Tommy Kramer Tip #43 – YOU, not the Computer

Music stations seem to forget that they’re about music. We spend a lot of time on jock Content, what Promotions work and how to do the promos for them, how Contests need to be exciting but still organic, and Imaging.

But none of that matters if you have the computer on “auto” and your Traffic bed, for example, crashes right over the final word of a song that ends “cold.”

The solution is one that I’ve mentioned before: run any break where you’re going to talk MANUALLY. The listener has to feel that you’re listening to the music too (whether you are or not), and that you care about his or her being able to hear the end of one of their favorite songs. We don’t want dead air, obviously, but wait for those cold ends and develop FEEL, instead of just letting the machines do it.

Remember that computers are just idiots with great memories. They count time, but they don’t FEEL timing. We have to respect the music.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip 42 – The Perfect Companion to Audio is Video

You may already be into this culture. Sadly, most stations aren’t.

For years, it was thought that print was the perfect companion to audio. Sending the listener to your website to read something, get more information, download recipes, etc. was absolutely beaten into the ground. And because 98% of station websites look alike, with all their banner ads and flashing displays, the head shots of the talent, their boring blogs, and the made up “profiles” that no one cares about (“Gee, he likes peanut butter! Amazing!”), this didn’t really add much to the package.

Now I’m not saying that you don’t want to have a really good website, with streaming audio available and all that. You should. (Just like it goes without saying you should have a smart phone app, too.) I’m just saying that you also want to supplement what’s SAID on the air with VIDEO.

Hearing a guest or a stunt is fine, but seeing it on your web page or Facebook page (and/or You Tube) is a great supplement. The “peek behind the curtain” factor is incredibly compelling. I have the great pleasure of coaching a brilliant talent, Wally at WAY-FM, who just got his gazillionth hit on You Tube as a result of putting countless video clips up for people to experience the show in a new way. I’m certain that many people now listen to him as a result of seeing those clips first. See them at www.totalaxxess.com or on You Tube. (Just type “The Wally Show” into the search window.)

Marry into technology. It’s your best friend—IF you use it. If not, just go ahead and put your station’s logo on a load of buggy whips and pass them out at your next event.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #41 – Listeners don’t listen…

The great singer Harry Nilsson once said “Everything’s the opposite.” There are examples of this all around you. “Call now to get your free gift. All you pay is shipping and handling.” (But shipping and handling charges are NOT free.) Chesterfield cigarettes used to offer “Proof of no adverse effects to the nose, throat, and sinuses.” (Throat cancer apparently didn’t qualify as an ‘adverse effect’.) I’ve actually heard radio station sweepers where the station voice says “Less talk, more music.” TALKING to say “less talk!”

The people that use your station are called “listeners.” But “listeners” don’t actually listen all that much. As much as we’d like to not believe this, to a large extent, the radio is an appliance, like a light bulb or a microwave oven. We can’t really expect them to listen intently to everything we put on the air. Although putting it this way may sound weird, Listeners don’t listen—until they do.

They do when you provide what they CARE about, and then attach your call letters—your “brand name”—to it.
(It works like this: Nike = Michael Jordan = successful and athletic.)

Don’t do something just because you want to talk about it, or just because you thought of a funny line about it. It’s not about YOU. It’s all about creating a connection in the Listener’s mind between your station and what he or she (1) already wants to hear about, or (2) needs to hear about. That’s why we do Weather and Traffic reports—because people care about them.

Air Talents (and show Producers) should work hardest on the selection of what things to do on the air. If the Listeners don’t care about them, they won’t hear them.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #40 – First Impression

You only get one chance to make a First Impression. And remember that it takes twice as long to undo a first impression as it does to create it. And you have no control over whether or not you even get that chance. The Listener decides.

The natural tendency for a Talent in a new situation is to do too much, to try to show the whole bag of tricks, like an overzealous lead guitar player who tries to play every ‘lick’ he knows every time he plays a solo. Meanwhile, the old hands—Eric Clapton, B. B. King, etc.—have the patience to do only what’s just right for THIS song, knowing that the full repertoire will be uncovered over time, as more songs bring more emotions and more opportunities to express their range of skills.

Remember that trying too hard can be felt on the other end of the radio, and pushes the listener away. Your insecurities or nervousness will be magnified by the microphone.

Se here’s a simple thought that will always work: Just be of service to the listener. Then just add a little more of you in how you do that each day. It’s very rare that someone will dislike you if you’re genuinely trying to help them.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.