Monthly Archives: February 2026

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #664: Not Boring

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A few weeks ago, I gave you a tip to generate more phone calls, or social media response – whatever you want in terms of listener feedback and participation.

I purposely didn’t address an inconvenient truth: if you’re not getting reaction, chances are that you’re just boring.

So, you need to become NOT boring.

Here’s how: be curious. Instead of blah-blah prep sheets or “bits” that are just things YOU want to do, look for things that will provoke an Emotional reaction from the listener.

It may be something as simple as why a certain road under construction is taking too long, and people are late for work as a result, for example. Something that the listener is experiencing today; not just some “click bait” article.

Being thought of as ‘interesting’ is usually just being AWARE, then articulating that on the air.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #663: Sounding Smart

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If you make grammatical errors, like mangling the object of a preposition (“Between her and I,” instead of “between her and me,” for instance), that shows a level of education that isn’t high enough.

We’re supposed to set the standard. We’re supposed to be the one person in the group who’s the best conversationalist, that uses the fewest words to make a point, that uses the right words to express your emotions, and can generate enough friendship and excitement just to hear what you have to say – the person who’s welcome in any conversation. THAT’S the goal.

To be a good conversationalist is to be an intelligent conversationalist. Not a “brainiac” or an “I’m smarter than you are” stiff; just a person whose thoughts are welcome, maybe even occasionally quoted by other people.

I believe that if you don’t sound smart, no one’s going to come to you for your thoughts when something dramatic happens.

Think about this: We OWE IT to the listener to sound smart. If you speak like an undereducated clod, why would I want to listen to you?

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #662: Group Airchecks

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Here’s something that was sort of revolutionary at the time, I guess, but sadly just disappeared as voice-tracking came in.

Group airchecks.

Back in the day in Dallas, the entire air staff were actually friends, and hung out together a lot.
Once in a while, we’d sit and listen to airchecks of each other, and exchange our thoughts about what we heard.

Over the course of the comments, we created “rules” – formatics – that we wanted to run through the station. We wanted to do things the same WAY, but be totally unpredictable in WHAT we did, given each of our personalities. And “Personality” grew, as we all giggled or pointed out what worked or what bombed.

Common language – a sort of station “vocabulary” grew out of these group sessions.

But here’s the main thing – the result was that we all got better at the same rate of speed. The entire staff sounded like we knew each other and liked each other, and all of us liked what we were doing for a living.

Radio isn’t “dead”, as some people believe, but in terms of real Personality, it’s pretty much on life support.

Change that, and you change your career.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #661: Once an Hour

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This tip is about creating a “phone culture”, because it’s sad to me that many shows have to struggle mightily to get feedback from their audience.

It’s simple: ONCE an HOUR, say something like, “You’re always welcome to join the show…” and then add the phone number.

The goal is to create a group of 10 or 20 people that will ALWAYS respond to what you’re doing on the air.

Do this for as long as it takes to “stock” the show with listeners’ feelings.
Because – and I’ve said this many times – I don’t really care about what you think, but I’ll always care about what you FEEL.

People connect through expressing their emotions, not just analytical “takes” on a given subject.

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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2026 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.