Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #690: TV Coaching Thoughts

While mainly working with radio stations over the last 30 years, I also worked with some television air talent. Spending the bulk of my career in Texas (Dallas and Houston), where they often outshone the major TV networks, I was able to help a few people in those markets. But coaching them helped me even more in dealing with smaller market TV folks.

Example: in Spokane, while I was coaching two radio stations, they also asked me to do some sessions with their TV stations’ news anchors.

They had an incredible, dazzling TV studio, with excellent equipment. And as I sat with the GM watching the 5pm News, a glaring error emerged. They had the robot cameras that moved themselves to different positions. And every time one of the cameras moved to set up the next shot, the anchor, seeing this activity, began to SPEAK LOUDER.

In our first session after the broadcast, I asked him why he did that – and he was totally unaware of it! I reminded him that there was a microphone right above his head, just out of the shot. So screaming at the camera was probably not the best move.
At another station, the staff meteorologist always pointed to the weather ‘map’ with her right hand, though the map was to her left. Reaching across her body, swiveling away from the camera, looked awkward and blocked out her body from the shot.

I once coached a wonderful Sports anchor in Dallas that saying “Right after this” or “when we come back” or “after this commercial break” was, in effect, promoting the commercials. I suggested that instead, he should just plug what was coming up, say “Next,” and then boom; the commercial break would start. (People know that “next” isn’t about the commercials. Things like, “Right after this break” just make people think about grabbing the remote and flipping around.)

Hilariously, he came back to me a couple of days later saying the entire News team was mad at him for shouting “Don’t say ‘When we come back!’” at them repeatedly when they went to a break.

I replied, “I’m…sorry for making you better?”

Radio people, as stubborn as they can be, are still easer to coach then most TV people. TV people tend to look down on radio talent as “lesser”, but that’s certainly not always the case.

The takeaway? Always be in “learning” mode.

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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.

Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #834 – What’s It About? A Question Worth Asking

It’s a curious thing. A few understand it, but most do not. In over 25 years in the format I’ve never been a part of an interview where a potential program director or air talent was even asked if they knew what the format was about.

Coming from a background in mainstream radio I didn’t really understand what our format was about either. I thought the format was about the music we play, the deejays, the promotions and doing radio stuff. After all, that’s radio, right? I had to undergo a process of learning that our format is about something much more important. I learned it from listening to our listeners.

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Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #689: Smaller Market Coaching Thoughts

In 30 years of Talent Coaching all sized markets, I’ve found that the smaller market radio stations often have something that the medium and large markets don’t have – Authenticity.

While their formatics may sometimes be weak by major market standards, they often MEAN more to listeners. The reason is simple: they can be local. So, they can reflect more easily what the majority of their listeners really care about and identify with – and that’s the whole Content ballgame.

If you’re in a small market, you should touch on the most important “big” stories. But even then, make an effort to be as local as possible – or you can easily LOCALIZE that big story. Ask yourself: what does it have to do with you, and your neighbors?

Relevance is King. “Items to talk about” are blah-blah. To connect with your listeners, put yourself in their shoes, see what they see, and reflect their emotions. In the process, share yours – serious or not-so-serious.

These thoughts apply to the most successful personalities in ANY size market, and in any format.

– – – – – – –
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.

Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #833 – It’s Back To School Time!

Back to school time is everywhere. In the stores with sales. On the streets with school buses. There are even tax free days for Back to School. It’s not an official holiday like Christmas, Ground Hog Day, or Millard Fillmore’s birthday, but it is just as evident.

Back to school affects everyone’s schedule, even those that don’t go to school. (Can’t say that about ole’ Millard’s birthday.)

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Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #688: Modern so-called “Positioning” – and What That Means to Coaching

One of the things that makes it hard to coach people is when their whole on-air position is just a catch phrase. A TV station in my hometown uses “On Your Side” as its ‘positioning’ statement. It’s in all their stupid promos. But it’s meaningless.

“On my side” for what? A lawsuit? A basketball game at the gym? A street fight? My political affiliation? My battle with every restaurant to not put onions or garlic in my food?

Their “position” is actually prone (as in “lying face downward” or “lying flat,” according to the dictionary).

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Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #832 – Just Take It Away

When the great artist and sculptor Michelangelo was asked how he created his famous 17-foot-tall statue of David he responded, “It was easy. I just took away everything that didn’t look like David.”

That profound simplicity could be a nifty way to approach fine tuning your radio station.

If people come to your station to be encouraged just take away the stuff that doesn’t do that.

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Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #687: Presence

When I listen to the radio, the first thing is – I want to feel a human being there. Not just some quacky-voiced announcer who’s sitting there playing Wordle on their iPhone during the songs. And certainly not someone in the Talk arena who sounds like their every remark is prepared. (BE prepared, but don’t sound too prepared.)

It’s bad enough these days with robotic-sounding voice-trackers and AI voiceovers all over the place. I miss presence.

Relate. Be unique. As I always say, “Crack your chest open and show us what’s in there.”

Frost Advisory

Frost Advisory #831 – Sure, Your Station Says It, But Do You Promise?

It all started with a spam call. At least I thought it was.

“I’m reaching out because as a part of our brand promise we mentioned that we would contact you anytime we saw an opportunity to further improve on your overall finances…”

That one line helped change my perspective. It wasn’t a spam call at all. I realized that I had an existing relationship with this company, and they were attempting to fulfill a “brand promise” they had made to me.

Key points:

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Tommy Kramer Tip

Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #686: The Filter

A foundational tip of mine is: Never assume that people want to hear what you have to say.

You have to earn the listener’s attention every time you open the mic – even if you’re just doing something simple like intro’ing a song (in a music format), or adding “colorful” details to a story (in any format). Your “interesting sidebar” may indeed add something – but not always.

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