I reckon’ the beginning of a new year is a good time to consider how we internalize the values in our organizations.
Andy Stanley suggests, “Just start celebrating what you value. People will value what you celebrate, and they will celebrate what you value.”
I’ve recently been reading “Breakfast with Fred,” the conversations and ideas of Fred Smith, Sr., a mentor for many leaders such as Zig Ziglar, Philip Yancey, John Maxwell and my friend Steve Brown.
Continue readingLike Dracula, Godzilla, and Freddie Krueger, the rhetorical question disease is popping up again. My crusade to kill off weak, obsequious questions and make stronger, more revealing statements, has apparently faltered. I could give up. But… no.
Quick review…
If you’ve been reading my Frost Advisories these last 646 weeks you probably know that I believe it is important that a station demonstrate its “Beliefs and Values” position in a meaningful way. It is what I call “putting your flag in the ground.” Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did that to symbolize that America was first on the moon. And we’ve never forgotten it.
The first Christian music station I ever launched over 20 years ago was in Jacksonville, Florida. It was called “The Promise.” Now in its third incarnation that station still regularly recites its flag in the ground: “The Promise promise.”
You may think that what I share next is about “The Free Press.” Well, it’s not. But it is.
Continue readingIn the old days, we got listener reaction on the phone. But now, with social media, a lot of input comes from Facebook, etc.
The result is hearing “Jim says…” or “Samantha said…”
Faceless names. I know nine people named Jim. Which one is he?
Every Christmas for the last several years I’ve thrown a few coins into the Salvation Army bucket at the neighborhood Piggly Wiggly. But not this year. Nope. You see they’ve changed their bell ringer. The guy standing outside the store ringing the bell was different this season, so I decided not to give.
Ludicrous, isn’t it? Obviously, no one would stop donating to the Salvation Army because Bert replaced Ernie ringing the bell.
Then why do we hear these kinds of complaints?
Continue readingRadio is all about telling stories. But I keep hearing people repeat things all the time on the air. What a drag.
IF you repeat something because you’re pounding a point home, that’s okay. (It was a huge part of George Carlin’s act. Chris Rock does this to good effect, too.) And repeating things is a good tool to use if you’re talking to a 3-year old.
But repeating something just because you’ve forgotten that you already said it, is NOT okay.
As anyone who took a first-year Speech class in college knows, unconscious repetition is a bad habit. Saying things ONCE is the best and most efficient way of telling a story.
Tighten it up. You might – dare I suggest this – actually rehearse it beforehand, instead of just fiddling around hoping it all just magically works out somehow.
Radio is all about telling stories. But I keep hearing people repeat things all the time on the air. What a drag.
IF you repeat something because you’re pounding a point home, that’s okay. (It was a huge part of George Carlin’s act. Chris Rock does this to good effect, too.) And repeating things is a good tool to use if you’re talking to a 3-year old.
But repeating something just because you’ve forgotten that you already said it, is NOT okay.
As anyone who took a first-year Speech class in college knows, unconscious repetition is a bad habit. Saying things ONCE is the best and most efficient way of telling a story.
Tighten it up. You might – dare I suggest this – actually rehearse it beforehand, instead of just fiddling around hoping it all just magically works out somehow.
– – – – – – –
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.
A successful radio station is built on a foundation of consensus. Listeners that have a common sense of worldview, of the purpose of life, of how to treat others. If there is no consensus there is no tribe.
Interestingly, a format is less about a station’s tactics and more about how effectively it reflects the common ground of the tribe.
This is even more crucial in the CCM format. And Christmas is that opportunity!
Continue readingLittle things matter, because the listener is continuously forming an opinion of you as he or she listens.
One overlooked deejay thing is what I call “The Echo” – where you say the title of a song the last thing out of your mouth, then the song begins by singing that title. “Why would that matter?” you may ask.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And sound like it, too.
Hundreds of radio stations around the country are now playing all Christmas music. In the town where I live I counted a dozen or so, many different formats from Christian to rock to country to AC. Even Oldies! (I reckon’ they play Christmas songs that are OLD!)
While stations chase the success of significant audience growth during the holidays, many stations seem to have forgotten why people seek out Christmas music in the first place.
Continue reading
