Best in your class.  Best in your school.  Best in the city.  At every level you attain, you should want to be the best at that level.

And then you want to find another level.

This is how growth happens.  The minute you get satisfied and think you have nothing else to learn, you’ll STOP learning.  And then you’ll become a dinosaur.

Radio is part science, part Art.  Part talent, part planning, part performance.  The desire to learn more is what fuels every great career.  If you need help, talk with friends, listen to each other’s work, and share thoughts.  Get a coach.  Study acting, movies, great books.

FEED the part of you that wants to be the best at your level.

Don’t get so obsessed with what you know you’re going to have to do later.  Stay in this moment.  Do what you have to do NOW first.  Clear your mind to do a good job with it.

More breaks are ruined (or made lackluster) by a lack of clarity than almost anything else.

The execution of something is far more important than the thinking of it.  When the time comes (when the mic opens), you have to be able to Stand and Deliver.

All the great ideas you’ll ever have won’t matter if you can’t put ’em across to the listener.  Even something as simple as saying the name of the station needs to be sincere, slightly different every time, and polished.

That’s why the biggest gap is between Good and Great.

And that’s why I coach. I love helping people get to Great.

A few weeks ago, I went to Dallas and sat in on guitar at the House of Blues for a couple of songs with my dear friend Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Kenny is an amazing blues guitarist.  I’ve known him since he was five years old, and first started showing him some things about guitar when he was seven.

Kenny talked about that experience as he introduced me, and said “He even showed me the principles, like the real foundation of what’s important about playing.”

Not just “licks” or running scales.  Not WHAT to do so much as WHY you do it.

The same as radio.  You go from ‘just another voice quacking’ to someone the listener bonds with because of WHY you do what you do.  People FEEL more than they hear.

And as Kenny Wayne Shepherd shows his audience every night he plays, expertise is fine (and he’s brilliant), but the emotion behind it is what counts.

“A recent survey says…”
“A new poll shows…”
“According to the latest statistics…”

Those references put us to sleep more times than not.  The words themselves are boring.  Numbers and percentages even more so.

So here’s what works better (because it’ll will sound more conversational):

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So think about this…

How many times in a year did you just do the info, but nothing else?  “98.1 The Rock with AC/DC.”

Ho hum.  Okay, I’ll give you an escape route.  Here are two, no – three, no – make that four questions to ask yourself:

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In the last tip, I addressed what seems like a lack of Production skills in radio today.  If you really want to make an immediate impact, let’s start with show Promos (particularly Morning Shows, but any show you want to promote).

The Kramer Rules: Continue reading →

One area we haven’t discussed in a long time is Production Skills.

What we used to refer to as “board op” mistakes happen now simply because the computer ‘runs the board’ most of the time, and it lacks feel.

WE have to instill that ‘feel’ element.

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Not long ago, just before a holiday weekend, I called Guitar Center about a guitar I’m thinking about buying.  A guy answered the phone with “Guitar Center, where you get fifteen percent off everything in the store through Monday.”

A liner.

Liners need to go away.  They’re boring.  Few people even notice them anymore.  It’s like waiting for a stop light to change.

Yes, I know… you spent all that time coming up with that catchy “Positioning Phrase” and you’ve hired a voice talent to say it a gazillion times with a smiley delivery.  So let’s make a deal… go ahead and use the liner in your promos and IDs.  But by all means, free the air talent from EVER having to say them.  They’re not good at it.

(I hear you.  No, they’re not.)

How you get into a subject is the first great skill.  When you can get to the point easily and concisely, you have a better chance to get the listener to join you.

For years, people have been taught the “headline” mentality, which is a decent thing to keep in mind but that can also work against sounding conversational.

Keep these thoughts in mind…

1. You have about twenty seconds to “tether” the subject to the listener.  Don’t rush, but don’t waste words, either.
2. Start with the Subject first, or start with the Listener first, instead of starting with yourself.  Your show is about us, not just about you.
3. You want the listener to be able “see” himself/herself in whatever situation you’re describing.

Refine this one skill and you’ll have a lot fewer ‘swings and misses’ with your Content.