The best Content is about real life situations, shared in little bursts. If you start with an unreal situation, there’s no emotional buy-in (unless you couch it as fantasy or exaggeration).
But going from Real to Silly is better than going from Silly to Real. (Knowing when to stop is the key to this – and I’ll share some thoughts about how to attain, or at least, sharpen this skill in a future tip.)
I’m blessed to work with many of the brightest folks in our format. Some are Ph.D. level, and some are just sticking their head out of the egg. But they have one thing in common. They are all THINKERS.
Always thinking. Always imaging things better. Never accepting “we’ve always done it that way” as the best we can do.
Continue reading“I want to tell you…” “I want to share with you…” “I want to let you know” = announcing that you will tell me something. Instead, Just TELL me. (An added benefit of this is that you take out the *I – me – my factor.)
My talented friend Lisa Barry shared with me a lesson she learned from a lady who does sign language in church.
Continue reading“In order to ‘sign’ a song about Passover, she has to start with Jerusalem, so she signs that first even though it’s not in the song yet. THEN, she signs Jesus, which is her index finger sweeping across in front of her. So the song makes sense with Jesus walking into Jerusalem. Even though in the song Jerusalem comes second.
With sign language you have to start with the ‘what’ because otherwise, there’s no context to what you’re about to say. You start with the ‘what’ and then you can give them the ‘who’ and ‘what’s happening’.”
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.
This morning in church I heard a very compelling message about that church’s commitment to missions in Africa.
Afterward I turned to my daughter and said, “That’s one of the best messages I’ve ever heard him preach.” She replied, “That’s because missions are his passion.”
Mic drop.
Continue readingRecently, 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 readingMaybe you’ve figured me out. Perhaps you’ve noticed that many of my 739 Frost Advisories have centered on what is relevant in the headlines. Christmas, New Years, Mothers Day, the Super Bowl and the World Series have all been reference points for many of these missives over the last 14.2 years.
There is no larger common ground than RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. (Also the reason why ANYTIME/ANYWHERE radio falls short).
So, if the election season is the current reference point I figured I better write about it before November 5th election day.
Continue readingThe 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.
– – – – – – –
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.
I’m often in discussions with PDs about freshening the sound, changing things up or being less predictable. These can be productive conversations, but if you don’t know the guardrails you can end up in a programming ditch subjectively running FROM things rather than running TO things.
Conversations about “changing things up” often end up replacing something familiar and popular with something that is neither familiar nor popular. Not good.
Continue reading
