Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #343 – A Lesson from Author Sandra Brown

Posted on January 1, 2020 by tommykramer

If you’ve never read any of the red-hot thriller novels of Sandra Brown, you’ve missed out on a truly gifted storyteller. My wife and I have read dozens of her books, and since radio is essentially storytelling in microcosm, you might learn something from this comment recently in her book ‘Standoff’, which is a short book she wrote for a Book Club. She said it was daunting because most of the action takes place in a confined space, adding “With each book, I challenge myself to try something I’ve never tried before. Can I pull this off? This self-imposed fear factor is a positive thing. It stimulates creativity and urges me to step outside comfortable boundaries. It makes each book different. Most important, it keeps readers from getting tired of the same ol’ same ol’.”

YES. EXACTLY. You should ALWAYS be willing to try something new; something you haven’t done before. This is something I push every air talent I work with to do, and I usually have to prod them once or twice a year to KEEP doing.

Honestly, when it comes to Talent Coaching, this is essential. As you’ve heard from me many times in these tips, Consistency is fine, but Predictability is Death. You’ve got to turn things upside down once in a while and shake them until change falls out of their pockets. When you stop trying new things, you stop making progress.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2020 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #342 – The Odds

Posted on December 25, 2019 by tommykramer

We’re in a world of numbers now. Sabermetrics dominate Sports. Take baseball, for example. “He hits .372 against lefthanded pitchers with men on third base and less than two out when it’s raining…”

Well, okay…but that’s not predictive. It’s just a measurement of what ALREADY happened.

The REAL odds are this: every time you step up to the plate, it’s 50/50. You’ll get a hit, or you won’t. This MATTERS, and it’s why Sports is such a great teacher, because every player or team will have its day sometimes, no matter what the percentages say.

You’ve got an incredible opportunity in radio, because every time you open the mic, the odds are dead even. You have a really good chance of saying something that’s cool, entertaining, or informative – not just “blah”. (Queen called it “Radio Ga Ga.”)

To continue the baseball analogy, you can’t get a hit if you don’t swing the bat. TRY SOMETHING. Phrase it uniquely, or come up with a “camera angle” that’s NOT like every other air talent would say.

If you do, you’ll have a great career. If not, you’ll just be a noise in the background.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2019 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #341 – No One Comes to the Party just for the Dip

Posted on December 18, 2019 by tommykramer

Recently, in a coaching session with a person who was playing it “too safe” on the air, I told him this: No one comes to the party just for the dip.

So okay, your station (and your show) has Music, News, Weather, Traffic updates, etc. The usual “basic survival kit” for broadcasting.

But now you need to add Personality, Companionship, and Things You and the Listener Have in Common.

Without those, you’re just the dip.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2019 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #340 – Hire Class Clowns

Posted on December 11, 2019 by tommykramer

A great rule of thumb for finding air talent is to hire people that were “Class Clowns” in school.

The mere fact that someone was willing to take on that role denotes Confidence, and wanting to have Fun. A great radio station needs both in order to succeed.

When I was a kid, I was a class clown, BUT it was never intended to disrupt the class, only to make it more enjoyable. I didn’t butt in or interrupt the teacher, and didn’t just say something stupid or something to draw attention to myself. I just looked at it like there were things being said that needed a comment.

Relating this to my wife one night not long ago, I said, “But some teachers – unbelievably – didn’t seem to WANT to do a team show.”

That made her spit the water she was drinking about three feet into the air.

And THAT, my friend, is what makes a valid air talent.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2019 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #339 – The Coaching “Starter Kit”

Posted on December 4, 2019 by tommykramer

It’s hard to find time to coach the talent. Program Directors these days are busier than ever. Let me try to help you. Here’s the coaching starter kit, from my perspective…

1. The first question a talent has is usually “How long will the session last?” My standard answer is “Not long.”
We get past that quickly by zeroing in on whatever has to be “serviced”, but then moving on to the one step FORWARD that the talent should work on. That should be something more artistic, if at all possible.

2. People who fear coaching have either never worked in a true coaching environment – (just critiquing an air check is NOT it) – or they’re just afraid of change. It’s up to you to turn that fear into welcoming the sessions. Coaching should be Personal, Individual, not some “cookie-cutter” exercise. You want the station to have consistency from show to show, but each Talent is different within that framework. Stress both of those things.

3. The real focal point is to get the Talent to see the “goal” as always getting a little better. It’s an ongoing process, like learning to play a musical instrument. It takes some work, but it pays you back for the effort.

Realize that some people you help get better will end up leaving. It’s inevitable. But you should WANT to be the breeding ground for people who move on to better things. When you’re recognized for that, you never have much trouble finding someone who wants to come work with you.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2019 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #338 – It’s Not the Control Room Show

Posted on November 27, 2019 by tommykramer

At industry functions or during market visits, I’m often asked “Where do you start?” Especially by young air talents.

Here’s the answer: It’s not the Control Room Show. It’s the CAR show. That’s where the listener is. Picture his or her environment, then place yourself IN it.

Little tiny things can destroy that feeling. Here are just three examples…

Saying “out there” (like “out there in Plano”) or any “there”-type references, like “up in x” or “down in x.” This just tells the Listener that he or she is somewhere ELSE, and you’re in a little room, miles and miles away.

Talking “plural”. This takes away from you and me, in the car. Examples: “For all the listeners,” “if any of you,” “some of you…” etc. Talk to ME. ONE person.

Generic Content. I don’t CARE what happened to someone in Wyoming unless I live in Wyoming. As the great Lee Abrams points out, no station seems to be claiming the city, like “Chicago’s…(name of the station)” anymore.
I can’t understand why anyone would give up the local connection voluntarily. Be from HERE, and be PROUD of that.

And be right here with me, in my car…or not. Your choice.
(Choose wisely.)

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2019 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #337 – Like Your Job…and Win

Posted on November 20, 2019 by tommykramer

Consider this:

The people who seem the most joyous, and that love their jobs, are the ones we want to listen to.

By and large, we don’t tune in to be bummed out. And you don’t even have to be funny; just happy.

Look at it this way – you get paid for moving AIR around. You SHOULD be happy about that. (Other people actually WORK for a living.)

We got into radio because it seemed like it would be fun, and it seemed easy. No one thinks “Let me find the hardest, piece-of-crap job I could possibly do, and then do THAT for the rest of my life.” We all pretty much move by “lines of least resistance”. You’d be surprised at how many people would gladly swap jobs with you right NOW.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2019 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #336 – The First Thing You Say

Posted on November 13, 2019 by tommykramer

The first thing out of your mouth when you open the mic often determines how long someone will listen to you – or if they’re hearing you at all. Almost instantaneously, the Listener will either connect with you…or not. So here’s a tip that almost every air talent ignores:

MATCH THE MUSIC to automatically glue yourself to the Listener’s ear.
If the song is slow and quiet, but you come out loud and blasting words, that’s TOTALLY WRONG.

Fast song = upbeat delivery that matches that rhythm.
Slow song = “right in the pocket” delivery that matches that song’s pace.

Second level thought: Feel the Emotion of the song, and start right there, as if you’re into it.
From that beginning, you can go anywhere else you need to go. But DON’T start like you just threw your headphones on because the song was ending. If you sound like you were just texting or looking at your Facebook page one second ago, you won’t get the result you want.

The listener can feel when you’re engaged and in the moment…and when you’re not.
And remember that you CAN’T feel if the listener is engaged or not. Pull that person toward you by being a PART of what he/she is hearing first.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #335 – Being Entertaining

Posted on November 6, 2019 by tommykramer

Being entertaining – which should be every air talent’s #1 goal – isn’t about punch lines. It’s about how you see the world.

George Carlin saw the world as a series of oddities worthy of comments. “A house is just a place where you keep your stuff…while you go get more stuff.”

Jerry Seinfeld sees the world analytically: “What it is with Grape Nuts? No grapes; no nuts.”

Rodney Dangerfield envisioned a life of getting no respect. “I told my dentist my teeth are turning yellow. He told me to wear a brown tie.”

My friend Jon Rivers once listened to an aircheck of a “not there yet” talent, and said “He knows not. And he knows not that he knows not.”

The great Howard Clark, back in the days of playing vinyl records, once started one on the wrong speed, and said, “Hands of a surgeon; mind of a tractor.”

How you see the world, and your place in it, creates your on-air persona. The way you see the world creates your “camera angles” and shapes your vocabulary. (This is what I work on with people more than anything else.)

The odd thing is that you more personal you get in expressing how you see the world differently than anyone else, the more people you connect with.

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #334 – Being Authentic

Posted on October 30, 2019 by tommykramer

There’s a lot of buzz nowadays about “being authentic.” Some stations even state it as a concrete goal, but come nowhere near it when that mic opens. Here’s why:

Even if you think you’re being authentic, that isn’t determined by YOU. It’s determined by the Listener.

Actors stuck in soap operas, who would love to star in feature films but never get offered any, think they’re being authentic. But of course, they’re only ACTING authentic.

More accomplished actors are just being the character, imagining what they’d feel if they were that person. They’re not acting like him, they’re just “being” him. (Or her.)

Not coincidentally, almost every great actor has had at least one coach who helped him or her find “the firmament” – that place from which the real ability grows.

Ask yourself this: To your listener, are you a truly distinguishable personality, or are you just another voice saying words?

Don’t try to be perfect, and don’t be a clone. Be YOU. If you need help finding out who you are – yes, I’m serious – then get some coaching, or at the least, keep reading these tips. Because as my friend Hank Haney (golf coach extraordinaire) says, “You can’t see your own swing.”