Monthly Archives: August 2024

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #586: Getting in the Groove FAST

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It stuns me sometimes that air talents sound so completely disconnected from the music. (This happens A LOT with voice-tracking.)

So, think about this little little-known technique: if you match the pace of the song you’re talking over the intro of, or coming out of, or if you match the emotional vibe of the song – or hopefully, you do BOTH – it makes a statement. You’re immediately a part OF the music. We want to believe that you’re listening to the music, too. Because, as my brilliant friend John Frost puts it, the core weakness of voice tracking is that the jock just drops in from nowhere, is not connect (or invested) in the song at all, and it’s just a voice reading a liner or a boring, mechanical intro.

Something really cool happens when an entire air staff realizes this, and thinks about stuff like this. There are dozens of little ways to be more “present” than your competition.
Great radio is thrilling and organic and surprising and connected. But bad radio is just disappointing.

Could be you’ve never thought of this. Now’s the time to do it.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #585: It’s About How Long it Sounds

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It’s not how long something IS. It’s about how long it SOUNDS.

Too many words, too many examples, or parenthetical “side road” journeys, will automatically make you sound longwinded.
And it’ll feel long, no matter how it times out on a stopwatch.

“2 minutes isn’t that long.” Really? How long does it FEEL? Try holding your breath for two minutes right now. You’ll understand.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip # 584: The Starting Place When You Have a Guest On

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If you want to have a guest do a good job and want to come back, you MUST start with this…

Take a back seat to him/her/etc. It starts with how you bring them on. Don’t “give away the plot” and tell the guest’s whole story. Take ONE thing and start giving, like “So, tell us about this movie…” (or whatever the guest is there to promote).

Or with a caller…suppose she’s obsessed with the movie “Back to the Future”. (This is an example from a show I coach in Houston.) Naturally, you ask how many times she saw it when it came out, and she tells you – instead of YOUR telling us you learned something about her, then telling HER that she has an obsession with a movie. (She knows that.) When you let the guest (or caller) tell the bulk of the story, that person comes across better – and so do you.

I can tell you from experience that the guest will really appreciate it. And you build a catalog of people who’ll gladly come back on the show.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #583: The Two Options in Content

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“Content Creator” may be a new title to the You Tube/Tik Tok generation, but to those of us in radio, it’s been part of our lives for a long time.

So, if you’re just starting out in this business, or if you’ve been around for a while and want to refresh and refine your Content, it boils down to two options:

(1) Be of Service. This can be about where to get relief from the heat in the dog days of Summer, helping out storm victims, or simply sharing what the station does that makes us a part of our community.

(2) Entertain me. No matter what format you’re in, if there’s not true Entertainment Value in your show, it’s going to be really difficult for people to become fans.

Filter everything through those two goals, and do your best in both.

(And remember, you can even accomplish both at the same time.)

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.