Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #13 – Talk TO the microphone

Many air talents, even experienced ones, BROADcast. They talk too LOUD, sound really exaaaaaaaaaggerated, and can’t seem to relax into a more conversational delivery without losing energy or enthusiasm.

So here are two things to help you:

1. Remember that it’s not theater, where you need to make sure the back row can hear you. It’s more like a movie, where the camera might be just a few inches away. The mic is not a megaphone, it’s an I-Max screen where everything is magnified. Be subtle. Sounding “interested” or “animated” is a better thought than having “energy.”

2. See the microphone as the listener’s face. Whenever I worked in a female-targeted format, I just talked to my wife. In a male-targeted format, I just talked to my cousin Ricky, who was more like a brother to me. When you put a FACE to the microphone, it stops being an instrument and becomes a human being. You wouldn’t shout into someone’s ear from a foot away.

You want to talk TO the microphone, not through the microphone.

With a little practice and true commitment to get away from “announcing” or “presenting,” you’ll still be able to sound excited, enthusiastic, serious, thoughtful, intimate—all of the “crayons” in the box. You’ll automatically sound different from 95% of the blathering, loud-talking, blowhards who apparently think the listener is 20 feet away. And setting yourself apart from the rest of the herd is what careers are built on.