Years ago, I traveled to Indiana to work with a morning show there. It didn’t take long to spot the fundamental weakness of the show – the guy was basically just allowing his female partner to be his live “laugh track.” And the Content was weak to begin with, some lame ‘prep sheet’ type of stuff and what he thought were jokes.
The problem was, she was much better than he was.
People often ask me what I listen for as the coaching process begins. There are many facets to an air talent, but I can learn where we need to start by hearing three breaks.
[1] A straight “station business” break. Does this person sound like he/she actually gives a cr*p?
[2] (For music radio) A short break, say, over a brief song intro. Does that person attempt to do anything, or does he/she just do a basic intro? Continue reading
Sarcasm works okay in certain movies, TV shows, or articles, but if you think sarcasm is a strength on the radio, think again.
For every person that “gets” sarcasm and thinks it’s funny, there are most likely two people that don’t.
And that’s especially true of women. Most women think it’s uncouth, hurtful, and/or stupid. (This is not an empty guess. In my life are my wife and her two sisters, my own two sisters, and two nieces. You should see the looks they give when someone is sarcastic to them.)
“Oh, well then, sarcasm will work with men.”
Don’t be so sure. Just this week, a couple of my friends went through a heated argument when one of them tossed out a sarcastic comment.
So, drop the sarcasm. It pretty much just makes you sound like a smarta$$.
So many beginning air talents think that they need a “big” voice to succeed. But they don’t.
Nobody cares about your voice.
They care about what you SAY.
Having a good voice is fine, but it doesn’t necessarily equate to more listeners. An idiot with a great voice is still just an idiot.
Here’s a quick start for any radio newcomer, as well as a reminder to broadcast veterans:
Use what’s unique to you.
For example, I’m a musician, having played guitar since I was eleven years old. And it was about that age that my mom taught me to sing harmony.
That led to doing literally hundreds of parody songs in my on-air career. And that was way before we had the technology to just take out the vocal and insert a new one. Or, God forbid, using A. I. to “write” and produce a song for you. I had to recreate the song one step at a time.
And thanks to reading MAD magazine since I was about seven years old, I had a decent sense of what would make a parody song funny. (Those people were geniuses.)
Use what you have that most other people don’t have, and you’ll stand out.
A few weeks ago, I gave you a tip to generate more phone calls, or social media response – whatever you want in terms of listener feedback and participation.
I purposely didn’t address an inconvenient truth: if you’re not getting reaction, chances are that you’re just boring.
So, you need to become NOT boring.
Here’s how: be curious. Instead of blah-blah prep sheets or “bits” that are just things YOU want to do, look for things that will provoke an Emotional reaction from the listener.
It may be something as simple as why a certain road under construction is taking too long, and people are late for work as a result, for example. Something that the listener is experiencing today; not just some “click bait” article.
Being thought of as ‘interesting’ is usually just being AWARE, then articulating that on the air.
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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.
If you make grammatical errors, like mangling the object of a preposition (“Between her and I,” instead of “between her and me,” for instance), that shows a level of education that isn’t high enough.
We’re supposed to set the standard. We’re supposed to be the one person in the group who’s the best conversationalist, that uses the fewest words to make a point, that uses the right words to express your emotions, and can generate enough friendship and excitement just to hear what you have to say – the person who’s welcome in any conversation. THAT’S the goal. Continue reading
Here’s something that was sort of revolutionary at the time, I guess, but sadly just disappeared as voice-tracking came in.
Group airchecks.
Back in the day in Dallas, the entire air staff were actually friends, and hung out together a lot.
Once in a while, we’d sit and listen to airchecks of each other, and exchange our thoughts about what we heard.
This tip is about creating a “phone culture,” because it’s sad to me that many shows have to struggle mightily to get feedback from their audience.
It’s simple: ONCE an HOUR, say something like, “You’re always welcome to join the show…” and then add the phone number.
One more trip down memory lane that I hope will help you…
In my radio infancy at giant CHR station KEEL in Shreveport, Lousiana, I was blessed with influences that would not only flesh out my own career, but lead to many things I’ve coached over the last 30 years.
Such is the case with a guy named Dan Voigtlander. (Pronounced Voit – lander.)