Shows that “fly by the seat of their pants” inevitably sound loose and have ‘dead’ time that needn’t be there.

Now, some 355 stations into this talent coaching stuff, one thing has become abundantly clear to me: people need to plan, not just “wing it.”

Here’s the easiest way to get a simple system in place…

Right after you finish a break, lay out the NEXT break.  If you’re in a team show, it’s doubly important.  A quick run-through (“Okay, next we’ll do the rodeo thing; I’ll start.  Remember your line that we’re going to get out on…”). Now, with that done, you now have several minutes to relax, chat, etc.

The old saying is “if you fail to plan, your plan is to fail,” and by and large, it’s true.

Note: This does NOT kill spontaneity; it just kills uncertainty.  And sounding SURE is what creates the “command presence” that all great air talents have.

There’s a huge difference between Confidence and having a big Ego.  A great Talent needs confidence.  Without it, you’d never try anything different, never find the things that are unique to you.

And confidence shows.  Think Sean Connery as James Bond.  Tiger Woods.  Paul McCartney.

But ego shows more – and usually it’s not a flattering image.  At all.

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If you’re so busy doing so many things – so many contests, so many (management) “initiatives,” so many other jobs (podcasts, voice tracking another station, writing website articles, social media postings) – you will inevitably lose Creativity.

You only have so many breaks during a show to talk about ANYTHING.  There are always things to plug, but you can’t plug everything equally.
The winning template is to only have one “big” thing and one “little” thing.  Say a major contest as your Big thing, and something else as your little thing.  That way, you still have time to do something creative on a regular basis as a main ingredient of your show. Continue reading →

It’s said that radio pioneer Gordon McLendon used to put prospective news people through a simple, but incredibly revealing, test.

He’d hand you a story off the AP wire and say “Read this… to yourself.”  After the talent read it (silently), Gordon would turn the page face down on the desk and say, “Now tell me what it said.”

He wanted Storytellers.  Writers who could take “facts” and turn them into stories, with an “arc” to them.

All the McLendon stations had incredible News talents who, even in Top 40 (the format that he and Todd Storz invented), compelled listeners to stay with the station instead of going somewhere else to keep up with what was happening.

Obviously, this isn’t just a technique to use for News.  It plays into everything we do.  Any idiot can read to me, but not everyone can ENGAGE me.

This is THE point of even being on the air in the first place.

Connecting with the listener – as soon as possible in any given break – is Job One.  I’ve spent hundreds of hours doing sessions about this one thing with air talent in every English-speaking format, and the best example is the simplest one:

I like bubblegum.  You like bubblegum, too.  Let’s be friends.

That’s the way we form relationships as kids.  We start with what we have in common.  The problem with so much of radio today, where some faceless voice selects an article or a subject from the internet or social media, then adds a lame punch line to it, is that it lacks that fundamental “bubblegum” ingredient.

This is why “News of the Weird,” “Trivia,” “Stupid Criminal Stories,” “This Day in History,” and contests that are too complicated and don’t sound like I can win the prize anyway are massive “Fails” today.

Reject all those.  START with what you and the listener have in common.  If you don’t really know who the station is targeting, ask your PD today.  If you need help learning how to do this, well, there’s always coaching…

Often, promos get waylaid by trying too hard to say too much.  In particular, “slug lines” (tags) on the end try WAY too hard.

“He’s a little bit goofy.  She’s a little bit ditzy…”
“Making you laugh every day…”
“They’re here to lift you up…”

Blah, blah, blah.

You don’t need these.  Here’s the template…

1. A quick intro: “Jack and Belinda…”
2. A sound bite from the show.
3. Then a tag: “Jack and Belinda, Mornings on 93.9 KBGL…”

Cut out the adjectives and superlatives.  Let the clip do the work.

There’s a huge difference between “selling” and “telling.”

“Selling” something isn’t nearly as effective as simply Telling me about it; sharing.  There’s a built-in resistance to someone pounding a message home.

Disc jockeys are told to “sell” liners, copy points, etc.  But you don’t “sell” your friends on something.  You just share what you know or believe.  (If you do “sell” all the time, believe me, your friends are tired of it and you need to stop.)  This is why disc jockeys aren’t doing movie trailers and national ads.

In working with many voice actors that you hear every day on national spots, I’ve often stressed just talking to the listener/viewer.  A great example from the past is voiceover master Mason Adams, famous for “With a name like Smuckers, it has to be good.”

Just talk to me.  It works.

When a break is too wordy, you have to rush. And that’ll usually mean you’re going faster than the song, which the listener may not consciously think about, but the ear notices.

Being concise cures this. Only do what fits, conversationally.

Follow this rule: if what you want to say won’t fit over an intro, SAY LESS. Being concise is an art. When it comes to Content, the person who doesn’t waste the listener’s time wins.

Talk radio hosts: you might want to think about being more concise, too. Beating a subject to death doesn’t work as well as a more concise, better organized statement. Past a certain point, you’re in danger of just coming across as a loud, droning noise.

Remember…
The most recorded song in our lifetime is “Yesterday” by the Beatles. It’s only two minutes long.

The most quoted speech in history by an American President is the Gettysburg Address. It’s also the shortest.

The most powerful piece of scripture in the Bible is only two words long.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2020 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

Every once in a while, the subject of doing teases comes around again.  Such was the case recently with one group of stations I work with. So here are the teasing dos and don’ts…

DO tease:
A chance for me (the listener) to win something.
A feature of the show; a benchmark.
A guest coming on.
Information about a station event or a specific website/You Tube/social media feature.
A new song by a Major (core) artist.

Do NOT tease:
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Something I get asked about a lot is how you make a great demo aircheck.  Knowing how the people doing the hiring tend to listen to these, here are the best tips I can give you:

1. Put your best thing FIRST.  Don’t make me wait to get to it.  Hit me with something great right off the bat.

2. Show what you do well, then show another thing you do well.  An “A” side, and a “B” side.  If you don’t have both, you lack depth.

3. Three to five minutes is probably enough.  Even shorter can work.  I once got hired by a PD in Chicago after he only listened to ONE break on my aircheck.  If you’ve got that spark, it’ll show.  If they need to hear more, they’ll ask.

The good news is that we now have more ways than ever to share or display air work – we just send mp3s, or post the audio on a personal website or Sound Cloud. A friend of mine recently posted his stuff on YouTube.

Hope this helps.