again” Oldies station he was on made the typical stupid move of putting in a mindless team show that has no substance, and doesn’t sound like they know anything about the Shreveport/Bossier market at all.

Radio isn’t dead, but it is strangling itself.

To station owners and managers:
We don’t need or want generic shows. We want to listen to people who understand what our lives are about, and share what they have in common with us.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #699: What is there to come back for?

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Years ago, I traveled to Indiana to work with a morning show there. It didn’t take long to spot the fundamental weakness of the show – the guy was basically just allowing his female partner to be his live “laugh track.” And the Content was weak to begin with, some lame ‘prep sheet’ type of stuff and what he thought were jokes.

The problem was, she was much better than he was. She had a great voice that pulled you in, she could sound any age, was very smart, and could make you laugh with real stories and comments, not just jokey lines. The guy was pretty lazy, which showed as we met for the first time after they got off the air. He literally leaned back in his chair, plopped his feet up on his desk, and asked me, “Why should I listen to you?” Hmmm…

So, we then started to work. As always, the first step was to point out something that they did well. Then we went over the first one or two things I wanted them to work on. The female partner paid attention. The guy didn’t.

After two days of coaching and listening, their boss asked me over lunch for my initial assessment. I told him the girl was a terrific talent, but that he would probably end up replacing the guy. He asked why, and I boiled it down by asking him, “If a new listener heard them for the first time today, what is there to come back for?”

I only cite this example because if the morning guy had actually wanted to listen, he would have realized that it’s SO EASY to sound good…

5 steps:
Learn what you do well.
Learn what you don’t do well.
Learn what valid Content is.
Root for your teammates.
And resist letting your ego take over the show.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #666: Nobody Cares About Your Voice

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So many beginning air talents think that they need a “big” voice to succeed. But they don’t.

Nobody cares about your voice.

They care about what you SAY.

Having a good voice is fine, but it doesn’t necessarily equate to more listeners. An idiot with a great voice is still just an idiot.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #662: Group Airchecks

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Here’s something that was sort of revolutionary at the time, I guess, but sadly just disappeared as voice-tracking came in.

Group airchecks.

Back in the day in Dallas, the entire air staff were actually friends, and hung out together a lot.
Once in a while, we’d sit and listen to airchecks of each other, and exchange our thoughts about what we heard.

Over the course of the comments, we created “rules” – formatics – that we wanted to run through the station. We wanted to do things the same WAY, but be totally unpredictable in WHAT we did, given each of our personalities. And “Personality” grew, as we all giggled or pointed out what worked or what bombed.

Common language – a sort of station “vocabulary” grew out of these group sessions.

But here’s the main thing – the result was that we all got better at the same rate of speed. The entire staff sounded like we knew each other and liked each other, and all of us liked what we were doing for a living.

Radio isn’t “dead”, as some people believe, but in terms of real Personality, it’s pretty much on life support.

Change that, and you change your career.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.