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

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.