Monthly Archives: August 2025

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #638: Teases – the Wrong and Right “Stuff”

Posted on by

A very talented woman I’ve coached on and off for years faced a challenge recently with a station’s Program Director wanting the air talent to do “teases” of what they’d be talking about a few minutes later.

So, she reached out, asking how to handle it. Here’s part of what I sent her, with a couple of added thoughts…

“Teases” – as in “teasing” what you or someone else is going to talk about – are worthless. We don’t do that in real, everyday conversations.
“Hey, Jim, something is seriously wrong with your car! And I’ll talk about it in the next ten minutes.”
Dangling a subject out there, then yanking it away. SO stupid. And so rude, actually. Tell me NOW.

If you want to tease something, I would stick with the following:
(1) Features of the station – a special guest coming up on the morning show, for example. Or any in-show feature of a daypart. (Each show should have something unique.)
(2) Things that benefit the listener on the website or your social media. A link to an air talent’s podcast, for instance.
(3) A station event, a contest (with a prize!), or a promotion that’s listener-focused.

Program Directors: Everything else is just quacking. If you’re going to tease something, it has to matter.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2025 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #637: Why Your Station’s Formatics Matter

Posted on by

Many MusicRadio Program Directors who were too late for the Top 40 wars really don’t understand how proper formatics work – or even what they ARE.

Example: If you wait for that last LOGICAL moment to start the next song, then talk (or where the next element, like a “sweeper” or Imaging piece should hit), you…

(1) show respect for the music,
(2) have true Momentum, not just an “upbeat” pace (which is a different thing),
(3) and you won’t sound like some idiot who just talks anywhere you feel like.

Remember that there are only two elements to the listener on a music station: music, and “things that AREN’T Music.”

So, the choice of efficient formatics can make you come across as either an intrusion, or as a part OF the music. (Guess which one works better.)

The bottom line is that a station that seemingly has no respect for the music has no respect for the ear of the listener, either. That’s why streaming music services occupy space that radio used to own. Times and technology will change, but I would think that something like not jerking the listener around with loud sound effects chopping off the end of a song would probably always be a good thing to consider.

I mention this primarily because every P. D. should want his air talent to just be able sit in the pilot’s seat and cruise along, which is what solid formatics provide. When a talent feels confident by doing the right things, that person becomes easier to coach to a higher level.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2025 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #636: Why “Good Enough”…Isn’t

Posted on by

One of the most crippling thoughts in radio is “That’s good enough.”

The reply from the Listener’s end of the radio will often be, “No, it isn’t.”
I spent practically my whole on-air career being part of stations that knocked off the competition if they thought “good enough” would win. In particular, taking advantage of that kind of thinking was what fueled our staff in the early seventies in Dallas at KNUS, when we became the first FM station to ever be #1 in a major market. (Yes, there was a time when AM ruled. We helped establish that FM was the new sheriff in town.)

We, as a staff, were relentless. We had a sense of friendly competition amongst ourselves in who would be the best each day – who had that line or that “camera angle” that we all quoted or laughed about that night. By holding ourselves to the fire about being fully engaged in a different approach – not too laid back, certainly not ‘pukey’, but down to earth and real, instead – we simply evaporated the stations that lived with “good enough” as their stopping place.

When a station is self-satisfied, it’s easier to knock off.

Want to learn how to do that? That’s why – and what – I coach.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2025 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #635: Your Strategy Each Day

Posted on by

My dear friend and associate John Frost and I talk to stations all the time about what their Strategy is. (Hint: “What you want to happen” is not a Strategy.)

I talk to air talent all the time about what their specific strategy is each day. And I push them to think about these questions…

“What’s today’s show about?”
“What do you want to be known for?”
“What do you want to be counted on for?”

To use a Sports reference, the best hitters in baseball don’t just go up to the plate and flail away. They’re sure about what they’re trying to accomplish, and the techniques they’ll use.

If you don’t have a real Strategy behind what you do….well, good luck with that. The best air talents are the ones who are clear-eyed about what they’re trying to do, and secure (maybe after some coaching) about how to accomplish it. That’s why they win.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2025 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.