We’ve all had to do it – read a station “liner” that just reads like old “newspaper ad” copy. Ugh.
But, since my job is to make you sound better in every way possible, here’s a tip on how to make those things come alive.
Category Archives: Tommy Kramer Tip
Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #595: The Guy with the Nice Voice
Recently, I started coaching a new member of a Talk show about cars (getting a great deal on one, not how to repair one).
This guy has one of those “cannon” voices – the God-given kind of deep, resonant voice that used to be what every Top 40 Program Director looked for.
But that was then.
Continue readingTommy Kramer Coaching Tip #594: The Best Conversations Are Made of SHORT Sentences
The best conversations – whether that’s between you and a listener, you and a guest, or you and a partner in a team show – are made of SHORT sentences.
The longer the sentences, the more the boredom factor is going to set in.
We live in a hummingbird-attention span generation right now. Everybody texts. (And we don’t even text full WORDS. We don’t have time to put “OK.” We can only type “K.” That extra letter just saps our energy.)
Think about this, because chances are, if I listen to your show today, I’m gonna hear you talking in sentences that are much too long and bore people to death.
Or maybe not. You could be really great. But you probably still need this tip as a reminder.
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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.
Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #593: The Biggest Mistake McDonald’s Ever Made, and What You Can Learn From It
If you’re old enough, you remember the ad campaign McDonald’s used with a slogan, backed up by a beautiful jingle: “You deserve a break today…at McDonald’s.”
That simple statement of BEING OF SERVICE to you – giving you a “time out” from having to go home and slog through cooking a meal – was, to me, the simplest and most effective Strategy they ever had. And suddenly, after years of imprinting that thought in the customer’s brain, they went on to some mindless fodder like “I’m Lovin’ It.” (Gee, thanks for the mid-bite review.)
You see, the thing is, people want to be acknowledged, to have worth, to be seen as more than just another customer in the drive-through line buying a fish sandwich.
So, ask yourself if your station is Being Of Service to your listeners. And then ask yourself if what you’re saying on the air or in your Imaging makes that clear.
You should want to make the listener (or the customer, if you were McDonald’s) feel like your first thought is to make their life better.
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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (mobile)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2024 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.
Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #592: A Lesson You Can Learn from Steve Martin
Content is definitely what I get asked about most in sessions and in radio seminars. And since it takes a long time to get people who haven’t seen how easy it is to catch on, many times I give them an overview – a lesson I learned from watching the great comic and actor Steve Martin over the years.
Continue readingTommy Kramer Coaching Tip #591: The Easiest Way to Prep Content – End with the Beginning
An interesting point came up in a recent session came from an air talent I’ve worked with for years. She was talking about how a break can go wrong if you’re not sure of how you’re going to start. This was my feedback…
Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #590: Memorable Moments
Here’s a question for you: What stood out on your show today? Anything? A funny line? A really connective ‘take’ on something? A phone call that surprised you?
Great radio is about Memorable Moments.
If YOU can’t remember anything that stood out on your show today, no one else will, either.
Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #589: A Link in the Chain
Early in my career, working at a 50,00 watt Top 40 giant, KEEL in Shreveport, Louisiana, I got a huge break.
Although I was probably the weakest air talent on the staff, my PD made me Music Director. (I’m a musician. That helps.)
All of a sudden, I had WORTH. I controlled the music we played. It was important. I became a link in the chain of terrific jocks we had.
Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #588: Another Lesson from the Great Howard Clark
In the last tip, I mentioned one of my earliest mentors, Howard Clark. Howard was part of the original air staff of the legendary KFRC in San Francisco, and later in life returned to his (and my) hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. And believe me, just listening to Howard was a lesson in how there are endless opportunities to do real Content.
Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #587: Short Breaks MATTER
In a session recently with an air talent on a station my partner John Frost and I both work with, we discussed something “under the radar” for most people on the air. As Frosty put it, “Most air talents think only the longer breaks matter because ‘I get to prepare those.'”
John and I were fortunate in that early in our careers, we had a wonderful mentor named Howard Clark, who showed us what could be done in a short break. Because short breaks matter too. (This became a real strength for each of us, and a staple of what we teach.)
Howard could do a killer, genuinely funny line in seven seconds or less. You listened more closely, because you never knew when Howard would say something that would crack you up – or at least, make you pay attention.
Since you probably never heard of Howard Clark, here’s the lesson:
- A clever line doesn’t always need a lengthy setup.
- Just your tone of voice can connect with the listener. It’s the mindless “read” that simply passes by unnoticed.
My thought? Until you master the art of having short breaks be an opportunity to inform or entertain, you’re not a complete air talent.