Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #689: Smaller Market Coaching Thoughts

In 30 years of Talent Coaching all sized markets, I’ve found that the smaller market radio stations often have something that the medium and large markets don’t have – Authenticity.

While their formatics may sometimes be weak by major market standards, they often MEAN more to listeners. The reason is simple: they can be local. So, they can reflect more easily what the majority of their listeners really care about and identify with – and that’s the whole Content ballgame.

If you’re in a small market, you should touch on the most important “big” stories. But even then, make an effort to be as local as possible – or you can easily LOCALIZE that big story. Ask yourself: what does it have to do with you, and your neighbors?

Relevance is King. “Items to talk about” are blah-blah. To connect with your listeners, put yourself in their shoes, see what they see, and reflect their emotions. In the process, share yours – serious or not-so-serious.

These thoughts apply to the most successful personalities in ANY size market, and in any format.

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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.

Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #833 – It’s Back To School Time!

Back to school time is everywhere. In the stores with sales. On the streets with school buses. There are even tax free days for Back to School. It’s not an official holiday like Christmas, Ground Hog Day, or Millard Fillmore’s birthday, but it is just as evident.

Back to school affects everyone’s schedule, even those that don’t go to school. (Can’t say that about ole’ Millard’s birthday.)

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Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #688: Modern so-called “Positioning” – and What That Means to Coaching

One of the things that makes it hard to coach people is when their whole on-air position is just a catch phrase. A TV station in my hometown uses “On Your Side” as its ‘positioning’ statement. It’s in all their stupid promos. But it’s meaningless.

“On my side” for what? A lawsuit? A basketball game at the gym? A street fight? My political affiliation? My battle with every restaurant to not put onions or garlic in my food?

Their “position” is actually prone (as in “lying face downward” or “lying flat,” according to the dictionary).

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Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #832 – Just Take It Away

When the great artist and sculptor Michelangelo was asked how he created his famous 17-foot-tall statue of David he responded, “It was easy. I just took away everything that didn’t look like David.”

That profound simplicity could be a nifty way to approach fine tuning your radio station.

If people come to your station to be encouraged just take away the stuff that doesn’t do that.

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Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #687: Presence

When I listen to the radio, the first thing is – I want to feel a human being there. Not just some quacky-voiced announcer who’s sitting there playing Wordle on their iPhone during the songs. And certainly not someone in the Talk arena who sounds like their every remark is prepared. (BE prepared, but don’t sound too prepared.)

It’s bad enough these days with robotic-sounding voice-trackers and AI voiceovers all over the place. I miss presence.

Relate. Be unique. As I always say, “Crack your chest open and show us what’s in there.”

Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #831 – Sure, Your Station Says It, But Do You Promise?

It all started with a spam call. At least I thought it was.

“I’m reaching out because as a part of our brand promise we mentioned that we would contact you anytime we saw an opportunity to further improve on your overall finances…”

That one line helped change my perspective. It wasn’t a spam call at all. I realized that I had an existing relationship with this company, and they were attempting to fulfill a “brand promise” they had made to me.

Key points:

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Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #686: The Filter

A foundational tip of mine is: Never assume that people want to hear what you have to say.

You have to earn the listener’s attention every time you open the mic – even if you’re just doing something simple like intro’ing a song (in a music format), or adding “colorful” details to a story (in any format). Your “interesting sidebar” may indeed add something – but not always.

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