If you get the Sundance channel, you probably know about the series “Iconoclasts”. I just saw an episode the other day featuring actor/comedian Mike Myers and the controversial Indian-born author and speaker Deepak Chopra. Myers was insightful and funny, but Chopra said something that really rang the bell of what makes great radio:
“If a life can be a series of perpetual surprises, that’s the most joyful experience you can have.”
That’s it. That’s the ‘secret’, if there is one. Most radio today is full of information, gossip, promotional messages, etc.—but lacks surprises. Being surprised by something is like seeing a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis when you’re a kid. Or an ending to a movie that you didn’t see coming. Or unexpectedly being moved by an act of kindness.
Shock is not the same thing as Surprise; it’s just one crayon. There are others. If you’re having trouble seeing them, well, that’s what I’m here for. Coaching isn’t about a set of “do this, don’t do that” rules. It’s about helping you access the things in your noggin that can surprise the listener.
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Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2015 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.