Tommy Kramer Tip #18 – Don’t tell me what to think

Nothing is more annoying than being told what to think. You’ve seen those promos for new TV shows or movie trailers that say things like “This fall’s brightest new comedy” or “The first great action movie of the Summer.” But we never believe that.

Look, America is a “Not me” country. Always has been, since the first settlers came over from Europe.
“You will pay a tax on tea.” (Not me. Let’s dump the tea into the harbor.)
“You will worship at this church” (No, I will worship wherever or whatever I want. Maybe like George Carlin, I might just want to pray to Joe Pesci. He seems like a guy who can get things done.)
“You will live on the East Coast.” (Nope, heading to California now. Hope the wagon wheel doesn’t break, or I’ll be stuck in Oklahoma.)

Now think of how many times you’ve heard a deejay say “Here’s a new one you’ll really like.” (Not me. It’s putrid.)
Or “You told us what songs you wanted to hear.” (I didn’t. No one ever contacted me, or you’d be playing a lot more Mark Knopfler or Kenny Wayne Shepherd.)
“Your Favorites from the 80’s, 90’s, and today” or “Today’s best bongo music, and your all-time favorites.” (Seems like this is always followed with a song I can’t stand by an artist I’d like to hit with my car and leave lying in the road.)
“This song just makes you feel good.” (No, this song was my ex-girlfriend’s favorite song. Now, it just reminds me of when she dumped me.)

It’s not just in promos or Imaging, either. I hear it in Content, too. Just the other day, I heard a jock talking about a giveaway, and he said “So you’re thinking ‘I’d like to win that’…”
No, I was thinking “Why would anyone want to win that?”

So here’s the deal. You can tell me what YOU think, but you can’t tell me what I think.
Example:
“I think that’s a great movie” says something about you. Whether I agree with you or not, I’ve learned a little about you. You’re a little more familiar now. There’s another thread of connection between us.

And THAT works.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2013 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #17 – Two more thoughts about “One Thought Per Break”

We’ve all heard “one thought per break” as the goal of great radio. (And if you haven’t heard it before, you have now.)

The reason for that is simple: It’s extremely difficult, maybe even impossible, to do more than thought in a break and have it work. Listeners don’t respond well to more than one thought. Two thoughts in the same break compete with and dilute each other, so the break is, at best, 50% successful. But take those two thoughts and put each of them in a separate break, and you can be 100% successful. Twice. It’s kind of like the old Saturday Night Live parody spot: “It’s a floor wax. No, it’s a dessert topping. No, it’s both!”

No, it’s neither.

But there’s more here than meets the eye, so let me give you two more guidelines.

One EXAMPLE per break. I don’t need a laundry list of examples. Just give me one good one.

And even deeper than that is something the great Bobby Ocean once said: One EMOTION per break.

Embrace these additional rules, and you’ll be amazed at the clarity it gives you. And clarity – simplicity by design – is what works best. (Think iPad. A 2-year old can use it, even though its inner workings are very complicated.)

And notice that I’m stopping there, because you only need one example to “get it.”

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2013 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #16 – PERFORMANCE is King

The articles are everywhere, every radio convention has a session on it, and the thought is drilled into every air talent’s head: Content is King.

But that’s not true. While Content is a huge factor in your success, it’s only half of the equation. PERFORMANCE is King. If you give the script of The Odd Couple to inferior actors, it won’t work. The best Content in the world won’t matter if you can’t get it across to the listener in a way that stands out against all the puking, quacking, promoting, and hiding behind empty liners across the dial.

Here’s something you might have noticed – almost all jocks with musical skills turn out to be pretty good on the air. The timing it takes to play an instrument well, to fit into an arrangement with punctuation at the right time, and the diligence it takes to refine raw skills are all strong qualities that make for strong air talents.

The other side of the coin is that “Club deejays” make horrible air talents, because they’re about screeching to a house full of drunks OVER the music. They’re not voice actors; they’re just people on the street corner trying to get attention.

While you may not be a musician, there’s a fast track to gaining those elements of timing and patience.

In music radio, simply fit the song. Match its mood and tempo with your delivery. “Up” song, “up” delivery. Soft song, soft delivery.

Sometimes the best influences in creating great radio can best be learned through a different medium. That’s why in Talk Radio, I recommend renting The Music Man and noticing how the dialogue unfolds with a certain rhythm. Each line spoken (or sung) by each character or group of characters in the movie defines the era it’s set in, the general spirit of the film, and the collective rhythm of the mythical town of River City. You remember lines from the movie, or lyrics from the songs in it, because of that rhythm. Paul Harvey had his rhythm, Rush Limbaugh has his, and you have yours. But if we’re not already hearing it on the air, you’ll have to look for it, find it, and sharpen it. COMPEL people to listen by having your performance draw people toward the sound of it. It’s equal parts your voice, the construction of each break or segment, and your pace.

A great performer can make average material sound really good. But if on top of those performance skills, you add great Content, you’ll have a fine career.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2013 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #15 – How to give Time Lines

I keep hearing these dysfunctional Time Lines…”coming up,” “in a few minutes,” “later” or “later in the show,” “soon,” in minutes, ” “straight ahead,” etc.

All meaningless. To the listener hardened by “teases” with no follow-through for years, all lies. You might as well just say “…but not now.” Or “sometime before we all die.”

Here are the ONLY three ways to give Time Lines that actually work:

1. A SPECIFIC time—“7:20″ (NOT “about” 7:20 or “around” 7:20). If you make an appointment with me, be on time. (If you’re a network, use “at 7:20 Eastern” or something similar.)

2. A DURATION—a clear time FRAME, like “in the next twenty minutes” or “this hour.” Use five or ten-minute incrementsnot “in six minutes” or “within nine minutes.” (That’s too exact. I’m not listening with a stopwatch, and it isn’t the way people really speak.) If it’s going to come up in 17 minutes, say “in the next twenty minutes.” Keep in mind the purpose of giving a Time Line in the first place—to tell me how long I need to listen in order to make SURE that I’ll hear what you’re promoting. So you want toovershoot to the next five or ten-minute increment, so I won’t miss it.
Oh, and instead of “just after 8 o’clock” or “in about an hour” (too vague), say “between 8 and 8:30.”

3. “Next,” meaning that it will follow what’s playing now—this song, or this stopset. Do NOT say “after this” into commercials (or the silly “on the other side”); that just points out the commercials. Don’t say “when we come back,” either. That just says you’re “going away” somewhere while I sit here, waiting—or more likely, tuning to another station. And don’t say “in sixty seconds” or “in two minutes.” (Again, too exact. I’m not sitting here with a stopwatch. I’m busy.)

The CBS promos don’t say “The Big Bang Theory…sometime Thursday.”

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2013 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.