Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #451: The Layer of Superficiality

If you haven’t had much (or any) coaching, let me help you with the thing I hear most.

I’d estimate that at least 90% of the time, the first time I listen to someone, I hear a layer of superficiality. (Oddly enough, it’s even worse with team shows.) Something real-ish, but not quite real. A “smiley” sound in the voice, elongated “mock” differences of opinion (in a team show), a delivery that isn’t intimate or personal, extended setups to get into something – it’s almost always there, holding back that talent from sounding like they’re actually talking to me. Some suggestions:

1. Use real words — words that real people use in everyday conversations.
2. Develop your mic technique, so you can speak in a normal tone of voice.
3. Don’t get too officious with your language.
4. RELAX and “let off the gas.” I’m only a couple of feet away in the car. LOUD is annoying, unless it’s a genuine moment.

If you ever had anyone ask you to “Say something in your radio voice,” the answer should be, “I don’t have one. I just talk.”

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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 #450: Show, Visit, or Nothing

Ideally, you’re doing a Show. (Not just a ‘shift’.)

But at least, you should do a Visit.

…and if you’re just reading liners, promoting stuff, and intro’ing songs, you’re doing….nothing.

As I wrote about in the last tip, the goal should be both a Visit AND a Show. That’s what I coach, because historically, that’s what works the best. The combination of both of those elements will compel people to listen.

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

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #449: Another Lesson from George Carlin

It would be hard, if not impossible, for any comedian to even remotely approach the vast volume of material that George Carlin had. One of his pieces is a real lesson for radio (which is where George began his career, in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana). The routine was about “saving the planet,” with George pointing out that “The planet will outlive you, and will heal itself.”

But he had an interesting take on how that piece affected his performance, saying “That piece was very thoughtful, and very interesting, and I loved it, but I had to learn that there were times in the show when it was okay NOT to get laughs. Because one of the jobs I have besides getting laughs is to engage the imagination. If I make them laugh along the way, that’s part of the deal for me.”

That’s part of the deal for you, too.

If all you have to offer is “funny,” you’re going to be one-dimensional. If a plane flies into a building again, no one’s going to turn to you for your thoughts on it. A show needs changes of gear and depth, at least some of the time, to become great.

I was fortunate to be half of a team show in Houston (“Hudson & Harrigan”) that was known for laughs – lots of them – but we could do sincere and down-to-earth, too.

If you don’t have those elements, you need some coaching.

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

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip $448: The First Step Up

In coaching young air talent, there’s always that moment when you assess what their specific gift is – that one thing that stands out about each person – and you have to find a way to broaden their vision.

That’s when the first challenge is issued – to become more consistent. Anyone can have a good hour or a good show, but getting that to be EVERY hour, EVERY day, is “the first step up.”

Some people think the work is done with a good week, or a good month. But that’s just scratching the surface. Take any TV show that runs for years, and you see this challenge met. The first episode hopefully makes people like the show, and want to see it again. But it also sets a standard of what the viewer expects FROM the show every time they tune in.
It’s the same in radio, and “raising the bar” is the first hurdle. And it all starts with Content. Since you can’t do the same thing every day (“benchmarks” aside), you have to reinvent how you approach the show. The Beatles didn’t just stop with “She Loves You.” Only three years later, they did the “Sgt. Pepper” album. Then along came further experiments, instrumentation, and nuances. There’s a huge distance between “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

So…work on your craft, EVERY SINGLE DAY. As my friend and associate Alan Mason says, “Good enough….isn’t.”

You want to be Consistent, yes, but you also want to be consistently GOOD.

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