Tommy Kramer Tip #51 – You ARE Twitter

Posted on May 20, 2014 by tommykramer

Dear friend and fellow Texas Radio Hall of Famer Randy Brown said something to me the other day that really struck home: In the early 70’s when our little rebel alliance was ushering in FM becoming dominant at Gordon McLendon’s KNUS in Dallas, we WERE Twitter. We were tightly edited, concise with our wording, and only made one point per break.

If you want to look at radio back then as social media today, AM Top 40 was Facebook. They had a huge following, with millions of listeners, and were the 800-pound gorilla—until we made those pukey, rambling deejays sound like they just couldn’t shut up.

Over and over, in market after market, PPM verifies what we knew then. If you’ll be concise (so you don’t waste people’s time) and offer something of real value to the listener every time you open the mic, you’ll be wildly successful.

And remember this: Just like Twitter is limited to 140 characters, the listener is sitting there, listening to you, with his foot tapping anxiously, waiting for you to get to the point. 140 really fast foot taps, then YOU’RE DONE—whether you’ve actually finished or not. The LISTENER decides.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #50 – Trivia is, well…trivial

Posted on May 15, 2014 by tommykramer

It’s hard for me to believe that people are still doing trivia questions on the air as a contest mechanic. Trivia is LAME, man.

Here’s what happens:
5 people call, so jocks think it works “because the phone lines lit up.” Meanwhile, 90 people tuned out because they’ve heard enough “brain teasers” and “impossible questions” to last several lifetimes. (In my seminars, I always say “No one cares what the gestation period of the female aardvark is.” Oh, and it’s seven months. My, that’s exciting.)

Think about it from the other end of the radio. It’s usually just a bunch of “No, that’s not it, but thanks for calling” stuff leading to the one nerd who guesses right or looks it up. Boring.
If you Google “trivia questions and answers” (which I just did), you’ll see over 67 MILLION websites full of this cra….uh, stuff. It’s kind of hard to be unique when you’re doing something that I can find in 67 million other places. And you’re forgetting that it’s not 1990 anymore. Today, I can just ask Siri, and have the answer in five seconds.

You can be better! You just need some coaching. Start with just scratching Trivia off the list – permanently. Let everyone else do that stuff, while you do something more relevant instead. Then call me, and I’ll show you ways to give stuff away that generate great phone calls and will actually engage the listener, not just feed more radio tofu to the same thirty people that win 90% of your contests.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #49 – Resets: The One-Sentence Rule

Posted on May 8, 2014 by tommykramer

Okay, you’ve done something that got some phone reaction, and there’s a good call you want to play.

We’ve all heard a Talent circle around the block endlessly, eventually gurgling and drowning as he tries to re-introduce the Subject. Sometimes we hear innocuous details that take us nowhere. I’ve even heard people tell the whole story again! As a RESET!!! (This, of course, is Death.)

If it takes more than one sentence to “reset the stage” of what you’re talking about, you need to work on this. “Redundant” is not the vibe you want to give off.

So think of it like a newspaper article. You want to start with a headline, not with a paragraph. ONE line, then BANG!…go right into the “meat” of the call.

The same rule applies when you’re not going into a call; you’re simply resetting a Subject in order to add another point about it. Don’t waste the listener’s time. Editing is the name of the game. Editing yourself is a GREAT quality.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #48 – One thing, One thing, One thing

Posted on April 30, 2014 by tommykramer

Here’s a quick and easy show prep tip.

Every day, bring in these three things:

1. One thing you saw. (Observing real life IS show prep.)
2. One thing that somebody else told you about. (The reason for this is that other people have different “camera angles” from yours.)
3. One thing you read. (But don’t read it to me. Just tell me about it.)

This will assure your having three solid things to talk about each day. If you’re in a two-person team show, you’ll have six things to talk about. When you add in the Content that the station provides—features, contests, website stuff, etc. the “empty page” fills up fast.

This process divorces you from the all-too-typical “crutch” material like “This Day in History”, Celebrity birthdays, or stealing lines or “bits” from someone else (which never sound like you), And because those 3 things you bring in will be different every day, your Wednesday show won’t just be a repeat of Tuesday’s show.

Jocks tend to think in terms of “benchmarks,” and build a list of things they do at certain times every day that can freeze you into an “autopilot” mentality. There’s room for benchmarks, but you also have to find ways of maintaining or generating that creative “spark.” The “one thing—one thing—one thing” method is an easy way to keep from growing stale, and stay interested in the non-Control room world….you know, the one your listener lives in.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #47 – No empty compliments, please

Posted on April 23, 2014 by tommykramer

If you want to really coach instead of just critique, here’s what your Talent doesn’t need to hear: generic thoughts like “You had a good show today”…or “You guys were really funny this morning.”

These types of non-specific comments, even well intentioned, are too vague to result in any real progress. Remember that Air Talents, if they’re really good (or if they’re ever going to BECOME really good), are like musicians. They work on their performances note by note, measure by measure, a little more precise here, a little more subtle there, until they put together the end result.

Part of your job in helping your Talent get better is to talk about specific breaks. “I really liked it when you asked that caller about X” or “That bit about X was really great” homes the Talent in on exact ingredients of the performance that please you, and that hit the target in terms of the way you want the station to connect with the Listener.

If you can, play the example for the Talent, then make your comments and get response from him/her. Think of yourself as both the Conductor of the orchestra and a collaborator with each musician.

And you don’t have to always be rah-rah positive. It’s okay to play a break, then ask “What were you thinking there?” or “Where was this going? What was the ending supposed to be?” Reinforcing that there needs to be a point to each break, and that Prep is essential, aren’t negative thoughts. They’re just “workshop” techniques to increase focus. You don’t have to be a jackass about it, but in the long run, what people learn while they work for you is the bottom line. (It’s also okay for you to realize that coaching isn’t your strongest point, and to hire a specialist. It can make your job so much easier.)

If, as an air talent, you’re not getting specifics from your PD, take some tape in there, play it for him (or her), and get some feedback. Remember, if you’re not getting better all the time……..you’re not getting better…all the time!

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #46 – Habit, the double-edged sword

Posted on April 16, 2014 by tommykramer

Amazingly, I still hear people on the radio doing celebrity birthdays, “This Day in History” stuff, trivia questions, and “News of the Weird”-type stories that they find on the internet. (They should be looking up “hackneyed” in the dictionary.) It’s strange how many air talents think of mere habits as “benchmarks” that people listen for. Anything done too often or for too long will eventually become old hat. For example, David Letterman’s Top Ten lists turned into dinosaur bones a long time ago. He should have gone to Top 5, and just done one a week, say on Friday night.

If you do have something that you believe is a benchmark (for a while), you have to hold dear the concept that it’s not enough just to do it regularly. It has to be GOOD—every time. As long as you’re working hard to keep it fresh and not settling for subpar material, it’ll probably work. Just keep in mind that although you do want to be known for a certain style and a set of clearly identifiable qualities, you DON’T want to be known for just doing the same old things every day.

Reassess things regularly. If something even begins to feel like there’s a “Hey, is this milk still fresh?” element to it, throw it away. No benchmark lasts forever, and just like great actors, writers, or musicians, you want to keep coming up with fresh material.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #45 – Be about the Listener, not just about You

Posted on April 9, 2014 by tommykramer

The Bible says “Love your brother as yourself.”
Radio stations (and you, as a Talent) should think “Be about the listener AT LEAST as much as about yourself.”

Most stations/jocks I hear these days seem to not really care about the listener at all. Part of this is liner-card and “promotion-driven” Programming, as if I really give a crap when your next remote broadcast is, or that if I want to drive ten miles out of my way, I can pick up a free station bumper sticker that I can use to deface my car, or a 29-cent koozie.

Some of the blame should be put on the misreading of (and trying to pander to) PPM, as if constantly being told what’s coming up on your station is going to make up for your being boring NOW. (It won’t.) But the main thing is that we’re constantly trying to draw attention to ourselves, rather than simply being Interesting, being Entertaining, or being of Service.

The bottom line is that if it seems like you care about me, I’ll be more likely to care about you.

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Tommy Kramer
Radio Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2014 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Tommy Kramer Tip #44 – Is this show TODAY?

Posted on April 2, 2014 by tommykramer

Here are a couple of questions to ask yourself:
1. How is today’s show different from yesterday’s (or tomorrow’s)?
2. Is what you do so generic that it could be a show from any day of the week?

Now take it one step further: Is what you do so generic that it could be on any station, or only on your station?

“Plain vanilla” may still be #1 in ice cream, but it certainly isn’t in radio. Today’s relevant content has a different “flavor” than yesterday’s. It’s your job to find what today is about and put it on the air. Sameness is the enemy of performance. (This is why so many so-called “benchmarks” aren’t benchmarks at all.)

Remember, there’s a huge, tangible difference between consistency (which is a good thing) and predictability (which is the kiss of death).

So if you’ve got stuff that you’ve kept around for “when you don’t have anything else,” THROW IT AWAY. It’s as outdated as last month’s tomatoes.

Tommy Kramer Tip #43 – YOU, not the Computer

Posted on March 26, 2014 by tommykramer

Music stations seem to forget that they’re about music. We spend a lot of time on jock Content, what Promotions work and how to do the promos for them, how Contests need to be exciting but still organic, and Imaging.

But none of that matters if you have the computer on “auto” and your Traffic bed, for example, crashes right over the final word of a song that ends “cold.”

The solution is one that I’ve mentioned before: run any break where you’re going to talk MANUALLY. The listener has to feel that you’re listening to the music too (whether you are or not), and that you care about his or her being able to hear the end of one of their favorite songs. We don’t want dead air, obviously, but wait for those cold ends and develop FEEL, instead of just letting the machines do it.

Remember that computers are just idiots with great memories. They count time, but they don’t FEEL timing. We have to respect the music.

Tommy Kramer Tip 42 – The Perfect Companion to Audio is Video

Posted on March 20, 2014 by tommykramer

You may already be into this culture. Sadly, most stations aren’t.

For years, it was thought that print was the perfect companion to audio. Sending the listener to your website to read something, get more information, download recipes, etc. was absolutely beaten into the ground. And because 98% of station websites look alike, with all their banner ads and flashing displays, the head shots of the talent, their boring blogs, and the made up “profiles” that no one cares about (“Gee, he likes peanut butter! Amazing!”), this didn’t really add much to the package.

Now I’m not saying that you don’t want to have a really good website, with streaming audio available and all that. You should. (Just like it goes without saying you should have a smart phone app, too.) I’m just saying that you also want to supplement what’s SAID on the air with VIDEO.

Hearing a guest or a stunt is fine, but seeing it on your web page or Facebook page (and/or You Tube) is a great supplement. The “peek behind the curtain” factor is incredibly compelling. I have the great pleasure of coaching a brilliant talent, Wally at WAY-FM, who just got his gazillionth hit on You Tube as a result of putting countless video clips up for people to experience the show in a new way. I’m certain that many people now listen to him as a result of seeing those clips first. See them at www.totalaxxess.com or on You Tube. (Just type “The Wally Show” into the search window.)

Marry into technology. It’s your best friend—IF you use it. If not, just go ahead and put your station’s logo on a load of buggy whips and pass them out at your next event.