Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #260 – Why Your So-Called Positioning Phrase Doesn’t Work

“The Best Variety at Work…”
“(City)’s Best Music…”
“We Play More Music…”
“The Home of the Fifty-Minute Music Hour…”

We’ve all heard these.

None of them – not one – is true.

So why are you using them?

In a world surrounded by B. S., why are you adding to the junk pile of words thrown together like they fell out of a bowl of Alpha Bits and made what sounds like a sentence?

What do any of these say about the Values of your radio station?  Or your city?  Or anything, really, that’s meaningful to your audience?

Let’s take a close look…

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Frost Advisory #415 – It’s What You Learn After You Know It All

We can cling so tightly to the things we know that we don’t go beyond and learn how to apply it.

“The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it.”

Consider this…

  • Knowledge is knowing the facts.
  • Understanding is the ability to glean meaning from those facts.  Often that involves seeing things in context, perhaps relating to circumstances, best practices, or strategy.
  • Wisdom is knowing what to do with that knowledge.

A 16-year-old may have enough knowledge to drive the car but you wouldn’t just toss them the keys and say, “Have a good weekend!”
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Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #259 – The Death of the Big Voice, and Why

“He’s got such a great voice.”

We used to hear that a lot, but today, it’s virtually meaningless.  In L.A. and New York, the big voices are doing tractor pull spots and horror movie spots, and you still hear the network TV guys doing that big, mighty “announcement” thing some, but be honest – doesn’t it just sound kind of cheesy?

The voice that gets the most work today is the midrange voice with great inflection.  But even then, it’s not the old-school radio “emphatic” read; it’s more, as the great voice acting coach Marice Tobias says, “noticing” a word.

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Frost Advisory #414 – Stop The Madness!

What do we say?

More people have been killed at schools so far in 2018 than have been killed while serving in the U.S. Military, so says the Washington Post.

Remember back when baseball and football games on TV were interrupted by some nut case running onto the field?

Then something changed.  The folks in charge of the telecasts decided to quit pointing the cameras at them.  The incidents stopped.

I don’t speak as a psychologist or counselor, as one from law enforcement, or even as a journalist.  I speak as a broadcaster that understands that our stations have impact and a responsibility.

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Tommy Kramer Coaching Tip #258 – The Power of ONE Word

One word can change everything. If you’re going to be a truly good Talent, you have to actually think about the words that are coming out of your mouth. I work with people all the time on this.

For example, I heard this the other day:
“I want to hear from you RIGHT NOW. Can you think of a song that’s got something about automobiles in it?”

No. And even if I could, why should I call you? What’s in it for me?

You can’t treat listeners like employees. They’re not here to do your bidding. You’re here to do theirs, actually.

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