Category Archives: Radio coaching tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #493: A Simple Guide to Connecting with the Listener

Posted on by

Each coaching session I do gets a short written recap afterward. I keep it simple, and often include an example from that person’s air work.

Recently, a talent talked about the dreary weather forecast, and noted that it made some people crabby. Then she paused…and added, “Okay, it makes me crabby.”

I sent this in her recap:

Very nice, Sarah. 👏

Opening up and sharing your quirks and foibles will always work. Even if people don’t feel the same way you do, they’ll weigh your feelings against theirs, and that in itself is connection.

Feel free to keep that up.

Hopefully this tip will serve two purposes: (1) it shows how easy it is to pull someone a step closer to you when you’re on the air, and (2) it should take away any fear you have of coaching. That small, but highly connective moment might have gone unnoticed. But to me, it’s the germ of the whole purpose of being on the air – to CONNECT with the Listener.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #489: The Invisible Mic

Posted on by

This tip was birthed by a comment from Randy Fox of KSBJ in Houston. (If you’re not familiar with them, suffice it to say that it’s easily one of the Top 3 stations in the Contemporary Christion Music format, with a huge, devoted audience.)

During a recent session, Randy pinpointed a real strength of Morgan Smith, who does afternoons, saying “She makes the microphone invisible.”

What a nice compliment. That intimacy, where it just feels like a friend is talking to you, is – to me – essential, if you want to be a great talent.

Share something, sure, and if you’re excited, show that. But don’t try to be “bigger” or louder than a normal, animated conversation. Make the mic disappear.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #487: Jokes Aren’t Funny

Posted on by

Radio has changed quite a bit over the last 20 years. Social media, instant access to information through your cell phone, nine thousand channels and video streaming sources have changed subject matter and how it’s delivered.

But radio is still capable of being the most personal medium there is. However, if I had to choose one thing to tell you, it would be “Jokes aren’t funny anymore.”

It’s hard to try to be funny when comedy is so readily available. Turn on the TV and you can almost always find Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, Modern Family…and the list goes on forever. There are clips of every comic ever born on You Tube, too.

So, don’t do “jokes”. Do LIFE. What makes people laugh is always just what they can see themselves doing, or someone they know. People are just flat out funny – whether they mean to be or not. Once in Dallas when rain was pouring down, my morning show partner Rick “The Beamer” Robertson and I used “Singin’ in the Rain” instead of the Weather jingle bed to do the forecast over, and at the end, we broke into song.

A few minutes later, his mother called, and said, “Rick, you’re funny, honey; you really are…but let Tommy do the singing!”

Rick reacted like an eight-year old, “Aww, mom…”

Now THAT was funny.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #486: The Phone Rings

Posted on by

To a degree, acting is part of what we do. I talk a lot about this in coaching sessions, and give an example of a bad actor versus a good actor:

The bad actor “shades” toward the desk as he talks, knowing that the phone is going to ring.
The good actor just says what he has to say, and the stupid phone interrupts him.

When you’re on the radio, the “visual” is created by the listener. But what you say and the way you sound paints the picture, too. Be more than just “a voice saying words” or reading something off a computer screen. Give me something genuine.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #485: The Phonies versus The Realies

Posted on by

There are things everywhere that apply to what we do. For me, one of those was a line from an old “Peanuts” comic strip when the cantankerous Lucy turned to Charlie Brown after something had happened and said, “It’s getting hard to tell the phonies from the realies.”

That’s a quirky line, but honestly, in radio, it’s not that hard. So, with apologies in advance for using the old-fashioned “he” pronoun, here’s a checklist:

The Phony tells you what to think. {“You’ll like this…”)
The Realie tells you what he thinks.

The Phony “pushes” a little too much.
The Realie has better technique and lets the mic do the heavy lifting.

The Phony does material that he thinks is funny or entertaining. The Realie does material that he believes the LISTENER will find funny or entertaining.

Start with the listener and work back to the Control room as the beginning of your process. Then just talk to that person.
Always give 100%, but don’t try too hard. Let me decide, one listen at a time, that you’re the best choice. If you need help, ask your PD, or work with a valid talent coach.

The goal is to be the best version of you.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #484: The Biggest Skill

Posted on by

The best air talents I’ve ever heard, regardless of age, format, etc. all have one thing in common. And I think it’s the “biggest” skill a person can develop.

They’re concise. They always seem to get a point across in fewer words than someone else would use.

Yes, this does apply to Talk radio, too. This isn’t about the length of a break (or a segment).
It’s simply been my observation that the person that ‘cuts to the chase’ is the one that gets quoted. And remembered.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #483: Everything You Say…

Posted on by

This may be an uncomfortable thought, but everything you say reveals something about you – whether you want it to or not.

If you’re in touch with the reason TO say it, you have a good chance of its being received as genuine, and digested by the listener as something worth hearing. If you’re not, and you’re just “trying to get done with it,” that will be felt by the listener, too.

I had a morning team once that insisted on prerecording every break they did into the Voxpro device they used for phone calls, and then playing it back on the air a few minutes later EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE SITTING IN THE CONTROL ROOM and could have done it live.

That, of course, is silly. I’m not knocking voice tracking, but that’s a different animal. I’m talking about being right there in the room and still choosing to be one step removed from live performance. Their excuse was, “We want it to be perfect,” which, of course, is unattainable, and made them sound just a little unnatural.
And obviously, their saying that to me revealed a lot about them, whether they meant it to or not.

Real people flub words, breathe, and don’t “announce” when they ask you to pass the salt.
As a talent, never fear stepping into the spotlight and delivering. That’s why you got into radio in the first place, because you can do that. So be you, and be right here, right now, working without a net. Even mistakes reveal something about you.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #482: Don’t Hide

Posted on by

Here’s a little story for you…

When I was Corporate Talent Coach for Paxson Radio, part of my job was to listen to airchecks that were sent in. We had 47 stations, and wanted real Talent in every position.

One guy followed up his aircheck with a phone call, and asked my opinion. I told him that most of what I had heard had been stock ‘bits’ – Trivia contests, ‘News of the Weird’ type of stuff, some forced-sounding laughter. Sensing that he was a little shaken, I added, “Look, here’s the thing. After hearing this, I don’t know who you are. You’re hiding behind ‘bits’ so much that I don’t have a sense of what your outlook on life is, what your values are, what your opinions are – things that we might connect on if I did.”

So…ask yourself if you’re still trying to invent new things, or just settling for the same ol’ same ol’. Is your show consistent (which is fine), or has it crossed the line into being predictable (which is death)? Do you offer insights, give opinions? Did I learn anything about you today? Or did you just “perform” some more?

In the end, the ‘bits’ are rarely what’s remembered. It’s WHO YOU ARE that sinks in. As I’ve said a million times, at some point you’re going to have to crack your chest open and show us what’s in there.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #480: The Other End of the Couch

Posted on by

This is a voice tip for radio, and artistically, the way you’re going to perform the best.

We’ve all heard way too many “foghorn” deejays trying to “impress” us with their big, impressive delivery. And it’s not just in radio — the “HI THERE!” bad disc jockeys are doing Sports on TV now, shouting at us about everything.
But that’s just so 1975.

Try this instead: just imagine someone sitting with you, on the other end of the couch. You want to be loud enough for that person to hear you, but no louder than that. Obviously, you’ll get more excited if the subject matter requires that, but as a rule, just settle down and talk to me.

The absence of the “disc jockey” delivery allows you the space to just be yourself. And then you can be organized, but still open to something flying into your mind ‘in the moment’ because you’re not trying so hard to be noticed.

As my friend and outstanding voice actor Beau Weaver says, “It’s not about your voice.”
I would add, “It’s NEVER about your voice.” It’s about being believable.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #479: Next, Free Time, and Reminder – Team Show Communication

Posted on by

Having coached over 300 team shows, and doing 5 different team shows in my career, I can tell you that true team show communication is often elusive, or sometimes erratic. Let me help you with that.

The minute you close the mic at the end of a break, talk about what you’re going to do next. Lay it out, who’ll do what, etc. then go about your business. It’s free time now, to do whatever you want – talk to each other more (always a good idea), just have a little silent time, check your email…whatever.

Then with about a minute left before you’re going to go on the air again, everything stops. And you briefly go over what you had planned again – who’s going to start, etc.

This is SO easy, and it makes all the difference. You don’t talk each other to death and get bored with each other, and you don’t build in little resentments like “What did he mean by that? He was just staring out the window while I was talking to him.”

That little amount of planning, then free time, then taking a moment to go over the plan again, will give you a relaxed focus. Try it.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.