Here’s a little story for you…

When I was Corporate Talent Coach for Paxson Radio, part of my job was to listen to airchecks that were sent in. We had 47 stations, and wanted real Talent in every position.

One guy followed up his aircheck with a phone call, and asked my opinion. I told him that most of what I had heard had been stock ‘bits’ – Trivia contests, ‘News of the Weird’ type of stuff, some forced-sounding laughter. Sensing that he was a little shaken, I added, “Look, here’s the thing. After hearing this, I don’t know who you are. You’re hiding behind ‘bits’ so much that I don’t have a sense of what your outlook on life is, what your values are, what your opinions are – things that we might connect on if I did.”

So…ask yourself if you’re still trying to invent new things, or just settling for the same ol’ same ol’. Is your show consistent (which is fine), or has it crossed the line into being predictable (which is death)? Do you offer insights, give opinions? Did I learn anything about you today? Or did you just “perform” some more?

In the end, the ‘bits’ are rarely what’s remembered. It’s WHO YOU ARE that sinks in. As I’ve said a million times, at some point you’re going to have to crack your chest open and show us what’s in there.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2022 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Get this: it’s not about what you say.  It’s about what it makes me feel.  I, the listener, will make up my mind pretty quickly about this.  Information is fine, but unless I feel something about it, it’s just not relevant.

You have a choice when you open the mic.  You can scatter words all over the place, but unless it fires up a pilot light inside the listener, it’s just ‘blah – blah – blah.’ Continue reading →

This is a voice tip for radio, and artistically, the way you’re going to perform the best.

We’ve all heard way too many “foghorn” deejays trying to “impress” us with their big, impressive delivery.  And it’s not just in radio – the “HI THERE!” bad disc jockeys are doing Sports on TV now, shouting at us about everything.

But that’s just so 1975.

Continue reading →

Having coached over 300 team shows, and doing 5 different team shows in my career, I can tell you that true team show communication is often elusive, or sometimes erratic.  Let me help you with that.

The minute you close the mic at the end of a break, talk about what you’re going to do next.  Lay it out, who’ll do what, etc. then go about your business.  It’s free time now, to do whatever you want – talk to each other more (always a good idea), just have a little silent time, check your email… whatever.

Continue reading →

Here’s a question for you: Do you come across as PART OF the music, or like you’re just waiting for the song to end, so you can talk?  You’re either going to a part of it, or not.

I’ve talked about this before, but you should want to match the mood, the “vibe” of the song, or match the pace of the song – or both – so you’re a PART of the listening experience.

Too many stations are running Imaging way too much of the time, and the air talent doesn’t get to talk often enough.  We need to hear these people so we can bond with them.  Just your tone of voice, or a little remark over the song, can say a lot.

I’m not bonding with your Imaging guy.

It depends on what it is, but only rarely have I heard a Positioning phrase or slogan that actually matters, especially if it’s just touting things like “12 in a row” or “50-minute music hours,” or the nebulous “More music.”  (More music than what?  My refrigerator?)

Anybody who wants to do so can make those claims, and somebody will, I guess, but why settle for that?

Here’s what you really are:  What the listeners think you are when they listen to you.

So consider taking off a lot (or all) of the “sloganeering” and SHOW me why I should listen.  It starts with THIS time you open the mic.

Note: there are stations whose Imaging actually means something.  But I wouldn’t say they’re in the majority.

All great air talents know this.  But the road from good to great is a little muddy sometimes.  So here’s an easy “sifting” tip – the only two real Content guidelines:

1. Hopefully, what you’re talking about is something that the listener cares about.
2. But it should at LEAST be something that the listener has an interest in.  Has.  Already.

Here are some questions to ask yourself: Continue reading →

One of the most incomplete thoughts ever said to air talent is “If we’re having fun, the listener’s having fun.”

Ridiculous.  If the LISTENER’S having fun, the listener’s having fun.  You can be having a party in the control room, but if it doesn’t resonate with the listener, it doesn’t matter.

I ask this all the time: “Who’s our target listener?”

What I usually get is a white-page report being regurgitated to me, usually a demo bracket, some assumptions treated as fact, and not one example of how to pull that person in.  It’s hardly ever about one clearly targeted listener. Continue reading →

The other night, casually watching a New York Yankees broadcast with the most excellent Michael Kay and former great pitcher David Cone, something really struck me that Cone said.

He was talking about a Yankees pitcher who had not had a good beginning last season, and made the decision to dramatically dive into the metrics that are available now – arm angle, spin rate, pitchers’ and batters’ “planes” that they pitch or swing on, etc.  He totally revitalized his career when he learned about what more spin means, rather than just speed.

Think about that.  These guys make millions of dollars, he’s done it one way his whole life, and all of a sudden, this guy makes a dramatic change.

Continue reading →

There are two immediate goals in radio:

1. You have a listener.  Keep him (or her) around for a while.

2. Compel that person to come back again tomorrow.

Without meeting these first two goals, NOTHING else can be accomplished.  No matter what your Strategic plans are, no matter what the Board of Directors’ monetary aims are, no matter what your “Imaging” tries to accomplish, unless you learn how to grab a listener and make that person want to listen again, you’re dead in the water.

Some questions for you:

Do you spend more time on these fundamental goals than other things in a given day?

Do you give conscious thought to who that person is that’s listening, and HOW to appeal to them?

If not, why not?  Do you just want to fail?  My brilliant friend and associate John Frost used to have a miniature billboard on his desk that read “It’s the Cume, Stupid.”

Cume builds one person at a time.