People often ask me what I listen for as the coaching process begins. There are many facets to an air talent, but I can learn where we need to start by hearing three breaks.

[1] A straight “station business” break. Does this person sound like he/she actually gives a cr*p?

[2] (For music radio) A short break, say, over a brief song intro. Does that person attempt to do anything, or does he/she just do a basic intro?

[3] Whatever “bit” (feature) is in the show. Is it creative? Is it too wordy, or trying too hard? These often sound either oblivious of the listener’s life, or sort of needy.

Those three segments tell me everything I need to know about the work effort, the timing and sensitivity to know what a good break is, and whether the air talent is trying to “link up” with the listener.

Example: Today, I heard a morning show do “What was the worst tattoo you ever got?” My, how totally not compelling. We’ve all heard this kind of thing way too many times, with the same callers from the day before phoning in the same kinds of responses. “WHY you got a tattoo in the first place” would work better, but really, is this about today? Why did it come up?

If I heard you do three breaks today, what do you think I’d have to say?

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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.

Sarcasm works okay in certain movies, TV shows, or articles, but if you think sarcasm is a strength on the radio, think again.

For every person that “gets” sarcasm and thinks it’s funny, there are most likely two people that don’t.
And that’s especially true of women. Most women think it’s uncouth, hurtful, and/or stupid. (This is not an empty guess. In my life are my wife and her two sisters, my own two sisters, and two nieces. You should see the looks they give when someone is sarcastic to them.)

“Oh, well then, sarcasm will work with men.”
Don’t be so sure. Just this week, a couple of my friends went through a heated argument when one of them tossed out a sarcastic comment.

So, drop the sarcasm. It pretty much just makes you sound like a smart-aleck..

– – – – – – –
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.