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
Here’s a clever tip that can help you figure out a couple of things that are really important.
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$$.
I’ve heard of an author that is willing to sit and watch his books go unsold because apparently for him that is better than changing the essence of what he’s written.
Seth Godin in his book “Linchpin” points out the author’s passion is for his craft, but has no real passion for spreading his ideas. “And if his ideas don’t spread, no gift is received. When an artist stops work before his art is received, his work is unfulfilled.”
These concepts are paradoxical.
Continue readingSo 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.
One of my first programming mentors was a man that had learned from Bill Drake, the man that invented Top 40 radio. Howard had worked in New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco. I had worked in Abilene. There was a knowledge gap between us that was as big as the sky in West Texas. I knew I needed to pay attention.
Howard preached to his young air staff, “Do something.” He knew that people listened to the radio station for an experience. He would not allow us to phone it in nor waste a break.
A side note, I would often do things on the air just to get a reaction from Howard.
Continue readingHere’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.
Remember back in school when you wanted that girl or boy to like you? I bet a specific name immediately pops to mind. (That’s for you, Marlene).
If I could just be taller, thinner, have prettier hair or clearer skin.
If I could just be smarter, run faster, or make the other kids laugh.
Then. Then maybe she’d love me.
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.
Reckon’ I hear the term “artificial” dozens of times every day. I understand why.
Artificial intelligence is the shiny new object that catches our eye, and that’s probably legit. In the next season AI will impact our lives in ways we can’t even imagine. Many of those ways will likely be positive. Some may not.
But as programmers it is important that we not allow the shiny new object to obscure what listeners really value.
That is authenticity.
Continue reading
