When I was a kid I can remember staring at the bulletin board in the hallway eager to see what the next few months would be like. Each teacher posted a list of the kids that would be in her class the upcoming year. Frankly, I wasn’t that concerned about which teacher I was assigned. No, I was more concerned with whether I’d be with my friends; Rodney, David, Buddy, and Julian. And maybe even that I’d have a chance to be around that pretty girl Marlene.
Continue readingTommy Kramer Coaching Tip #631: Cool, not Cruel
There was a time when it was in vogue to be overly audacious, tricking people with prank phone calls, embarrassing people, making fun of them, etc.
I thought it really sucked, because to me, it seemed kind of cruel. I didn’t – and still don’t – get why it would be okay to demean the listener, or use that person as a “prop” for something that you wouldn’t do to a friend or coworker. Continue reading
Frost Advisory #775 – It’s About The Heroes
As I write this 850 people have been rescued in the Central Texas floods. This isn’t just a random news story to me. It’s personal.
My sister and cousins went to summer camp there, and I have been there numerous times as the little brother. We have home movies from there. It’s a real place with real people with real lives.
We forget, don’t we?
Continue readingTommy Kramer Coaching Tip #630: The Litmus Test for Your Show
Once you get to a certain level, you face two issues – (1) How to be consistent in your performance, and (2) How to measure your Content.
Here’s the litmus test: is what you’re doing something that I can hear somewhere else? If so, there’s work to do.
Frost Advisory #774 – The Simplest And Most Profound Idea For How To Program A Great Radio Station
It’s a funny thing. With these weekly Frost Advisories, I try to share insights about programming basics (how the sausage is made stuff, don’tcha know), while also challenging the more seasoned to strive for The Big Idea to transform a station and a listener’s mood, perspective, and life. Some get this while many have never thought about it. In my career, I’ve been at either place in different seasons.
Just this week I was evaluating a station that sounded like it was nothing more than a sequencing of elements. Like the automation system was programming the station. One element played, then another. Then something else came on and another element played. No design. No emotional spectrum. No meaningful content.
It was like an audio version of Whack-a-mole. Hit it and move on.
Continue readingTommy Kramer Coaching Tip #629: Listening to Yourself, and Why It’s Important
Shockingly, many, many times over the years, I’ve found that an alarming number of air talents never, or hardly ever, listen to their own shows.
Here’s why it’s important: You need to hear yourself as others hear you. That’s how we improve.
If you simply listen while you’re checking your email, or updating your social media, you’ll subconsciously hear when you sound rushed, or like you don’t really care about something, or if you make grammatical errors that undermine the points you’re trying to make.
Listening to your own show just once a week can and will make a dramatic difference in how sharp you stay, or how quickly you change a weak area.
Frost Advisory #773 – But Is There Anything REMARKABLE About Your Station?
Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #628: My Reflection
Radio isn’t dying, but in many cases, it isn’t thinking, either.
It’s so simple, but why do we not hear this all the time?
My reflection (as a listener) is the mental picture that could change the course of your career.
Here’s the deal: As a listener, I want to be able to picture myself in the scene you’re creating or describing. If I do, you and I have connected – the magic word in radio.
If I don’t, well, there are lots of other listening options.
Frost Advisory #772 – A Programming Lesson From Our Fathers
Quick! Name a TV dad that is portrayed as a positive role model! How ’bout in movies?
They say that 85% of men in prison grew up in fatherless homes. Role models can change the trajectory of a life. My dad certainly did for me. “Remember who you are and what you represent” from his beautiful baritone voice still echoes in my soul.
Continue readingTommy Kramer Coaching Tip #627: Think About the Other End of the Radio
It’s easy to think of radio as a one-way conversation. Hopefully, you get interest, even feedback from listeners, but that’s not how the process begins.
We should start by putting ourselves in the shoes of the listener – and what the likely reaction would be on the other end of the radio; the listene’s end.
Thinking people automatically care about what you’re saying is what makes for lame radio. Sometimes, they don’t. It’s YOUR job to “quality control” what you’re going to do when that mic opens, and to deliver something worth hearing each break you do.
Purpose. A goal. Having one in mind shapes everything that follows.